A Day Trip To Athens Georgia

I just recently learned about the State Botanical Garden of Georgia, and I knew we needed to make a visit ASAP! Athens is about 70 miles east of Atlanta so it’s the perfect little day trip. We decided to make a day of it and visit the botanical gardens, downtown Athens, Sanford Stadium, the UGA campus, and the WOW playground. My husband went to UGA, and is a huge fan, so he was very excited to take the kids to his old stomping grounds! Go Dawgs!

The botanical gardens are completely free. Yes, you read that right, FREE! Admission, parking, all of it is free. What made me want to go here so much is the AMAZING children’s garden they have! Children will learn about an underground root system, pollination, plants, insects, and so much more. Along with all of the educational material they have woven in lots of areas to play. There are slides to go down, “spider webs” to climb, misting mushrooms(which we were so thankful for in the warm temperatures), a canopy walk to observe from, and sand play. There is a working well pump where the kids were able to fill up watering cans to water some of the plants with. A lot of the children’s garden is in a shaded forest area which is perfect for these hot summer days here in Georgia. I could go on, and on, about what a wonderful day we had at the botanical gardens! We didn’t even get to see all of the exhibits because we spent so much time at the children’s garden. We will definitely be going back again soon! To see the garden in action checkout our video below!

After the botanical gardens we headed to downtown Athens to explore the sites. We stopped off at the UGA grounds so the kids could ring the bell at the chapel, and of course we had to have a photo with the arches! The trip wouldn’t have been complete without a stop at Sanford Stadium.

Downtown Athens is an awesome place to take a stroll through. Along with the UGA campus there are tons of cute shops to stop in, if you’re a juice lover there’s an Arden’s Garden(my favorite!), Ben & Jerry’s for the ice cream lovers, and Chick-fil-A for the chicken lovers. You can also have a meal at one of downtown Athens oldest eating establishments: The Grill. It is open 24/7, and is set up like a 50s diner serving burgers, milkshakes, and vegan/vegetarian options. There are plenty of options for everyone!

Our trip to Athens wouldn’t have been complete without a stop off at a playground. Luckily for us we found the WOW playground. Like most playgrounds there was a smaller, and larger playground. There were toddler swings, generational swings, big kid swings, and inclusive swings. Just about every slide you could possibly imagine! A two level spinner, plenty of climbing structures, and a three story slide tower. There is a half mile concrete walking path, plenty of seating and picnic tables, and two green spaces. It was fantastic!

If you have the time this summer I definitely recommend taking the drive to Athens for a day trip!

For more information on the State Botanical Gardens of Georgia see here.

For more information on the WOW playground see here.

The Grill in downtown Athens: here.

Arden’s Garden Athens: here.

For a great website with lots more ideas of places to go and see in Athens see here.

Thanks for stopping by!