Travel to Savannah, Georgia

Curious about visiting Savannah, Georgia? Here is everything you need to know about planning a trip to the Hostess City of the South.

About Savannah, Georgia  

Visiting Savannah, Georgia, is like taking a time machine back to the early 1900s. Beautifully restored homes surround 22 perfectly manicured squares and parks. The thick overhanging willows, complete with Spanish moss, provide shade for you to stroll through the historic downtown.

Where is Savannah located?

Savannah is located in Georgia. If you’re looking for Savannah on a map, it’s near the southeast coast of the United States. It’s right by the Atlantic coastline, and its elevation is only 49′ above sea level.

What is Savannah known for?

If there is one thing, Savannah is known for its southern hospitality. It is consistently voted one of the “world’s friendliest cities.” The sound of southern accents welcomes you and presents your initial sign that the “Hostess City of the South,” is a place where the pace of life slows down. Living is easy, and a glass of sweet iced tea is always at the ready.

Flights to Savannah

The Savannah Airport is your closest option to fly into the city. It’s also known as the Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport. Nine major airlines fly into Savannah, GA, including Delta, United, American, and Allegiant. 

Tip: When looking for flights to Savannah, the Airport Code is SAV.

I would call the airport “quaint.” It’s tiny, but it’s very well put together. There aren’t many restaurants inside the Savannah Airport, but you can try the famous Leopold’s Ice Cream. The location downtown can often have a 30+ minute wait, so if you aren’t keen on standing in line, the airport location is an excellent way to skip the queue.

Getting around Savannah

You can easily navigate Savannah without a car. That being said, if you want to leave downtown Savannah at any time, you need a rental car. I would not rely on Uber or the Taxi service. We scheduled a pickup for our departing flight 24 hours in advance, and they no-showed. Luckily, we found the one Uber in the area after refreshing the app for about 20 minutes.

Savannah by Foot

Savannah is not a very big city, so walking is no problem. You walk from one end of the historic district to the other in about 20 minutes. And trust me, we did it multiple times a day. 

Is Savannah, Georgia Safe to Walk at night?

We felt perfectly comfortable walking through the historic district at night. Savannah does have some homelessness problems, but there are so many people strolling about that you really don’t notice it. Just like any big city, use common sense and you’ll be fine.

Where to Stay

 Savannah has a ton of great Airbnb options. Staying in an older restored house by a historic square is an experience of its own. If you want to get a feel of the city, I would recommend going the rent-a-house route. 

We looked at Airbnb and VRBO but surprisingly found the best deal through Lucky Savannah Vacation Rentals. We stayed at home across the street from the Mercer Williams House, which you may recognize from the book and film Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.  It was a thrill watching the movie and seeing the house on screen and through our living room window.

Another good option for staying in Savannah is to look for a hotel across River Street. There are many great activities and restaurants along the Savannah River, so you can’t go wrong staying in a hotel along the Savannah riverfront.

Savannah, Georgia Things to Do

Things in Savannah generally revolve around two things; drinking and history. Here are a few of the top things to do in Savannah:

• Wander from square to square with your favorite alcoholic beverage
• Late Night Ghost Tour
• Drink at a Speakeasy 

Savannah, Georgia Food

Frankly, I am torn on writing about Savannah’s cuisine. We had some of the best breakfasts of my life there. But our other meals failed to impress. Not that they were terrible, everything we ate was delicious; it just wasn’t all that memorable. Maybe we overhyped the food in our heads leading up to the trip, or perhaps we just got some poor recommendations. 

All the being said, we still loved the atmosphere of the restaurants here. Savannah has some great outdoor dining. I thoroughly enjoyed sitting on that patio or rooftop, sipping a cocktail, and listening to horse-drawn carriages clickety-clack over the cobblestones.

Savannah, Georgia Weather

Savannah has some beautiful weather. Mild winters and hot summers. We traveled to Savannah in May, and the weather was perfect. Maybe a bit humid, but that’s always a given in the low country. It’s a great shoulder season town, so I’d recommend March-May as the best time to visit weatherwise.

How many Days Needed for Savannah?

Four Days is plenty of time to experience Savannah. Remember, you can only eat and drink for so long. But you could add a few more days to take some day trips outside of the city.

History of Savannah

*Nerd Alert: Below are the parts of Savannah’s history I found interesting. Obviously, there is a lot more to Savannah’s past but I found these highlights (and lowlights) particularly captivating. If history isn’t your thing you can skip this part and move on to our Savannah Itinerary.*

The history behind Savannah, GA, was paved with good intentions, but greed and violence ultimately would shape the path to the beautiful city you see before you.

A New Utopia

Savannah was the first city in Georgia. In 1733, James Oglethorpe led a small group of hand-selected colonists from England to experiment with social reform. James was known in London as a humanitarian protesting against citizens being jailed for falling behind on debts after borrowing money to feed their families. He believed if goodhearted peasants were given a chance to break the poverty cycle, they could become a benefit to society rather than a burden. James proposed a new American colony where poor settlers were given just enough land to grow their food. These colonists were expected to work their plots, and no one was allowed to buy or expand their farms to maintain equality among the community. Slavery was explicitly prohibited in the new settlement.

Oglethorpe named the settlement after the Savannah River, which received its name from a specific tribe of Shawnee Indians known as the Savana. James knew peace was the only way to preserve the utopia he was trying to build and quickly became allies with the local Native Americans. Any land settled by his colonists was always agreed to by a treaty and followed proper Indian tradition for acquiring land. He also protected the Indians from being taken advantage of by unscrupulous traders looking to take advantage of the native’s hospitality.

Paradise isn’t Cheap.

Like all promising paradises, the greed of man would eventually rear its ugly head. To cover the cost of the new colony, King George II ordered Oglethorpe to lay siege to the Spanish St Augustine Fortress in Florida. The attack was a colossal failure. James’ lack of military experience was no match for the Spanish. However, He was successful at pissing off the Spanish. Spain counterattacked, but Oglethorpe’s ragtag army surprised everyone and sent the Spanish packing. Spain was so embarrassed by the defeat that they would never again mount an offensive against Britain’s colonies on America’s East Coast. Oglethorpe became a hero in England. 

Lost Leadership

At the request of the King, Oglethorpe was called back to England. But the man returning to England was no longer the bright-eyed social reformist who had left England 10 years earlier for the new world. The stress of battles and building a new society had taken its toll. Oglethorpe decided to stay in England, married rich, and lived a long life of luxury. 

With a lack of leadership, the Savannah colony quickly forgot its founding principles. People began buying up land and importing slaves. 

The slave population in Georgia grew rapidly after the ban on slavery was lifted in 1751. By the eve of the American Revolution, the colony held 16,000 slaves.

During the Revolutionary War, Savannah would fall to the British in a surprise attack. Despite attempts to recapture the city, it would remain occupied by British Soldiers until the war ended.

Antebellum Savannah

In 1788, Georgia officially became a state. As the oldest and largest city in Georgia, Savannah became the first Capital. Between the American Revolution and the Civil War, Savannah would become a bustling city of economic prosperity. Unfortunately, that success was due to the exploitation of slaves during the cotton boom. 

Sherman’s March

Due to its political beliefs and its strategic location along a major river, the Union saw Savannah as a must-have. And there was no one President Abraham Lincoln trusted more with a task of this magnitude than General William Sherman. About mid-November 1864, Sherman started his infamous “March To The Sea,” also known as “Sherman’s March.” Beginning in Atlanta, Sherman’s decimated everything in sight on their way to Savannah. Known as “scorched earth policy.” They destroyed railroads, burned down houses, and set fire to farmers’ fields. But when they got to Savannah, something happened. Sherman spared Savannah from being destroyed in the Civil War. It’s said the city was so beautiful that Sherman couldn’t bring himself to sacking the town. Instead, he would offer it as a Christmas gift to President Lincoln. Sherman wrote in a telegram, “I beg to present you as a Christmas gift the City of Savannah, with one hundred and fifty heavy guns and plenty of ammunition and about twenty-five thousand bales of cotton.”

Thanks to restoration efforts, historic downtown Savannah still looks almost like it did during the Civil War. 

Is Savannah Worth Visiting?  

Wandering the squares of Savannah, Georgia is exactly like stepping into a time machine back to simpler times. This charming and historic city comes complete with Cobblestone streets, horse-drawn carriages, and colonial buildings. Savannah’s laid-back atmosphere is a refreshing change of pace from the constant stress of the modern world. You don’t need a lot of time to explore its history and elegance, but spending a couple of days here will do wonders for your headspace. Savannah is 100% worth visiting. 

Check out our 3-day Savannah Itinerary!