As if you need me to give you a good reason to check out The Walking Dead filming locations. I mean you know as well as I do you’re a total fan (or let’s be honest you wouldn’t have arrived to this article). Well you’re in good company. I’ve been a fan of the hit AMC TV series since it first began in 2010. When I found out Atlanta Movie Tours would be bringing me on not one but TWO of their “Big Zombie” tours, I about fell over.
Can I just go back to this again… The Walking Dead filming locations!!!!!!! Like c’mon!!! Now I could list here a detailed index of all the film spots in Atlanta and in southern Georgia but that’s completely dumb. First of all there’s a book that will cost you $30 in the official The Walking Dead Store and will detail this for you. I bought the book for reference. If you had it in your hands right now you could essentially go to these places yourself, but you still wouldn’t have the experience I had. Why? Glad you asked.
Atlanta Movie Tours is a professional company which specializes in (say it with me) film locations. Their guides are extras in The Walking Dead and by extras I mean WALKERS!!! So you get a very exclusive look at these locations from like minded uber fans who have experienced first hand what the production is like. You know what that is? Really effing awesome that’s what.
This is what I took from my experience with Atlanta Movie Tours as a whole and why you should go to The Walking Dead filming locations with them… and not on your own
- Inside scoop on production
- Every question you could possibly ask answered
- A smashing coach to shuttle you around Atlanta (Big Zombie 1) and southern Georgia (Big Zombie 2)
- You get to take photos of key places in the show
- Atlanta Movie Tours has special KEY ONLY access to a few of these places which allows you to actually go inside! YES, INSIDE!
- You don’t feel like Senior Sketch McGetch creeping around properties because you have an authorized guide with you
So let’s talk about the separate tours and my own little special experience for each
Big Zombie 1 Tour in Atlanta
The Logistics: This was the first of the two tours I took with Atlanta Movie Tours. It was super easy to get to. If I can do it by myself you can do it. It went like this. At the Atlanta airport I caught a shuttle courtesy of Super Shuttles. This was free to me (sponsored) but I can say they were awesome. It’s less than $20 for the roundtrip. It took me to my hotel the W Midtown Atlanta which was totally baller, a totally perfect place to stay with very reasonable rates. The rooms were swanky and the hotel had lots to offer. The elevators were a pain in the butt because there was a wedding but that’s to be expected. From the hotel I called an Uber taxi (if you haven’t heard of this service it’s a luxury personal driver. You download the app and pay on there. No tipping, it’s beautiful). It was $7 to get to the Castleberry Hill office to start my tour.
The Tour: The Big Zombie 1 tour takes you through The Walking Dead filming locations from season 1 in downtown Atlanta. You get to see 15 places including:
- Nelson Street
- Terminus (when they all arrive)
- The Sheriff’s Office
- The Hospital Rick wakes from his coma in
- The retirement home
- The famous Atlanta skyline and more
Here are some pics I took on this tour. My favorite location was the hospital Rick walked out of in Season 1 when he discovered the bodies in the parking lot. You can see more in my instagram here. This is a great tour which was guided by Charlie, one of the more famous walkers on The Walking Dead. He’s extremely knowledgeable about the show and the filming locations, and he will even sign a high res glossy of him as a walker for just $10.
Other things to do in Atlanta: If you want to spend some extra time in the city, there’s the College Football Hall of Fame, the CNN Studio Tour and the World of Coca-Cola which I personally experienced and loved all. I was given a CityPass by the Atlanta Tourism Office, which really is a great value of you’re going to explore the destination. The CityPass is under $75 for adults and gets you access to these and a couple attractions. I can also highly recommend going to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. Super cool and they even have various exhibits going on as well. A night stroll in there is the bees knees. For more information on things to do in Atlanta check out their tourism site here.
Big Zombie 2 Tour in Senoia AKA Woodbury
The Logistics: So this is a little more tricky and if you’re going to do this tour or both of these tours you should just rent a car at the airport. I can advise you use Kayak.com for booking. They are usually the most inexpensive. Google maps works brilliantly on your smart phone and will guide you with ease from the airport to the Atlanta Movie Tours offices. You will have to pay for daily parking at the garage which connects to the W Midtown Atlanta if you choose to stay there. The fuel from the airport to Senoia and back was under $10.
There’s an amazing little coffee shop under the official Walking Dead gift store called The Waking Dead Cafe. It’s essentially a Starbucks and has an awesome bacon egg and cheese croissant. You will want to bring some milk money for fandom finds in the gift shop. There’s a few cool things in there. Also, the town of Senoia is a charming, sleepy little place with ‘Pottery Barn’ like antique shops, boutique restaurants, ice cream and gift shops. Many of these storefronts and even inside of the stores have been used in the show. So take your time, take lots of pics and stroll around Senoia AKA Woodbury before you go on your tour.
The tour starts at 2:30, I recommend getting there by 11ish. It’s only 40 minutes south of the W Midtown Atlanta and the Atlanta airport is between the 2. It took me 25 minutes to get to the airport from Senoia.
The Tour: The Big Zombie 2 Tour takes you through Walking Dead filming locations for seasons 2-5. This is my favorite of the two tours. Not because it’s better, but because you get so many more seasons. Plus if you’re doing this trip between May and November you get to see the production trailers and sets. To me this is just awesome. But in all honesty, if you’re truly a fan you’re going to be doing both of these tours, let’s be realistic. On this tour you’ll see 14 filming locations. These are some of the most recognizable spots:
- Alexandria and the wall (you can’t go in here but you can see it)
- Pudding house
- Woodbury
- The area where Daryl offs Merle
- The area (key entry) where Michonne finds all the walkers locked in cages and where the Governor rallies
- Morgan’s apartment (key entry) and plenty more
Here are some pics I took on the tour. My favorite spots on this one was Morgan’s apartment and the place where Daryl offed Merle. It really was an awesome day from start to finish. The tour was guided by Colin, Kent and Stephanie. They were amazing. Kent and Stephanie are walkers in The Walking Dead, Colin is an extra with weapons! They all sign autographs as well. They were $10 for Kent and $5 each for Colin and Stephanie. Colin is the main guide and he is amaze balls. Seriously a film encyclopedia.
On a side note: There’s a historic Bed & Breakfast right in town. We stayed here and can totally vouch for it, it’s terribly charming. Maybe you’ll see one of your favorite stars as they roll in to work. They mostly live in Atlanta but come in Monday through Friday for filming. PLEASE DON’T BE AN ASS. These are professionals just trying to do their job. They are known to be really cool with fans but when you get all 13 year-old Bieber fan on them they run… and they should. That’s just lame. Don’t be lame.
In Closing
The Atlanta Movie Tours guided Walking Dead filming locations tour is really the only way you should be getting geeky with it. You’re really getting the best experience and knowledge this way. I loved the tour and will stand 100% behind it (and I was not paid to say this). This is an epic fandom trip and one you will always remember. Like how cool would you be if you got this as a gift for your partner or friend / sibling? Just sayin. Book a tour with Atlanta Movie Tours here. Both tours run $65 each and are worth every cent. You can even buy a gift certificate.
Disclosure: While Atlanta Movie Tours comped my tours, this in no way shapes my opinion. It just makes bringing you the epic deets more affordable and I’m okay with that.
Need to know more? Want to share something? Please by all means comment below or shoot me an email!
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86 Comments
This is one of my favorite shows, so I would LOVE to get down there and check out some of the filming locations one of these days. Very cool.
Totally worth every single penny and then some!
The tours are great, I do agree, we’ve been on all of them, but I will say that following a self guided location book has turned into a great hobby for all of us fans… Once a week we go find a new spot, take pics and see all of Ga on our own time…we have thoroughly enjoyed our TWD locations road trips, and the ppl and owners that we have met tell us the coolest filming stories of their experience!! I would definitely recommend the location books!!!
That is such an awesome idea for people who are in the region. I love this plan! And since AMT doesn’t go to every location, there’s still plenty more to see!
I would LOVE to tour all of these! The Walking Dead is my favorite show.
OMG it’s SOOOOO awesome!!! Totally geeked out doing this!
I have not seen the show myself (I get freaked out easily), but I love seeing behind the scene stuff. It make the show so much more fun to watch! You can point out all the places you saw in the show when you watch it.
When I went to the Harry Potter Studio Tour I was flipping out. I had to watch all 8 films again. Guess what I’m doing now… watching all TWD again lmao!
You are so lucky, i would love to go there, we are a big fan of the TV show 😀
You should go! And you literally have all the info you could possibly need right here.
I so want to do a tour!! My hubby and I just watched the new episode last night, we are addicted!!
And now it’s a reality!
I am not a Zombie fan, but how cool that you got to see the filming location. I love seeing the filming locations of movies\tv shows and al the behind the scenes stuff.
I am totally infatuated with production. I love film so much! I mean the whole CNN thing even made me giddy LOL.
I LOVE the Walking Dead. I mean I LOVE it. I would love to check out all of these places. This had to have been the coolest trip.
OMG I FEEEEEEEEEEL YOU!!!!!!! I was so stoked when I found out I was going!!! It was seriously one of the most memorable trips I’ve ever been on.
Wow they did a lot of on-location shooting for this show. It’s pretty cool that they didn’t rely heavily on in-studio filming.
Yes most of it is done on location. I think this is so exciting for uber fans like me.
OMG How stinking cool is that!!Totally Walking Dead geeking out over here!
RIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I KNOW I’M STILL I’M LIKE WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!
I have actually never seen Walking Dead but I hear great things about it!! I think it’s so much fun to tour and see where movies/shows are made and I bet that tour was awesome!!
Killer, pun intended. 🙂
So cool! I love the Walking Dead show and would love to visit the filming locations
I hear a bucket list?
I’m all over walking dead tour number 2! That one looks the best.
They’re both really good. There’s a very post apocalyptic side of Georgia which really brings you into the show in both downtown ATL and in southern GA….
Well that looks like a fun tour for the fans!!! I used to be so into the show, I stopped watching it somewhere along the way though.
Oh it’s so dramatic now and the walkers are super icky, I love it!
I’ve never watched the show, but have heard many talk about it. I love all of these pictures that you captured and compared. I love behind the scenes stuff! Super cool! And who knew their was a Walking Dead Cafe? What a fun trip you had!
I didn’t even know there was a cafe, and I was starving!!!! It was super yumz.
I would love to go on a movie tour, this looks like so much fun!
I didn’t know they filmed it in Atlanta. This reminds me of our trip to Atlanta in 2012. Next time we go back, I hope we get to take the tour too. Looks fun!
It’s a must!
This would be so much fun. I would love to tour and see the places they have filmed. I have been binge watching the Walking Dead on Netflix.
And when you get back, you’ll binge watch it again. I promise.
Hehehehe I feel like the only one here that’s never seen Walking Dead lol…. Still neat to see where it’s filmed since I do know what the show is 😉
You know, I went to the Harry Potter Studio tour in London before ever even watching a single movie. As soon as I got home I watched all 8, on Bluray, which I bought for large sum of money. Watching it after was like opening Christmas presents!
my husband and I love watching this show together! This would be a fun vacation.
Atlanta is a great weekender destination. And with it being a DELTA hub, the flights are always budget friendly. Totally an awesome Vaentine’s or birthday gift!
OMG!!! I just showed my huz-boo. I want to go!!! I’m super jelly that you got to experience that! What did you think of the first ep?
OMG it’s amazing! I had to come home and watch it again, it’s been so long. I couldn’t believe how much I had forgotten!!! And so much is fresh in my head since I just did the tour! I was jumping out of my seat pointing things out!!! So rad!
It’s almost hard for me to think that I didn’t give this show a chance until a few years later after its inception. Now, I can’t get enough of this show! Therefore, this is something I’ll definitely have to do someday!
So I sat down and watched the very first episode again… because after you do this tour you just want to do it. Oh my GOD I forgot how good the first episode was!!!!
My son and his wife would love this one. They are HUGE fans of the show.
We’ve done both tours and they are SO worth the money! If you’re a fan of the show, you will be in walker heaven, just like I was!
Couldn’t agree more!
Thanks Beth!! Love hearing that!
Been all of these places…i definitely recommend staying at the Veranda House Inn (the B&B she mentioned)…it is a beautiful place and the owners (rick and laura, believe it or not LOL) are amazing people!
Awesome thank you for the inside scoop. The place looked awesome for sure. I want to go back just to stay there! HA!
You forgot about the Waterfall Campsite…
No I didn’t forget LOL, it’s not on the Atlanta Movie Tours tour. In fact there are a lot of places not listed on the tour. Keep in mind, TWD films on location in Georgia so, there a many places. It would take days to go to all of them. But, this is certainly a good sampling. You can visit the quarry though, it’s not far from the city.
Me and my partner are thinking of booking a 4 week holiday to Atlanta for early next year and want to make it the best experience ever! All the Info you have on this blog is amazing and has got us really excited about actually making TWD a reality for us! I’ve been searching for travel guides relating to TWD locations in and around Atlanta that also encompass the zombie bus tours and can’t find anything. Can you recommend any such thing or companions that would act as a bible for us? I don’t know if any of TWD magazines have anything or the Georgia guide would too? Any help would be great as we want to start palming rather than being stuck on what to do for four weeks. Thanks
Thank you. Literally the only tour you need is Atlanta Movie Tours. They are the best.
We did go there the first year Misty, but as the show progresses, so does the tour. We’re always working on tweaking to keep things fresh and I think Elders Mill (waterfall campsite) allows private tours still.
I’ll be in Atlanta in a couple weeks for walker stalker. I’ve been considering doing the 2nd tour but I’m staying in downtown Atlanta and I know that it leaves from the Woodbury shop in senoia. Can you tell me how far the woodberry shop is from downtown Atlanta , and what you think it would cost for a cab ride? Thank you .
Cab would be too much. I suggest renting a car from the airport. It’s just about 30 bucks a day. Senoia is about 40 minutes away from ATL. The fuel only ran me 10 bucks in an economy car. Kayak offers great rental prices, google maps has flawless directions from the airport to Senoia. I know Atlanta Movie Tours is starting a shuttle service from ATL as well, but I’m not sure when they are starting this. I think it’s going to be on for the con. 😉
Lots of sold out days with WSC Denis, but we do offer RT transport from our shop in Castleberry Hill (a 5 min walk from teh GA World Congress Ctr) to Senoia. We do this year-round, only exceptions are when Atlanta Falcons games mess up our schedule :). You can book the transport when booking the part 2 tour, would love to have you join us!
I have enjoyed all the tours offered Atlanta Movie, Harleson, Senioa and Grantville. I recommend them all. The Location book is an awesome buy! We have been to almost all the locations on our own and the book(highly recommend) tells you information about where you can and can not go. It takes you places the tours don’t. We have met some really neat people along the way and made new friends that share the love of the show as well. Loving our new hobby and enjoying seeing what all Georgia has to offer!
Georgia is so beautiful, I’m so glad there’s so many hidden gems there!
Thanks so much for the wonderful review Christa! Only wish you could have come on all the other tours and seen ALLLLLLLL the filming going on in this amazing state – Hunger Games, Captain America, Guardians of the Galaxy, Fast & Furious, the list just keeps growing! Welcome back anytime you want to join us!
Thank you! I’m literally on a plane at your disposal. I had that much fun!
So awesome! I did the Senoia tour and loved it! Definitely planning to do the Atlanta one next time I’m in the area.
That is awesome! Let me know what you think when you go! I can’t wait to hear all about it!
I am a huge fan. I would love to see some of these places in real life.
It’s literally like one of the coolest things I’ve ever done.
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My husband and I plan to do do this in the fall! We are beyond excited.On each tour did you feel like you had enough time at each location or were you rushed a bit/feel like you wish you could have spent more time? How large is each tour group?
I would love to go am from Canada who would I call to make arrangements and where’s the best place to stay if someone can email me info please bobbigagnon@hotmail.com
Hi Bobbi! All of your questions can be answered in the post. I’ve recommended a place to stay in both Downtown Atlanta and in Senoia. There’s also a link to Atlanta movie tours where you can book online and find their contact info! 😉
Bobbi, I live 30 minutes north of midtown Atlanta. My BF and I went to a Falcons game recently and stayed overnight in a cool hotel near the Georgia Dome called The Glenn. Lots of restaurants within walking distance. The hotel has a groovy rooftop bar. Complimentary mojitos at the check in desk. Complimentary (unlimited) wine on the rooftop bar from 5:30 to 6:30.
We will def stay there again when attending an event in the ATL.
Me and my daughter are big Walking Dead fans!!I would love to take her here this summer!!
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Totally geeking out over your photos! What an amazing tour. I’d love to take it sometime, too! Thanks for sharing it all.
Thank you SOOOOO much! I hope you do too! xoxo
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My brother-in-law is a set artist for TWD and has probably been to mostof these locations. I live in the area and feel like I should totally do this. Thanks for sharing!!
Fun! And give him a high five for us, we love the sets!
Hey, we are obsessed with the walking dead me and my boyfriend, and we’ve looked into coming to Atlanta on a holiday for a week jsut purely to do all the walking dead tours (we live in North East of England, UK) so its quite a distance…but we are pricing it up and stuff, is it worth it ?! Its along way to come, be such an experience seeing all the sets….
its purely the only reason we would be coming 🙂
Aswel as an experience to going to an amazing country (I LOVE USA)….
Hannah 🙂
Absolutely! Atlanta is incredible, I love it here! The film locations are all over, but you really get a good country feel in Senoia. Atlanta Movie Tours is great, they know everything about the production and then some! You won’t be disappointed, seriously. And if you come give me a wave! I’m in and out but I’m always happy to chat with my readers over a cheeky pint!
I’m from Manchester UK, and have visited the filming locations numerous times.
I started out in 2012 when I was planning a holiday to Florida, and took a few days to drive up into Georgia to view the locations. That’s probably the cheapest way to get to the USA, as there are plenty of charter flights to Florida at reasonable price (Thomson/First Choice, Thomas Cook, etc) from the UK although saying that the currency exchange rate is not that great at the moment.
The good thing (for me anyway) was the enjoyable drive northwards up through Georgia on the old US1, going through small town USA. It takes a good 6 to 7 hours of driving to get from the Orlando area of Florida up to where the filming locations are in Georgia, and you have to enjoy driving. But it’s certainly an enjoyable change from daily commutes to work in the UK.
We went to Terminus today. As some people say, it’s not in the best area. We stopped today and there were some other fans there. The area does not look overly dangerous to me; it’s only about a mile southwest of Turner Field. That being said there could be burglars hanging out there on weekends trying to spot sightseers and get a quick hit on unsuspecting people. We had a good view from the road and were able to get some good photos.
Just be alert and don’t leave your car running and make sure to go during the day.
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