Athens punches well above its size for a city of 120,000. The University of Georgia drives much of the cultural life, but the music scene, independent restaurants, and walkable downtown hold up on their own. The 40 Watt Club is the spiritual center of the famous Athens sound that produced R.E.M. and the B-52s, and it still hosts live music most nights.
On campus, the University of Georgia North Campus is worth a wander for its antebellum architecture. The State Botanical Garden on the south end of campus is free and covers 300 acres of gardens and river forest. The Georgia Museum of Art is also free and has a solid American collection.
Downtown, the Double-Barreled Cannon outside City Hall is Athens's most photographed curiosity — a Civil War-era engineering failure that is now a civic landmark. The Morton Theatre, a block away, tells a less-told chapter of Athens history as one of the first theatres in the South built and owned by an African American businessman. The Tree That Owns Itself is a short walk from downtown into a residential neighborhood — silly, but charming.