Georgia Aquarium

You shouldn't miss a visit to this wildly popular attraction which from the outside looks like the bow of a ship and inside has more than 80,000 animals to see. The aquarium's Ocean Voyager Gallery is the world's largest indoor marine exhibit holding 27 million litres of salt water which provides plenty of opportunities to study life underwater. Walk through the clear tunnel in the middle and enjoy the sight of whale sharks, manta rays, grouper fish, sharks and stingrays swimming above you. There's much more than fish and mammals on display though: there are also penguins, sea lions, sea otters, river otters, sea turtles, and giant octopus, too.

One relatively new attraction was instantly a hit: the AT & T Dolphin Tales exhibit. The dolphins here put on a 25-minute show which is a must-see, though reservations ahead of time are required. The show is held twice a day and up to four times on Saturday and features dolphins and their trainers accompanied by special lighting effects and a dramatic musical score.

Elsewhere you can see beluga whales and sea dragons in a cold-water display, and coral and tropical fish are the stars of the show at the impressive reef exhibit. If you want to get really close to some of the aquarium’s stars, you can touch stingrays, crabs and sea stars in the open touch tank.

The aquarium is so popular that there are often huge crowds, so arrive early or late for the best chance of getting close-up to the tanks. If you can, go online and buy your tickets at least a week ahead, which you can then print out at home.

The aquarium is open every day, and general admission tickets include the dolphin show, 4-D Theatre and any special temporary exhibitions.

It's best to catch the train here as parking can be tricky: the nearest station is Philips Arena/CNN Center.