What to do with a 6hr layover in ATL??
 

I have friends meeting me in Aruba from PHX flying the redeye PHX-ATL landing at 5:30am and ATL-AUA at 11am. Any ideas on anything they could do in the terminal airtran uses at ATL.

There's a Popeyes...

AirTran terminal is the worst. Take the Airtrain to Terminal E - the original international terminal (anyone can go). There are a couple of good restaurants there and a decent food court. Or Terminal B has Cafe Intermezzo, a cute bookshop/cafe where you can easily spend an hour or so.

Or heck, with that kind of time, just hop on MARTA and take it to Midtown Atlanta or the Lenox stop (at the mall) and hang out there for a couple of hours.

Commiserate with this guy?

I believe it's called the "Plane Train" now.

Yes, totally spaced on that when I typed it!

Incorrect.

The Popeyes in C concourse is closed now.

A lot of the restaurants changed within the last month or so.

The international terminal is new, and has a great bar in it. If you google it, it has actually won some awards in Atlanta. Also if you are looking to get out of the airport, a short ride away is the worlds largest aquarium.

For someone not familiar with MARTA a six hour layover wouldn't leave a lot of time to do much as you'd want to be back at security 90 mins before departure. Just wandering outside security to people watch at the busiest airport in the world is quite entertaining. International terminal as you suggest might be more entertaining.

Though if you ever want to do an extra day or two in ATL just stay at an airport area hotel with free shuttles to the airport/MARTA station and travel all over Atlanta via MARTA is a dream. It really is a nice albeit big city... Braves baseball, Falcons Football, the Georgia Aquarium, The Underground, Buckhead, many sites featured on Man vs Food and similar food shows. Atlanta grew so rapidly some of the smaller towns got swallowed up like Buckhead but still retain a rather unique atmosphere.

did it win an award for best international terminal in atlanta?

With that time frame I would be hesitant to leave the airport and even to leave the secure area - getting back through security can take longer than you want it to at times.

Once they arrive at 5:30 am, it will take them until at least 6 to deboard and get out to the main terminal and Marta station. Even if they have to wait for a train, that is the beginning of commuting time Marta so runs more trains, so they could be in downtown Atlanta by 7 am. Not much is open at that hour. They could walk around Centennial Park, but the Aquarium, World of Coke & CNN will be closed. Walk around and look at the buildings.

If their flight leaves at 11 am, they should to be back at the Marta Station by 8:30-9 am, so only 1.5-2 hours in downtown Atlanta.

I agree with the other suggestion to check out the other concourses. Highly suggest walking to get some exercise. There is a terrific exhibit of stone carved Zimbabwe art in the walkway between the Main Terminal/Tgates and Concourse A. It really is worth checking out.

You can get breakfast at A, B or E, all of which have great options.

On your way to breakfast walk from A to B to see the new exhibit on the history of Atlanta. It's ok, and it is on your way back from the Zimbabwe Art.

Not sure if you can get into it without an international ticket, but they just opened the new International Concourse F last week. It is quite a nice new building worth checking out if you can get in. It also has some interesting art.

Interesting since the 2 locations at the airport were #1 and #2 for the US Operations...:eek:

For that amount of time I might pay for a day pass to a Delta Skyclub. The ones in E/F have showers I believe and the breakfast snacks aren't terrible: oatmeal, bagels, muffins, yogurt, coffee, juice etc. Plus, free booze if you need an "eye opener".