Piedmont Park at Sunset

189 acres between Midtown and Virginia-Highland. Atlanta's Central Park. The Active Oval is soccer, frisbee, picnics. At sunset the Midtown glass towers go gold, then orange, then pink. The whole city looks like it wants you to stay five more minutes.

The lake at the south end has turtles that don't flinch when joggers pass. The Atlanta Botanical Garden at the northeast corner has a 600-foot canopy walk through the treetops — $22, one of the best things in Atlanta. The Saturday Green Market (March-December) sells local produce and prepared food that makes "farmers market" an understatement.

October for color and broken humidity. Spring for azaleas. The park's fine in summer but expect to sweat through your shirt in fifteen minutes — that's Atlanta's personality test.