Macon still offers traditional southern charm at the heart of Georgia with antebellum (pre-Civil War) homes and a plethora of cherry trees that blossom annually. Each year, coinciding with the March blossoming, Macon holds the city-wide Cherry Blossom Festival. The Southern Jubilee is held each fall, celebrating music and southern pride.

Over 12,000 years of human history in the region is evident in the area around Macon, with evidence from ice-age tribes to the more recent Muscogee people. To preserve this history, the Ocmulgee National Monument has been erected. Other attractions of interest in Macon are the Tubman African American Museum—presenting African American art, culture, and history—and the Macon Museum of Arts and Sciences that exhibits fine art, natural history, and astronomy.