Thinking about heading to Atlanta? Avoid the ticketing lines at the city’s prime attractions and save some serious money (around 45 percent) in the process with CityPASS.

The arrangement aggregates general admission to five vibrant venues. Visit the first three, and then choose two from among the remaining four.

• See the Georgia Aquarium. This 10-million gallon underwater wonderland is reputedly the world’s largest. Beluga whales, manta rays and a whale shark have all taken up residence in inland Georgia. One of the aquarium’s must-sees is the AT&T Dolphin Takes show.
• Drink in the World of Coca-Cola. You’ll see how they bottle the homegrown beverage. What you won’t see is all that goes in it. It’s still a secret.
• Get an up-close-and-personal glimpse of the world’s newsroom at CNN. This is a 55-minute walking tour of the place gatekeepers report, write and disseminate the news.

Those are the three set pieces of Atlanta’s CityPASS. Here’s where you start to pick and choose:

• Take in the extraordinary High Museum of Art, the Southeast’s largest. Light-suffused galleries illuminate the works of the masters. Bring the kids along to the Greene Family Learning Gallery. Beats an afternoon at the movies.
• If the kids prefer dinosaurs (hey, that’s almost a given) eschew the High and visit the Fernbank Museum of Natural History.  Never thought of fossils as fabulous? This might change your mind.
• See some very-much-alive critters at Zoo Atlanta. There are more than 1,500 of them – including giant pandas and what’s billed as the country’s largest collection of gorillas and orangutans.
• Creatures leave you cold?  Immerse yourself in the past at the Atlanta History Center, which houses one of the nation’s premier exhibitions focusing on the Civil War. Amble through 33 acres of sublime gardens and trails. The best time to make this foray is the fall.

Obviously you’re not going to cram five venues into one day. That’s why CityPASS is valid for nine days.

(Image: Robert S. Donovan)