Excellent spot for sightseeing. Great for adults; mildly ok for kids, as its light on interaction…read more Lovely, knowledgeable Docents waiting to share the story. Nice home, small for its era of plantation homes. It was nice seeing the true story of the impact of African Americans - without them there is no Roswell. Without black free labor there is no America in the way we see it now. Free labor fueled the wealth of many dynasties. A nice one hour or 1.5 hr is enough time to see everything. You may want to read up on the house and area before you arrive to ground you in the founding of Roswell. If you love antiques, there's tons to see! Lots of pics on wall. This specific founder wasn't ostentatious so its the opposite of gold, lavish, etc. Its humble wealth! They were devout Presbyterians who were conflicted on owning slaves; private/ secret abolitionist who taught their slaves to write. Telling other locals it was for God so his slaves could read the Bible. But truly it was so they had a skill and could be more than slaves! Remarkable! Fun visit. There are two more grand homes, larger, more lavish by 2 other Roswell early founders, about a mile away. So if you have more time, do it all in 2 to 3 hours. We sat on the porch for 30 min just rocking, nice chairs! We may not ever go back but it was worth seeing!

The city of Roswell has 3 preserved antebellum houses open for public tours. We stopped by all 3…read moreone Saturday afternoon in February. All are located within a 1/2-mile radius, and 2 are literally within about 200 yards of each other. Our third stop was at Smith Plantation. It is located close to the Roswell business / restaurant district, and is adjacent to the city hall (with which it shares a parking lot). Like the others, there is no fee here. We entered via the front door and interacted with the welcoming docent, who asked for our zip code and how we'd heard about the venue. You are then free to wander the house via whatever route you like. Most rooms have a sign with a 4-digit code. You call a phone number (the same one used at the other 2 houses) and enter successive codes as you proceed. For each code, there is an accompanying description of the room's historical context and of its furnishings. These mansions all seemed to follow the same basic floorplan - a central linear hallway with 2 or 3 rooms off each side and a staircase at the end. This home had been upgraded / modernized in the 1940s, so some parts have a different feel than the other 2 open homes. For instance, this one has a kitchen that is more relatable, and there is an actual master bath added upstairs. This also seemed to be the smallest of the 3 homes. There is a bit more information about the last people who lived in the house, as they were there until the 1980s. There are also a few outbuildings here. If you only had time to tour one house of the 3, I'd still begin with Bulloch Hall. However, this place was nice to visit if you have another 30 - 45 minutes.

The historical marker is located a short distance from the actual site. It's on the street next to…read morethe Roswell Town Square where you'll find parking and restaurants. The marker has the same text on each side and it reads, "Built in the early 1840's by Major James Stephen Bulloch. His second wife, married in 1832, was Martha Elliott. Their second daughter, Martha (Mittie) Bulloch and Theodore Roosevelt married here in 1853. Their son Theodore Roosevelt was the 25th President of the United States. "Elliott Roosevelt, another son of Theodore Roosevelt Sr. and Martha Bulloch, was the father of Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, who married her fifth cousin, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 31st President (1932-45)." This is marker number 060-40B and it was erected in 1953 by the Georgia Historical Commission. [Review 1084 of 2024 - 751 in Georgia - 22111 overall]

The city of Roswell has 3 preserved antebellum houses open for public tours. We stopped by all 3…read moreone Saturday afternoon in February. All are located within a 1/2-mile radius, and 2 are literally within about 200 yards of each other. We started our tour with Bulloch Hall. It is located a bit south of the main Roswell business district. They have dedicated parking lot. Adjacent to that is a gift shop, but visiting that is optional since there are no tickets to buy. This was also the home with the highest profile historical connection, that being Teddy Roosevelt's mother. It was her family that built the house and she had lived their for part of her childhood. We wandered up to the main house and entered via the front door. The docent on duty was friendly and just asked for our zip code and how we'd heard about the venue. You are then free to wander the house via whatever route you like. Most rooms have a sign with a 4-digit code. You call a phone number and enter successive codes as you proceed. For each code, there is an accompanying description of the room's historical context and of its furnishings. The mansions of this period all seemed to follow the same basic floorplan - a central linear hallway with 2 or 3 rooms off each side and a staircase at the end. There was also a cellar/kitchen area and an upper floor. Most rooms just had period furnishings but some were given over to history displays, such as the family tree of the owners or their family's military participation. The same code scheme extends to part of the grounds and one or two outbuildings. I thought this was a fairly interesting place. It provided a good overview of what life was like in the area in the 1850s, at least for the upper tier of local society.

Lovely park with a waterfall and several easy hiking trails ! A couple tables with benches at the…read morebeginning, before the wooden bridge.

Always a scenic experience at this park. We love the water that runs through. The hill to go down…read moreis quite steep but manageable. The bridge is so nice. I do wish there was a restaurant or snack shop on-site.

A group of 11 Yelpers went on Alpharetta Tours' HOWLpharetta Ghost Tour this past Thursday night…read more(9/5). Thanks to Yelp OTP intern Sarah G. for organizing (http://www.yelp.com/events/alpharetta-uye-alpharetta-food-truck-alley-and-howlpharetta-ghost-tour). We were originally scheduled to do the ghost tour on August 8, but forecasted inclement weather at the time postponed our event. The day of the originally scheduled event, I received a phone call from Alpharetta Tours informing me of the event postponement. I also received an email with a new set of tickets. The process was handled well. Tickets were $12 per person. We got a special group rate. The regular price is $15 per person. We met up with Jen Hunt, owner/operator of Alpharetta Tours, around 8:15pm in front of the Dodd Hotel in historic downtown Alpharetta. This was just around nightfall. The tour lasted about 2 hours and it was a walking tour. Bring comfortable walking shoes! Jen was a really cool tour guide. She's a history buff and you can tell she knows her stuff, especially when it comes to the City of Alpharetta. She has done her research. The HOWLpharetta Ghost Tour can kind of be thought of as two tours in one: (1) a history tour of Alpharetta and (2) a ghost tour. We learned a lot about many of the buildings in downtown Alpharetta -- what they used to be, who used to live/work in them, etc. We learned that Old Roswell St. used to be the main thoroughfare through town. We learned that Native Americans used to be shackled, transported barefoot, and buried in the surrounding area. The HOWLpharetta Ghost Tour is more of walking, educational, and historic tour more than anything else. If you're looking for a scary, haunted house experience, then you'll probably be bored. We spent a good amount of time at each stop. Jen gave us more than enough information on the history and backstory behind many of Alpharetta's historic sites and buildings. We learned about multiple prominent families in Alpharetta's history, such as the Dodds and Webbs. The tour involved a lot of walking and standing. Most of us were tired at the end, both because of the walking/standing and because it was the end of a long (week)day. We stayed within a 2-mile radius of the downtown area. Most of the walking was done on paved surfaces such as sidewalks and asphalt. However, there was one part where we were behind an old cotton mill (IIRC) and were walking in the dark on gravel. Speaking of the dark, a flashlight would prove useful, though it's not necessary. We visited many closed/empty storefronts, businesses, and houses (with permission). We also visited the nearby local cemetary, Resthaven Cemetary. I have never seen nor experienced a ghost or paranormal activity in my life, but I don't rule out the possibility of these entities existing. However, I do tend to be a skeptic. I find the whole "orbs" thing to be funny. Jen explained that if we snapped a photo and saw orbs in our photo, that the orbs represent young spirits unable to fully manifest themselves yet. I personally think these orbs are just specks of dust or other matter flying in the air or perhaps light reflecting strangely through the camera lens. I did get some nice shots of orbs. You can check out the photos I've posted with this review to see them. Jen posted one of them to the Alpharetta Tours' Facebook page and Twitter feed: https://twitter.com/alpharettatours/status/375838874297061376. Jen was also a jokester. She told a lot of corny ghost jokes. I couldn't believe how many she had in her repertoire. Before going on the tour, be sure to read the FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) on Alpharetta Tours' web site. It has a lot of useful and helpful info. There are no restrooms on the tour route, so be sure to go before you start the tour. Also, you may get bitten by a mosquito or two, so you might consider putting on some insect repellent. Finally, be sure to tip your guide at the end, especially if you had fun. We had fun because of our guide and because of the company.

Jen was amazing from the planning of our private ghost tour until the end of the tour itself. Our…read moreoriginally scheduled tour was postponed due to the chance of severe weather and she was so easy to work with throughout rescheduling and was very accommodating. We emailed back and forth so much that I felt like we were friends! :) First of all, she is adorable -- corny jokes and all -- and I was really impressed with her knowledge of the history of Alpharetta. She's not only been thorough in her research, but I can't believe she's memorized all of that. She's a great storyteller. As far as paranormal activity, I'm a skeptic, but I'm also easily spooked, so I thought this would be a really fun activity. Plus you get a bit of exercise walking around! I definitely saw some stuff, or at least think I did. Moving mirrors inside of buildings, flickering lights, etc. It was just the right amount of spooky. Even if you go and don't see anything, there's still lots of creepy stories to be heard! My only complaint, and this has nothing to do with the tour itself, is that there were still a fair amount of people out/cars driving by/etc. from 8:30-10:30. It might've had to do with the fact that we went on a Thursday after Alpharetta Food Truck Alley, but I would have loved a darker, quieter setting just to enhance the mood. Plan a private tour and get 10+ of your friends together (or plan a UYE like I did!) for a group discount. I'm sure the public tours are great, too, and they're every Friday and Saturday night. Be sure to follow AT on social media. Jen posts discount codes and giveaways! I can't wait to see what else Alpharetta Tours has in store for the community! Jen mentioned trying to put together a pub crawl and I would be allllll over that once it's organized.

We went to the new location on Luckie Street. We did the southern biscuit class and boy was it…read morewonderful! Jessica was a great guide and the space is so beautiful and clean! I would highly recommend this! My husband and I did it together but I think my ten year old daughter would have loved it. It was a great integration of history and cooking! Thank you, Jessica for making our day!

Kristen was a great guide and had us laughing and smiling all the time. The biscuit making class…read morewas a lot of fun and something we will do at home too.

Don and Corey were the best!. We had a small group on our tour and they made it a great experience…read more Don provided both well known and little known facts and anecdotes about the history and culture of Atlanta. It was evident that he was a true native of Atlanta. They both made sure that our experience wasn't rushed, and that we had the opportunity to enjoy ourselves.

Not a terribly bad way to spend five hours in Atlanta…read more They say to be at the meet up point 15 minutes before the tour start time of 900am. The tour guide didn't show up until 900am. He checked us in, and some of the prepaid people were missing. He calls his boss, who presumably reaches out to the missing. We then spend the next 15 minutes sitting in the Peachtree Center as he describes the center and the surrounding area, just killing time to see if the missing arrive late. We finally get going, and the tour guide talks nonstop, in a booming voice, with the microphone turned up full volume, and he plays the harmonica for brief musical interludes. Quite peculiar. At least the bus had air conditioning, although rather weak at times.

Absolutely loved this tour. Our tour guy was amazing. The training was amazing. I felt like a pro…read moreriding around the town on the Segway. Another unforgivable moment in Atlanta for me. This tour takes you to a lot of places in Midtown that I would've never seen before but now I want to experience these places as well. I've never been to Piedmont Park and I will be going back to visit. But the tour guy was amazing. He knew a lot on the tour and I will say he knew all of our names. It's hard to learn one person's name, but having to learn that seven people that were on the tour and being correct every time it was impressive. They give you a helmet and teach you from the beginning how to ride, slow down, come to fast stop so you are comfortable before you even start the tour. I absolutely enjoyed every moment of it. I highly recommend you take this tour if you're ever in Atlanta.

This is my first and only negative review. It takes a lot for me to do this. We had a very…read moredisappointing experience with this company. Our group of four booked a Segway tour weeks in advance and arrived as scheduled, only to be told upon arrival that the tour could not proceed because their tour guide was unavailable that day. We were informed that they had attempted to notify us the day prior, while we were in transit, but no meaningful effort was made to ensure we actually received that message. A voicemail was left while in transit that only gave the name of the person to call back. We did respond message the company back but no message of details was sent to us. There was no information given us that the tour had been cancelled and there was no effort by the company to call us back this morning to indicate the tour was canceled. Instead this company allowed us to show up. When we showed up this morning, the office was dead quiet. The one staff easily could've contacted us before we arrived, to have allowed us to make alternate plans. As a result, we showed up expecting a confirmed booking. While an apology and refund were offered, that is the minimum one would expect in this situation. There was no attempt to find a replacement guide or propose an alternative solution, despite the significant inconvenience caused. What was most concerning, however, was how the situation was handled. As we calmly discussed next steps among ourselves, we were unexpectedly told that we were making the staff member, Sammi, "uncomfortable". Despite the fact that even though we were highly disappointed we remained polite and measured. We were then asked to leave, and the door was locked behind us, which felt offensive as well as entirely unwarranted given our demeanor. She should've called us that morning and if anything that would possibly be why she was uncomfortable because of her own mistake. Our disappointment was warranted and we were not in any way aggressive, moreover never have any of us been called that. It's preposterous that her mistake, resulting in our disappointment and regrouping could be attributed with making her uncomfortable. She could have a higher tolerance for customers and customer service vs blaming validly disappointed customers for frustration which she caused. We are reasonable, respectful customers and simply expected clear communication and a basic level of customer service. Unfortunately, neither was demonstrated here. I would not recommend relying on this business if your plans depend on them.