Midtown, Atlanta: neighborhood guide

Midtown sits directly between Downtown and Buckhead, with the skyscraper district lined along Peachtree Street. East of Peachtree is Piedmont Park; west are Spring Street and West Peachtree Street. Interstate 75 and 85 merge through the neighborhood as the Downtown Connector, so it is a working business district as much as a place to sleep.

It is also Atlanta's main arts district, with the highest concentration of arts institutions in the Southeast. The Woodruff Arts Center, the High Museum of Art and the Fox Theatre are all here, and large events such as Music Midtown and the Atlanta Dogwood Festival use the neighborhood and the park.

The resident mix is students from nearby Georgia Tech and professionals in their twenties and thirties, which keeps the area diverse and gives it a busy LGBTQ scene. Expect high-rise apartments, new restaurants and bars rather than historic streetscapes.

Stay in Midtown if you want to walk to museums and Piedmont Park, use MARTA instead of a car, and eat and drink within a few blocks of your hotel. The three rail stations make airport and Downtown trips simple, and the Peachtree Street bus runs the length of the neighborhood.

Look elsewhere if price is the deciding factor: Midtown hotels generally cost more than Downtown, and parking is usually an extra nightly charge. Buckhead suits a quieter, more upscale stay with its own rail stations; Downtown puts you closer to the convention center and stadiums. Decatur is a separate small-city base east of the city, better if you are visiting Emory or want a slower evening.

Midtown also works as a base for the rest of the city: the East and West neighborhood guides cover the areas either side, and the South side is a short rail or drive away.

Midtown's restaurant and bar scene is one of the reasons to base here. The densest cluster runs along Peachtree Street and the side streets between North Avenue and 17th Street, with more options around the Arts Center and near Piedmont Park. Cuisines lean international, and many places stay open late on weekends.

For a cheaper meal, look at the lunch counters and casual spots that serve the office crowd on weekdays; weekend hours can be shorter. Atlantic Station, west of the neighborhood, adds a cluster of chain restaurants and a cinema, reachable by a free shuttle from Arts Center station or by bus.

Reservations help for dinner on event nights, when the Fox Theatre and park events fill the surrounding blocks.

MARTA's red and gold lines stop at North Avenue, Midtown and Arts Center stations, which links Midtown to Downtown, Buckhead and the airport without a car. Bus 110, known as the Peach, runs north-south along Peachtree Street through the whole neighborhood, connecting Downtown to the south and Buckhead to the north, roughly every 15 to 30 minutes depending on the time of day.

By car, I-75/85 runs through Midtown as the Downtown Connector. Exits differ by direction: 14th Street from I-75/85 northbound, 16th Street from I-75 southbound, and 17th Street from I-85 southbound. Atlantic Station has a free shuttle from Arts Center station running every 5 to 15 minutes, and bus 113 also serves it.

Walking covers most of the core: Piedmont Park, the High Museum and the Fox Theatre are all within a reasonable walk of the rail stations, though the blocks are long and summer heat is real.