Top-notch attractions await groups in the state’s No. 2 city. Find your fun attending shows, delving into military history or navigating river rapids.
Like the roaring rapids of the Chattahoochee River, hospitality flows through this group-friendly city on the Georgia-Alabama border. While Columbus may be a bit off the radar of some travel planners, the state’s second-largest city abounds with itinerary possibilities. Theatrical fare, engaging museums, whitewater rafting adventures and a new minor league baseball team provide entertainment for all ages and interests.
Situated 100 miles southwest of Atlanta, the city of 210,000 is home to the U.S. Army’s Fort Benning and boasts two top-flight military museums.
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Columbus Museum: Treasure House of Art and History
The free-admission Columbus Museum, fresh from an 18-month, $30 million renovation, has a dual focus: American art and regional history. A children’s museum offers hands-on activities.
Visitors to the Columbus Museum learn about the city’s role in the soft drink industry’s early days. Royal Crown Cola and Nehi got their start here, and a Columbus pharmacist is credited with developing the formula for Coca-Cola. Also recognized is Tom’s Foods, a Columbus company that pioneered the idea of selling roasted peanuts in single-serve, cellophane bags. The Tom’s plant, which once offered a popular factory tour, closed in 2022.
Another food associated with Columbus is the scrambled dog, a local specialty that Dinglewood Pharmacy has been dishing up for more than 70 years. A museum video shows how to make a scrambled dog. It starts with an open bun topped with homemade “Almost World Famous Chili.” Added next are chopped hot dog pieces, cheese, onions, pickles and oyster crackers.
An exhibit on Columbus’ textile factories features a 1910 cotton gin manufactured by the Lummis Cotton Gin Company of Columbus and a 500-pound cotton bale. Among U.S. states, Georgia ranks third in cotton production. Columbus for decades was one of the South’s textile manufacturing hubs, its riverside lined with mills powered by the rapids of the Chattahoochee.
Dale Chihuly’s Boat Installation at the Columbus Museum. (Randy Mink Photo)
Art treasures at the Columbus Museum include the signature Dale Chihuly Boat Installation, a large-scale glass masterpiece, and portraits of George and Martha Washington by Rembrandt Peale. Other famous American artists, like Andy Warhol, Mary Cassatt and Thomas Moran, are also represented.
Through January 4, 2026, the exhibition Daily Special: The Art of John Miller features oversized glass sculptures of hamburgers, French fries, donuts and soft drinks, a visual feast of American food favorites set within an environment that evokes classic diners and other eateries of the 1950s and ’60s.
Outstanding Military Museums in Columbus, Georgia
The free-admission National Infantry Museum sits on a 133-acre campus next to Fort Benning, one of the country’s largest military bases. Dioramas and other exhibits salute the sacrifices and heroic feats of American soldiers in conflicts from the Revolutionary War to the Global War on Terrorism. Documentaries shown in the 286-seat Giant Screen Theater include one about the D-Day landings in France during World War II. Paradrop, a virtual reality parachute ride that charges a fee, simulates an airborne assault for a charge.
Grounds of the National Infantry Museum contain numerous outdoor monuments and memorials, including a three-fourths-scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C.
Through windows at the rear of the museum, you can see Inouye Field, a five-acre parade field and stadium where thousands of newly trained infantrymen graduate every year. The field is seeded with sacred soil taken from each of the eight battles depicted on the museum’s Last 100 Yards exhibit, allowing every new soldier to literally walk on the ground fought and died for by their forefathers in the profession of arms.
Fort Benning is home to the U.S. Army Infantry School, U.S. Army Armor School and other Army organizations.
America’s military history also comes alive at the National Civil War Naval Museum, which overlooks the Chattahoochee River. It displays the largest surviving Confederate warship, the CSS Jackson, and wreckage of the CSS Chattahoochee. Other exhibits include a replica of the USS Hartford, flagship of the U.S. Navy’s first admiral, David Farragut, whose fleet emerged victorious at the Battle of Mobile Bay; a full-scale replica of the USS Monitor’s revolutionary armored rotating turret housing the cannons; and an immersive panoramic dockside exhibit recreating Plymouth, North Carolina, complete with an exterior and interior view of the CSS Albemarle.
The museum boasts the largest collection of Civil War Naval-related flags on display in the country. Its timeline exhibit takes you month by month through the war showing naval events and features rare artifacts, such as the uniform coat of Captain Catesby Jones and Admiral Farragut’s two-star hat insignia.
Other Museums in Columbus, Georgia
Nostalgic buffs have a field day perusing the vintage cars, toys and lunch boxes at Columbus Collective Museums. Housed in a former tile and marble showroom/warehouse, the repository of pop culture antiques is described as eight museums in one, though most people would call it just one big museum.
The display of lunch boxes brings back childhood memories for guests of the Columbus Collective Museums. (Randy Mink Photo)
Of prime interest is the collection of some 2,000 lunch boxes, thermoses, trays and related toys. Those who grew up in the 1950s will remember the lunch carriers bearing the images of TV Western stars like Roy Rogers, Hopalong Cassidy, Gene Autry, Annie Oakley and the Lone Ranger. Cartoon-character lunch boxes portray Peanuts, Popeye, Superman, Batman, and Mickey and Minnie Mouse. Some of the duplicates are for sale.
The lunch box museum was started in 1990 by Allen Woodall, a lifelong collector and local radio personality who went on to set up the other galleries six years ago. Displays also pay homage to Columbus’ roots in the soft drink industry, featuring rare Royal Crown, Nehi and Chero-Cola advertising signs and other memorabilia.
The automobile gallery has an 1898 carriage made by the Pontiac Buggy Company of Pontiac, Michigan, and a rare Chief Pontiac showroom statue used to promote Pontiac vehicles. Museumgoers also will find stashes of old radios, Elvis Presley lore and Tom’s Peanuts memorabilia.
The Ma Rainey House honors a musical revolutionary. Known as the “Mother of the Blues,” Ma Rainey was born Gertrude Melissa Nix Pridgett in Columbus in 1886 and, as a 14-year-old, made her debut in a talent show at the Springer Opera House. After touring for decades in the South and Midwest, she retired from performing in 1933 and returned to Columbus to manage two theaters. The 2020 film Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom starred Viola Davis and Chadwick Boseman. The singer was commemorated by the U.S. Postal Service for her achievements in 1994 with a stamp in her honor.
The Bo Bartlett Center at Corn Center for the Visual Arts is another cultural hub in Columbus. Part gallery/museum and part experimental arts incubator, the center is housed in a former textile warehouse on the downtown riverside campus of Columbus State University. Works on display include the monumental paintings of Columbus native James W. “Bo” Bartlett, a renowned artist in the American realist tradition. The center rotates six to eight regional, national and international exhibitions annually.
Springer Opera House. (Photo credit: Columbus, Georgia Convention & Visitors Bureau)
Performing Arts Venues in Columbus
The Springer Opera House, a theater dating back to 1871, is one of the oldest producing theaters in the country. It was named the State Theatre of Georgia in 1971 by Governor Jimmy Carter. Parties and meals can be arranged in the Victorian-style saloon, an event venue built in 1998.
Upcoming Main Stage shows at the Springer include The Wiz, the Musical, September 19-28, 2025; Disney’s Frozen, the Musical, November 29-December 21, 2025; The Da Vinci Code, January 23-February 1, 2026; and Hairspray, the Musical, March 20-29, 2026.
At River Center for the Performing Arts, groups can have a dinner or reception on the stage of the 2,000-seat Bill Heard Theatre, with entertainment provided by a string ensemble, jazz quartet or The Wave digital theater organ. The state-of-the-art, three-theater complex, the centerpiece of Columbus’ Arts and Entertainment District, presents touring Broadway shows, dance performances, pop and symphonic concerts, and silent films with organ accompaniment. The Bill Heard Theatre hosts the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, while the 150-seat Studio Theatre is the performance space for students from Columbus State University Schwob School of Music.
Minor League Baseball Emerges as a Major Attraction
Professional baseball just returned to Columbus with a new minor league team playing its first season at Synovus Park, a $50 million transformation of century-old Golden Park. Now home to the Southern League’s Columbus Clingstones, Double-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves, the ballpark hosted various minor league and college-level summer teams over the years. The Legends Wall recognizes famous major leaguers who played there—stars like Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Jackie Robinson, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, Stan Musial, Ernie Banks and Randy Johnson.
Fans at Synovus Park get friendly with Fuzzy, peachy mascot of the Columbus Clingstones minor league baseball team. (Randy Mink Photo)
The Clingstones are named after a type of peach, and the team mascot is a peach named Fuzzy. Food and drink items at concession stands include peach IPA beer, peach margaritas, nachos with peach salsa, and peach funnel cakes topped with peach compote and caramel sauce. For groups of 20 or more, a 90-minute, all-you-can-eat buffet can be arranged in luxury suites, picnic areas and venues like The Peach Pit and Coors Light Chill Zone, with prices from $20 a person, game ticket included.
Synovus Park offers a number of group experiences. For example, your group can make a high- five tunnel to welcome the home team onto the field and stand with the coaches and reserves for the singing of the National Anthem. Before the game, the group can parade around the field’s warning track. Each game features between-innings giveaways, contests and other audience participation activities.
Whitewater Express offers rollicking raft rides on the Chattahoochee River. (Photo credit: Columbus, Georgia Convention & Visitors Bureau)
Thrills on and Over the Water
For heart-pumping thrills on the Chattahoochee River, active groups will want to ride the rapids with outfitter Whitewater Express. Everyone is guaranteed to get soaked on guided two-hour raft trips on the world’s longest natural urban whitewater course. You’ll see turtles resting on rocks and abundant bird life, including geese, ducks and great blue heron. Paddlers can expect gentler rapids early in the day, but things get wilder mid-afternoon when the power company releases more water from the dam.
The same outfitter operates Blue Heron Adventure Zip Line, which sends harnessed riders gliding over the rapids at speeds up to 40 mph on their way to Phenix City, Alabama—and back to Columbus. It’s the only zip line between two states.
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Columbus Abounds with Fun Places to Eat
The city has a long list of top-notch restaurants, many of them serving good old-fashioned Southern fare but often with a fresh twist.
Plucked Up Chicken & Biscuits offers good old-fashioned home cooking. (Randy Mink Photo)
A great way to start the day is breakfast at Plucked Up Chicken & Biscuits, a downtown eatery with exposed brick walls sporting whimsical chicken-themed artwork. The hearty Chicken & Grits bowl features pieces of fried chicken and sausage in Cajun cream sauce over white cheddar grits. Or try the Chicken Coop, a medley of fried or grilled chopped chicken, sausage gravy, cheddar cheese, bacon and two over-easy eggs. Biscuit sandwiches include fried chicken with pineapple marmalade, sausage with blackberry mustard and ham with goat cheese and jalapeno jelly.
Another favorite breakfast spot with Southern comfort food is Ruth Ann’s Restaurant, known for its Captain Crunch French toast and red velvet pancakes with cream cheese drizzle.
Country’s BBQ, a cozy diner, occupies a former Greyhound/Trailways bus station, and one seating section is inside an actual bus attached to the building. Specialties include fried chicken and barbecue items like the slow-smoked brisket sandwich.
More comfort food awaits at The Black Cow, famed for its Bacon Pimento Cheeseburger. It was voted “Best Burger in the South” by readers of Garden & Gun magazine. For fried chicken, the place to go is Minnie’s Uptown Restaurant.
Next door to Whitewater Express and across from the 22-mile-long Chattahoochee RiverWalk, stalls at Banks Food Hall dish up tacos, hot dogs, Asian fare and Italian ice, among other things.
In the Bibb City District, The Food Mill is a non-profit whose mission is to support local farmers and food businesses and remove barriers to nourishing foods in underserved communities. Its cafe, open for breakfast and lunch, strives to use as much regionally grown produce as possible, including foods from MercyMed Farm, an urban farm just a block away.
The popular Hippie Bowl is a hearty mix of nutty wild rice, caramelized roasted sweet potatoes and fresh vegetables in a zesty pesto dressing. Pimento cheese lovers go for the pimento cheese sandwich on whole-grain bread with applewood-smoked bacon and greens, pimento cheesesteak on a toasted hoagie roll and the pimento cheese plate—crackers, pickles, fruit preserves on a bed of mixed greens. (The cafe’s wi-fi password: pimento cheese.) The Food Mill also sells fresh produce, jams, honey and other local products.
Columbus Hotels Preserve City’s Industrial Heritage
For dining with views of the river and Alabama shoreline, the Eighteen 85 Rooftop Bar + Kitchen offers an upscale setting atop Hotel Indigo at Riverfront Place. The name pays homage to the city’s W.C. Bradley Co., founded in 1885 as a small cotton brokerage and expanded to become one of the country’s largest privately owned companies. Today it has diversified holdings in real estate, manufacturing and consumer products like Charbroil grills.
Hotel Indigo, developed by W.C. Bradley Real Estate, shines with industrial-chic design elements that capture the story of Columbus’ past as a textile manufacturing hub. Guest rooms feature vintage photos of mills and other factories that used power generated by the rapids of the Chattahoochee River. Pictures and artifacts in the lobby, home to Oak +Denim restaurant, showcase equipment from the textile plants. Next to the hotel, the 14th Street pedestrian bridge connects Columbus with Phenix City.
Up the river, a relic of the past has been revived and turned into a hotel. The 64-room City Mills Hotel occupies an old flour granary that closed in the 1980s. Built in 1828, the same year the city was founded, it is the world’s only commercial gristmill still intact. Cavernous ceilings, exposed bricks and beams, machinery and original hardwood floors enhance the historical ambience of the hotel’s upscale restaurant, Millhouse Kitchen + Bar, a perfect spot for celebratory group dinners.
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