Ponce City Market and The Roof

Ponce City Market is the building that best explains modern Atlanta. It opened in 1926 as a Sears, Roebuck and Co. retail store and regional distribution center, one of the largest brick buildings in the Southeast, and after decades as a city hall annex and then years of vacancy it reopened in 2014 as a mixed-use market with offices, apartments, shops and a big food hall. It sits directly on the BeltLine Eastside Trail, and it is where most visitors end up whether they plan to or not. The ground-floor Central Food Hall is the draw: dozens of counters selling everything from Southern comfort food to ramen, tacos, burgers, pastries and ice cream, with communal seating and a constant buzz. Upstairs and around it are independent boutiques and national brands, and outside are patios facing the trail. Admission to the market is free. The Roof is the extra: take the elevator up from the courtyard to an old-fashioned rooftop amusement park called Skyline Park, with carnival games, mini golf and vintage rides set against a panorama of the Midtown and downtown skylines. Rooftop admission is modest, a little more on weekends, with lower prices for children; games, mini golf and rides are paid separately. The roof also has 9 Mile Station, a restaurant with views that takes reservations, and 12 Cocktail Bar for adults over 21. Skyline Park opens in the afternoon on weekdays and from late morning on weekends, and stays open late on Friday and Saturday. The market gets packed on weekends, parking is paid and tight, and the food hall is noisy at peak times — but it is the city's great hangout.

When Sears built the store in 1926, it was a temple of mail-order retail serving the whole Southeast, and the building grew in stages to an enormous size. The city bought it in the 1990s and used part of it as City Hall East, but it was largely empty for years until developers saw its potential alongside the planned BeltLine. Its reinvention has been a landmark of adaptive reuse, keeping the industrial bones — heavy timber, concrete columns, steel windows — while filling the space with new life.

To enjoy it, arrive on foot from the BeltLine, ideally on a weekday or a weekend morning before the lunch rush. Walk the food hall once before choosing, then take your food outside to the trail-facing patios. Go up to The Roof in the late afternoon: buy admission at the orange ticket booth in the courtyard by the east entrance to the food hall, then follow staff to the elevator. The skyline view from the roof at sunset is the best in the city, and the carnival games and mini golf are fun for all ages; minors must be accompanied by an adult. Book 9 Mile Station ahead if you want a sit-down dinner with a view, and note 12 Cocktail Bar is adults only.

Ponce City Market is on Ponce de Leon Avenue between Midtown and the Old Fourth Ward, a short ride from downtown and Midtown hotels. Parking is in paid decks on site and fills on weekends; rideshare, bike or the BeltLine itself are easier. Combine it with a walk south on the Eastside Trail to Inman Park and Krog Street Market, or north to Piedmont Park and the Botanical Garden. Hotels such as Hotel Clermont and the Wylie Hotel are within a few minutes on foot.