Fox Theatre Atlanta Tours

The Fox Theatre is Atlanta's most beloved building, and a guided tour is the best way to see it without a show ticket. It opened on Christmas Day in 1929 on Peachtree Street in Midtown, conceived as a temple for the Shriners and finished as one of the most extravagant movie palaces in America, just as the Depression arrived. Its architecture is pure fantasy: the exterior is a riot of Moorish domes and minarets, and inside, the auditorium is designed to feel like an open-air Arabian courtyard at night, with a deep-blue ceiling scattered with twinkling stars, drifting clouds, crenelated walls and a striped canopy over the balcony. The Architecture and History Tour, offered to the public and as private bookings, lasts about an hour and walks you through the lobbies, the auditorium and the theater's grandest rooms while guides tell the story of how the building was almost lost and why the city fought to keep it. Other tours run seasonally or privately: Haunted History tours in early autumn, after-dark ghost tours with actors on select October evenings, holiday tours from Thanksgiving through late December when the building is dressed for the season, film tours tied to the summer Coca-Cola Film Series, and private tours of the 1929 Möller organ known as Mighty Mo, with a performance by the theater's organist. Routes can change around performances and events, and tours involve stairs and plenty of walking. Book online, arrive at least ten minutes early, and combine it with dinner on Peachtree.

The Fox's survival is one of the great preservation stories in the South. The building struggled financially within years of opening, became a movie house for decades, and by the 1970s was slated to be torn down for an office tower. A grassroots campaign, sometimes called Save the Fox, raised money and public pressure, and a nonprofit, Atlanta Landmarks, took ownership and restored the theater. Today it is a National Historic Landmark and one of the busiest theaters of its size in the country, hosting Broadway tours, concerts, comedy and the annual holiday ballet, while its ballrooms host weddings and galas. The architecture tour explains how the restoration was done and how the theater keeps a 1929 building working as a modern venue, and it is the rare tour that leaves locals as impressed as visitors.

Choosing a tour depends on the season and your interests. The year-round Architecture and History Tour is the best first visit. In September and October, the Haunted History tour (without actors) and the theatrical ghost tours (with them) tap into the theater's many legends; they sell out early. From Thanksgiving through December, the holiday tour shows the building decorated and tells the story of its Christmas Day opening. Groups of ten or more can book private tours, including a behind-the-scenes route through spaces rarely seen by the public and the Mighty Mo organ tour, which ends with a short recital on one of the largest theater organs of its kind. Every guest, including children, needs a ticket, and accessible tours can be arranged by phone in advance.

The Fox sits at the corner of Peachtree Street and Ponce de Leon Avenue, a short walk from the North Avenue MARTA station and across the street from the Georgian Terrace Hotel, where film stars stayed for the 1939 premiere of Gone With the Wind. If you can, see a show here as well: sitting under the starry ceiling as the lights go down is the best way to understand why Atlanta fought so hard for it. For a full Midtown day, pair a morning tour with the High Museum of Art and lunch nearby, or end the day with dinner and a performance. Parking in the area is in paid decks and lots, so MARTA is the easiest way in.