Atlantic City stories
47 stories from exploreatlanticcity.com, newest first.
Walking the Kentucky Avenue district in Atlantic City
The clubs are gone, but the Northside is still readable within a few blocks: a supper club on the corner, a free heritage museum, a bronze plaque on the Boardwalk rail.
Inside Atlantic City's Only Legal Distillery on Baltic Avenue
Atlantic City's first and only legal distillery pours a walk-in flight four days a week on Baltic Avenue, and you drink it in sight of the production room behind the glass.
Midtown Atlantic City between the outlets and the Boardwalk
The biggest pipe organ ever built, more than 100 tax-free outlet stores, an 1897 oyster bar and a pizzeria that never closes, all within a few inland blocks.
Galleries and red sauce in Atlantic City's Arts District
Eight working studios, a Black heritage museum, 106 murals and the oldest restaurant in town are all within a few blocks of one Ducktown parking deck.
Walking Atlantic City's Orange Loop street by street
Three streets off the Boardwalk, holding a church from 1902, the densest cluster of the 105 murals, a beer hall with 40 taps and a whiskey room behind a chocolate counter.
North Beach, the quieter end of Atlantic City's Boardwalk
The northern mile of the Atlantic City Boardwalk holds an 1857 lighthouse at one end and a waterpark inside the Showboat at the other. Here is which stops are worth the walk and what time each one opens.
Island Waterpark in October on the Atlantic City Boardwalk
Atlantic City's indoor beach is open through October, with most of its hours falling at the weekend. Entry is $49 at the door, and the place goes quiet from 4 p.m.
Watching Dolphins Off Atlantic City in October
There is one boat and one departure a day, and by October 2026 the crowd has thinned. How to do the Gardner's Basin dolphin sailing properly, and what to do with the afternoon if the sea is flat.
Where Atlantic City Crowned Its First Miss America
The pageant began in 1921 as a scheme to sell one more week of hotel rooms. This is the two-mile Atlantic City trail where that actually happened, taking in the arena floor with its organ and the museum that keeps the half the Boardwalk left out.
Why Atlantic City's Casinos Look the Way They Do
Fifty years of competing arguments about what a casino should be, stacked along one Boardwalk, and how to walk the whole thing in a day.
Under 21 in Atlantic City and Nowhere Near a Casino
A full itinerary for travellers too young for the gaming floor, built from the free beach, two piers, a rebuilt aquarium and the arcade that used to be a casino.
Boardwalk or Marina on Your First Atlantic City Trip
The island is barely half a mile wide in places, but which edge you sleep on decides what you can walk to at midnight and what needs a cab.
Walking Caesars Atlantic City and the Boardwalk Around It
A free forty-five-minute route through the Roman theming at Caesars, then out onto the boards to the pier, the lighthouse and the sub shop, with the door rules, the prices and an honest verdict.
A Comedy Weekend in Atlantic City, Planned Around the Show
Arena headliners, club rooms with a two-item minimum, and a dinner you book weeks out. This is the order to reserve them in.
Where to Eat and Drink on Atlantic City's Orange Loop
Three streets, forty beers on draft, a 4am pub and one 1897 oyster house: how to run a night on the Orange Loop without setting foot on a casino floor.
Dinner at Hard Rock Atlantic City in September 2026
Sixteen places to eat under one roof, and two of them shut on the nights you'll want them most. How to plan an honest September dinner at Atlantic City's Boardwalk casino, and when to walk out of the building instead.
Riding Atlantic City's Steel Pier Wheel After Dark
When to ride the 227-foot wheel after dark, what a ticket costs in 2026, and where to eat and drink afterwards without leaving the Boardwalk.
North Beach Is the Quiet End of the Atlantic City Boardwalk
The stretch north of Virginia Avenue has the lighthouse, the working basin and the best deck in town. Here is how to spend a weekend there without ever crossing a casino floor.
Day Trips That Stretch an Atlantic City Weekend
Fifteen minutes to an hour and ten inland or down the coast: a marsh with a skyline view, a dry-town boardwalk, a Pine Barrens iron village and a Saturday-night rodeo, with prices, hours and which ones take walk-ups.
How to Plan a First Concert Weekend in Atlantic City
A 14,770-seat arena, a forty-tap beer hall and your hotel bed all sit within a ten-minute walk of each other on the Boardwalk, and that is the fact to book around.
A Cheap Atlantic City Weekend That Starts on the Sand
No beach tags, $3 jitney hops and a $12 climb up the tallest lighthouse in New Jersey: two days in Atlantic City that never touch a casino floor.
Atlantic City Still Works as a Beach Trip in Early October
The sand is free, the one bar built on it never closes, and the first two weekends of October give you the barrier island without the summer crowds, as long as you know what has already dropped to weekend hours.
Atlantic City Without a Car, Route by Route
Four routes of $3 minibuses, twelve trains a day and four miles of boards: Atlantic City is easier on foot than behind a wheel.
How to Build a Birthday Weekend in Atlantic City
A two-night plan for Atlantic City, built around the dinners you have to book ahead and the rooms that can actually seat twenty, with the daylight hours spent somewhere other than a casino floor.
Late September on a Calmer Atlantic City Boardwalk
After Labor Day the crowds thin, the ocean stays warm and half the city switches to a Wednesday-to-Sunday week. Here is how to plan around that, from Steel Pier to Gardner's Basin.
Getting to Atlantic City From New York Without a Car
Nine coach departures a day, one honest rail route and a boardwalk built in 1870. How to reach Atlantic City from New York and get around once you land, without ever holding a car key.
Halloween in Atlantic City Beyond the Casino Floors
Halloween lands on a Saturday in Atlantic City in 2026: the bar crawl, the haunted lighthouse, the danced Dracula and the family stuff, with prices, door realities and timings.
Three Nights of Phish and the Atlantic City In Between
Phish take Boardwalk Hall for three nights in October 2026. Eat, drink, climb and recover within the twelve walkable blocks around it.
Where to Stay in Atlantic City the First Time Around
The Boardwalk or the Marina District decides the shape of your trip. Here is how thirteen hotels differ on rates, walking times and what actually happens at the door.
Two Days in Atlantic City Without Setting Foot in a Casino
A walkable, honest weekend on the barrier island: the Wheel at sunset, dolphins off the back bay, the city's hardest dinner reservation and the Orange Loop after dark.
Atlantic City with Kids Beyond the Casino Floor
Atlantic City has a four-mile Boardwalk, a free beach and enough within a short drive inland to fill a family week without passing a slot machine.
Atlantic City Casinos Turned the Floor Into a Stage
Live bands at the tables, a poker room built for spectators, and an animatronic saloon act: how Atlantic City's casino floors became the boardwalk's best free theater.
The Absecon Lighthouse and the Inlet: Atlantic City's Quiet Northern Edge
Beyond the casino corridor, Atlantic City's Inlet neighbourhood pairs New Jersey's tallest lighthouse with working docks, back-bay fishing boats and food-truck seafood — a full day's walk that has almost nothing to do with the Boardwalk.
Salt Water and Sugar: Atlantic City's Taffy Shops and the Candy That Built the Boardwalk
A walking guide to Atlantic City's original 1880s taffy dynasties, the century-old fudge counter and modern candy stops that stand alongside them, and how to plan a boardwalk candy crawl in 2026 whether you're a couple or a coach party.
Four Miles of Wooden Planks: The Story of Atlantic City's Boardwalk
The world's first boardwalk turned 155 this decade — here is how to walk its full length in 2026, landmark by landmark, without wasting a step or a dollar.
The Bay Side: Atlantic City's Salt Marsh, Clamming Boats and Quiet Back Channel
Turn your back on the boardwalk and Atlantic City opens onto tidal creeks, nesting ospreys and working clam boats — here's how to plan the bay side around the tides.
Beyond the Buffet: Atlantic City's Quiet Dining Renaissance
The all-you-can-eat trough was never the point — here's where Atlantic City actually cooks, from a 129-year-old oyster house to red-sauce tables that have fed the same families for generations.
Under the Boardwalk: Atlantic City's Prohibition Ghosts and Speakeasy Secrets
A calm, walkable route through the rooms where Atlantic City poured openly while the rest of America drank in the dark — the genuine survivors, the knowing recreations, and the museum that ties it together.
Beyond the Boardwalk: Atlantic City's Best Escapes on the Water
Ten honest ways to trade the casino floor for the bay — from a floating tiki bar to a captain-for-hire sunset cruise — with real prices, group realities and booking advice for 2026.
The Best Water-Based Tours in Atlantic City
From a dolphin-guaranteed sightseeing sail to New Jersey's only full-bar tiki boat, here's every Atlantic City water tour worth booking in 2026 — matched to who you're travelling with and what you actually want from the day.
Where to See Live Music in Atlantic City
From grande-dame arena tours to free lounge sets and a bar on the sand — the honest, walkable guide to Atlantic City's music rooms in 2026.
The Marina District, Atlantic City: Where the Night Moves Off the Boardwalk
Atlantic City’s Marina District trades surf and funnel cake for marina views, chef-driven dining, serious poker and the kind of after-dark energy that starts indoors and runs late.
The Inlet, Atlantic City: lighthouse air, back-bay water and the city’s quiet north end
At Atlantic City’s Mile 0, the Boardwalk loosens its tie: a lighthouse, a working basin, new seawalls and a few old-school spots still make the north end feel like the city locals keep for themselves.
The Boardwalk, Atlantic City: Five and a Half Miles of Salt, Neon and Old Jersey Heat
Atlantic City's original plank walk still does the same old trick: beach on one side, casino glow on the other, and enough noise, candy and sea air to keep the whole place humming after dark.
Lower Chelsea, Atlantic City: the quiet end of the boardwalk
South of the Tropicana, Atlantic City sheds its neon and settles into a calmer shoreline of free sand, campus life and old-school corner eats.
Ducktown, Atlantic City: where the old city still eats first
Two blocks inland from the casinos, Ducktown keeps Atlantic City’s immigrant memory alive in bread, seafood, red sauce and late-night neighborhood bars.
Chelsea, Atlantic City: Quiet Beach, Old-School Tables, and a Lived-In South End
Atlantic City’s south end trades the neon squeeze for a calmer beach, a residential grid, and some of the city’s most stubbornly beloved restaurants.