1. BUCKHEAD. Buckhead is part of Atlanta, north of downtown. A shopper's and party animal's dream, Buckhead is where old money meets frat parties, where streets lined with magnificent million-dollar homes empty onto a famous Atlanta singles scene.

2. DOWNTOWN CONNECTOR. The merging of I-85 with I-75. Traveling those few miles through downtown Atlanta where the two superhighways meet and mingle can take a few lifetimes.

3. FIVE POINTS. At Marietta and Peachtree streets, this intersection used to be the center of downtown, where the city's five biggest streets converged. Now it's perhaps better known as the city's biggest MARTA station, where the east-west and north-south lines converge.

4. LITTLE FIVE POINTS. At Moreland and Euclid avenues in northeast Atlanta, you'll find kids with mohawks and tattoos, street musicians, a cool boutique called the Junkman's Daughter and a joint called the Star Community Bar, complete with an Elvis shrine. Walk around and check out the people who look weirder than you.

5. PARK PLACE. One of the city's first high-rise condominiums, on Peachtree Street in Buckhead, is worth mentioning for one reason -- Elton John lives there (part-time).

6. THE PERIMETER. I-285. Like Washington's infamous Beltway, this 62.77-mile ring around Atlanta has become an unofficial demographic marker, separating the intowners from the suburbanites. It's also the site of some of America's most notorious traffic tie-ups.

7. UNDERGROUND ATLANTA. Designed to breathe life into downtown with a variety of shops, bars and restaurants, this is a tourist attraction, shopping destination for downtown workers -- and a place for teenagers to cruise on foot.

8. SPAGHETTI JUNCTION. I-85 at I-285. One of Atlanta's most appropriately nicknamed landmarks, it's a soaring tangle of over- and underpasses, on-ramps and exits. You probably drove in, around or over it to get here.

9. TARA. Sorry, it doesn't exist. The closest you'll get to it is the Margaret Mitchell House in Midtown, where the Atlanta native wrote "Gone With the Wind" in an apartment she called "the Dump."

10. THE BIG CHICKEN. This Marietta landmark is often used in giving directions to folks traveling Cobb Parkway. Actually, the big bird's a huge sign for a KFC at the corner of Cobb Parkway and Roswell Road.

11. SWEET AUBURN. East of downtown and the heart of the black business and entertainment district in the city's early history, the street is well worth a stroll, especially after a visit to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site, which includes the birthplace, church and grave of the civil rights leader.

12. THE TED. Turner Field, south of downtown, is the home of the Braves, named in 1997 for Ted Turner, the flamboyant former team owner.

13. THE VARSITY. This fast-food restaurant near Georgia Tech was established in 1928 as the world's largest drive-in. It's famous for its frosted orange drinks and chili dogs. You can also get a "naked dog running" (plain hot dog to go).

14. PHILIPS ARENA. This state-of-the-art sports facility next to CNN Center is home to the Hawks basketball team and the Thrashers hockey team.

15. THE HOOCH. The Chattahoochee River, a major metro area water source and a national recreational area, is a good place to walk, jog, bike, picnic or "shoot the Hooch" (take a rafting trip on the river).

16. THE ROCK. Stone Mountain, east of Atlanta in DeKalb County, is the world's largest mass of exposed granite. A Confederate memorial is carved into its side.

17. THE PEACHTREE: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race, the largest 10K run in the world, is held every Fourth of July. It usually attracts about 50,000 participants.