Athens Launches Pup Pass for Two-Legged, Pint-Sized Explorers (and Their Grownups)

By now, most folks around here know Athens can throw a solid Friday night—live shows, late-night bites, and more than a few places to find yourself dancing next to a professor in sequins. But if you’ve got a kid in tow and you’re not trying to keep them entertained with a Target run and snacks from the gas station, the options can start to feel…limited.

That’s where the new Pup Pass comes in.

Launched by Visit Athens GA, this free digital passport rounds up more than 20 spots around town where kids can actually be kids, parents can actually relax, and no one’s side-eyeing you for bringing a toddler into what is clearly a bar. Think of it like a curated Athens starter pack for families, minus the mascots and plastic souvenirs.

But what makes the Pup Pass worth your time isn’t just the discounts (though yes, free desserts and craft kits do add up). It’s the surprisingly smart, very Athens mix of experiences it pulls together—some that fly under the radar even for longtime locals.

Let’s start with the board game café. The Rook and Pawn has been around for a while, but with the Pup Pass, kids get a free game pass and a welcome into what feels like a screen-free utopia. It’s the kind of place where your seven-year-old can obliterate you in Uno while sipping hot chocolate, and you won’t even mind.

Just a few blocks away, the Georgia Museum of Art is handing out backpacks with gallery games and take-home crafts—yes, even art museums in this town know how to keep a kid’s attention.

If your crew leans outdoorsy, the Classic City Mini Trails at Trail Creek Park were basically made for tiny cyclists in Paw Patrol helmets.

And if that’s not your scene, Bear Hollow Zoo—still free, still charming—is always a safe bet. (The otters are the real draw, if you ask any five-year-old.)

But the Pup Pass isn’t all playgrounds and educational gold stars. This is Athens, after all. There are cookie dough flights at Alumni Cookie Dough, bean-to-bar magic at Condor Chocolates, and a make-your-own bracelet situation at Ladybird Jewelry that somehow avoids being gimmicky. Bonus: you get half-off for Pup Pass kids, so even your middle child can get that very specific, gold-initial charm they’ve been asking for.

The whole pass reads like it was made by people who actually live here—people who’ve wrangled a bored preschooler at brunch or tried to sneak culture into a weekend without making it feel like homework. There’s a genuine thoughtfulness behind the mix.

You can bounce from chocolate-making to storytime at the Athens-Clarke County Library to watching your kid take their first fearless leap into the foam pit at Rush Trampoline Park—all without ever once hearing “Are we done yet?”

And sure, there are the practical perks too. Candlewood Suites will give you a discount if you book through the Pup Pass and even hand over crayons and a coloring book at check-in.

Mama’s Boy is still Mama’s Boy—bustling and buttery—but the Pup Pass makes it feel a little more like the kind of place that welcomes the sippy-cup crowd alongside the hungover college brunch crew.

What’s most refreshing is that this isn’t Athens pretending to be something it’s not. There’s no manufactured theme park gloss, no overly peppy mascots.

It’s the same city we know: a little weird, deeply local, and often surprising in the best way. The Pup Pass just makes it easier to share that with the small humans in your life.

And honestly, who among us wouldn’t work a little harder for a kid-sized bracelet and a scoop of cookie dough?