During a brief trip to Atlanta, I spent an hour one day walking around Centennial Olympic Park. It was built for the 1996 Summer Olympics so visitors and locals would have a place to gather and enjoy the games.
I was in the city for a work-related event and didn’t have much time to really explore, but I still wanted to see at least one attraction in the city. Centennial Olympic Park was pretty close to where I was staying so I decided to check it out.
It was pretty gloomy when I first got to the park, with gray clouds blanketing the sky. But I was determined to enjoy and walk as much of the 22-acre space as I could, even with the drab lighting conditions. (It was definitely a lot bigger than I was expecting!) Fortunately, the sky cleared a little bit as the day went on.
The first thing I noticed were a line of flags, which I later learned were those of countries that hosted the Summer Olympics before the 1996 games.
Nearby is the Fountain of Rings, one of Georgia’s most popular landmarks. A fountain show takes place four times a day (12:30 p.m., 3:30 p.m., 6:30 p.m. and 9 p.m.) and is free to the public.
A couple of other neat things about Centennial Olympic Park is that the CNN building is visible from there, as well as the SkyView Atlanta — a giant ferris wheel.
Another highlight was seeing spring blooms. I tried to snap a couple of photos that don’t do the flowers any justice. (I blame the clouds in the sky for that.)
I didn’t walk around the entire park and missed the children’s areas and amphitheater, among other places. But I did get to stroll through the “quilts” on the right side of the park where there were manmade waterfalls, statues, stones, etc.
The Quilt of Olympic Spirit is a tribute to the 10,000 athletes who participated in the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games
To wrap up my hour at Centennial Olympic Park, I of course had to get a photo of myself in front of the Olympic symbols.
Related: An artsy outdoor adventure at Olympic Sculpture Park
Centennial Olympic Park is located at:
265 Park Ave W NW
Atlanta, GA
For more information on Centennial Olympic Park, click here. For resources on an audio tour of the park, click here. Click here for a map of the park.