Fly into Atlanta and start your holiday in this dynamic Olympic City. Admire the modern Peachtree Center and Georgia Dome. See the house where Margaret Mitchell wrote Gone with the Wind, the State Capitol and the High Museum of Art. Visit the CNN Studios, the World of Coca-Cola Pavilion and Underground Atlanta's little shops and restaurants. Other options include the Jimmy Carter Library and Museum, the Atlanta Zoo and the Cyclorama Civil War Display.
Day 3:
Atlanta to Dahlonega
(75 miles/120 km)
Head east to Stone Mountain with its park, cable car and huge hillside carving of Confederate heroes. Continue north to Buford and Lake Lanier. Dahlonega, in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, has beautiful parks and a fascinating history of gold mining.
Day 4: Dahlonega to Gatlinburg, Tennessee
(105 miles/168 km)
Drive through the Chattahoochee National Forest to Hiawassee and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on the border with Tennessee. Beautiful scenery is all around. Overnight in charming Gatlinburg.
Day 5: Gatlinburg to Knoxville, Tennessee
(40 miles/64 km)
Stop in Pigeon Forge to enjoy the shops, restaurants and Dollywood, Dolly Parton's celebrated Appalachian music and entertainment theme park. continue to Knoxville, perhaps via Oak Ridge, closely associated with World War II's nuclear Manhattan Project.
Day 6: Knoxville to Chattanooga, Tennessee
(120 miles/192 km)
There's plenty to see and do in Knoxville: museums, quaint shops, galleries and riverboat cruises. Continue to Chattanooga and start your sightseeing at the Chattanooga Choo Choo complex.
Day 7: Chattanooga
Visit the Tennessee Aquarium, take a cruise on the river, ride the Incline Railway up Lookout Mountain, explore Point Park, the site of the Civil War "Battle Above the Clouds", and admire Ruby Falls and Rock City Gardens.
Day 8:
Chattanooga to Augusta
(270 miles/432 km)
Heading South, you're soon back in Georgia where you continue via Athens to Augusta, the "Garden City of the South", on the Savannah River. As this is the home of the famous US Masters tournament, why not take time for a round of golf?
Day 9:
Augusta to Savannah
(170 miles/272 km)
Head South through the rich agricultural region known as the Magnolia Midlands. A delicious harvest of fruits, vegetables and nuts is shipped from here and the town of Vidalia proclaims itself "Onion Capital of the World". The charming port city of Savannah is your next stop.
Day 10: Savannah
Take a carriage tour down cobblestone streets and through the gracious brick squares of one of the South's most beautifully preserved 18th century cities, celebrated in the book and film Garden of Good and Evil. Browse through the shops and dine in the restored cotton warehouses along the waterfront.
Day 11:
Savannah to Jekyll Island (100 miles/160 km)
Take the sleepy back roads to Darien, where the British built Fort King George in 1721; then on to pretty St Simon's Island where you can visit a lighthouse, museum and Fort Frederica, and Jekyll Island, a resort with a landmark hotel, millionaires' "cottages", beaches and golf courses.
Day 12: Jekyll Island
and Brunswick
Relax on Jekyll Island, go boating, explore nearby Brunswick, or take a tour to wildlife refuges at Cumberland Island or Okefenokee Swamp Park.
Jekyll Island to Columbus (250 miles/400 km)
Head inland for Plains, Jimmy Carter's hometown, visiting his former campaign headquarters to view memorabilia from his presidential years. Continue on to Columbus on the Chattahoochee River, where there are many historic homes and interesting museums, including one with relics of the Confederate Navy.
Columbus to Atlanta
(110 miles/176 km)
Spend the morning at Callaway Gardens, a beautiful 2,500-acre complex and resort near Pine Mountain. Then visit Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Little White House, now a museum, where the President died in 1945. On the way back to Atlanta, stop by one of the South's most appealing theme parks, Six Flags Over Georgia.
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