How to Spend a 12 Hour Layover in Atlanta: ATL to Emory and Decatur Square
Updated October 3, 2026
Twelve hours lets you leave the city center for Decatur. Look at ancient Egyptian and Greek art on the Emory campus, see the granite courthouse on the town square, then end with a beer at a pub that opened in 1997.
Decatur has been the DeKalb County seat since the 1820s and still feels like a small town, with a courthouse square, shady streets and a MARTA station right beneath the square. Emory University's main campus sits a short ride west, and its Carlos Museum holds collections from ancient Egypt, Nubia, Greece and Rome. Back on the square, the 1898 granite courthouse now houses the county history center. A few steps away, the Brick Store Pub has poured craft beer since 1997.
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Is it worth leaving the airport?
Yes, and twelve hours lets you take Decatur slowly. The museum is closed on Mondays and the courthouse exhibits on Sundays, so on either day lean on the open stop and the pub. Leave Decatur in good time, because the trip back needs a transfer and ATL lines can be long.
Getting from ATL into the city
Take a Red or Gold train from the Airport station to Five Points, then change to an eastbound Blue Line train for Decatur. An app ride covers the short hop to Emory.
Plan on about 1 hr 41 min for the round trip between Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and the first and last stops.
This plan also keeps 45 min to get out of the airport and 1 hr 30 min to get back through security before your flight. You can customize these buffers with Navi through text.
Times are estimates, not guarantees. Confirm your boarding time with your airline and check entry requirements before leaving the airport. You are responsible for getting back in time for your flight.
Visa and entry
Foreign visitors are admitted at ATL, the first US port, so a day trip to Decatur needs no further paperwork. Remember that a connecting international flight still checks documents at the gate, and leave enough time for both that and the TSA line.
What to do with your bags
There is no left luggage at Hartsfield-Jackson, and the day involves walking across the Emory campus and around the square. Bounce lists partner shops around Atlanta. As of October 2026, its rates for Atlanta start at $4.95 for one day, varying by shop.
The 12 hour plan, stop by stop
About 8 hr 4 min in the city
Time to head out from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport for Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University. It's a 1 hr 3 min transit ride if you leave now. Here's the link
Emory's collections began in 1876 at its original campus in Oxford, Georgia, as a cabinet of curiosities. Today, the museum shows art from Africa, ancient Egypt, Nubia and the Near East, Greece and Rome, the Indigenous Americas and South Asia. Architect Michael Graves designed its 1985 renovation of the old law school and the 1993 expansion. It opens Tuesday to Saturday and on Sunday afternoons, and it is closed on Mondays and university holidays.
Tip: As of October 2026, adult admission is $10, and any college student with ID gets in free, so bring your student card.
- Time here
- 1 hr 30 min to 2 hr 30 min
- Website
- carlos.emory.edu
NaviTime to head out from Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University for Historic DeKalb Courthouse, Decatur Square. It's a 25 minute transit ride if you leave now. Here's the link
Fire has gutted a Decatur courthouse twice, in 1842 and in 1916. The granite Neoclassical building of 1898 lost its interior to fire in 1916, and the county rebuilt inside the surviving Lithonia granite walls, adding wings and Alabama marble by 1918. The courts moved out in 1967, and the building is now home to the DeKalb History Center. Its exhibits are open Monday to Saturday, with shorter Saturday hours, and are closed on Sundays.
Tip: Look for the two historic clocks set into the porticoes. They were saved after the 1916 fire, when the old cupola was not rebuilt.
- Time here
- 30 min to 1 hr
- Website
- dekalbhistory.org
NaviTime to head out from Historic DeKalb Courthouse, Decatur Square for Brick Store Pub, Decatur. It's a 2 minute walk if you leave now. Here's the link
Three friends from Athens opened this pub on the square in June 1997, and it still has no televisions, no neon and no big domestic brands. The main bar pours a rotating list of 31 draft beers, including two cask lines. When Georgia raised its alcohol limit for beer in 2004, the owners opened a Belgian room upstairs, with 8 more taps and over 120 Belgian or Belgian style bottles.
Tip: Ask at the main bar for the vintage and reserve bottle list. Since 2004, the owners have been laying down strong ales, lambics, barley wines and imperial stouts to age, so it holds bottles you rarely see.
- Time here
- 1 hr to 1 hr 30 min
- Website
- brickstorepub.com
NaviTime to head out from Brick Store Pub, Decatur for Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. It's a 38 minute transit ride if you leave now. Here's the link
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