Three days in Savannah's Historic District: the 22 squares on foot, Forsyth Park, Leopold's Ice Cream, dinner at The Grey, the Bonaventure Cemetery, and a ghost tour on Saturday evening. Structured for a Friday arrival and Sunday departure.
Walk the grid of Savannah's 22 historic squares from north to south — each has a distinct character and central monument. Afternoon at the SCAD Museum of Art. Cocktail at the bar atop the Bohemian Hotel. Dinner at The Grey (requires advance reservation).
Savannah's 22 surviving historic squares are the best urban walk in the American South. Each square is 2 acres of park surrounded by trust lots (churches, civic buildings) and tything lots (townhouses), all shaded by live oaks with Spanish moss — a tree canopy that makes August brutal and October perfect. The walk from Ellis Square (northwest) to Calhoun Square (south) covers about 2 miles and takes 2-3 hours with stops. Key squares: Reynolds (colonial statues, near the Olde Pink House), Chippewa (oldest, 1815), Monterey (Confederate monument, controversial), Madison (quiet, residential), and Calhoun (near the Mercer-Williams House from "Midnight in the Garden").
Leopold's on Broughton Street has been making ice cream in Savannah since 1919 — the same family, the same recipes, the same lemon custard and rum bisque that the original Leopold brothers made when they opened. The line extends down Broughton Street on warm weekends; it moves quickly and is worth 20 minutes. The film memorabilia on the walls (owner Stratton Leopold is a Hollywood producer) is a secondary attraction.
The Grey is in the restored 1938 Art Deco Greyhound bus terminal on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard — a James Beard Award-nominated restaurant (chef Mashama Bailey) serving Port City Southern cuisine: Georgia coastal ingredients, West African technique, a menu that changes with the season. The she-crab soup and the pimento cheese are the opening moves. Reserve 2-3 weeks in advance for weekend evenings; same-day bar seats are available at the terminal bar.
Morning at Bonaventure Cemetery (the most beautiful in the South), afternoon at Tybee Island (20 minutes east), and a walking ghost tour of the squares after dark. Saturday is the best night for a ghost tour — the largest groups and the most atmosphere.
Bonaventure Cemetery east of downtown is the cemetery that John Berendt described in "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" — 100 acres of live oak canopy draped in Spanish moss, 19th-century monuments, family mausoleums, and the Bird Girl statue (the original is now at the Telfair Museums; a replica stands in the cemetery). It is genuinely one of the most beautiful cemeteries in North America: the combination of coastal Georgia light filtering through the live oaks and the density of Victorian funerary sculpture is specific to this place. Budget 90 minutes to walk the main sections. Free admission; drive or ride-share (3 miles east of downtown).
Tybee Island is 18 miles east of Savannah on US-80 — a small barrier island with a public beach, a 19th-century lighthouse (the oldest and tallest in Georgia), and a genuinely casual beach town energy that is the opposite of the Historic District's formality. The beach is free and public; the lighthouse museum is $12. The drive through the marshes on US-80 is itself worth doing — the salt marsh ecosystem on Georgia's coast is ecologically distinct and visually striking.
The Alida Hotel rooftop bar (Above the Grid) on River Street has views over the Savannah River and the Historic District. After a ghost tour, a drink with the squares lit up below is the correct decompression. The cocktail list is strong; the charcuterie boards are adequate. No reservations for the bar.
Savannah has more ghost tour companies per capita than almost any city in America — the combination of 300 years of documented history, atmospheric squares, and the Southern Gothic literary tradition makes the city a natural for it. The best operators (Savannah Ghost Tours, Cobblestone Tours, and Ghosts & Gravestones) run 90-minute walking tours of the Historic District squares after dark for $18-25. The squares at night — lit by gas lanterns, the live oaks black against the sky, the squares empty — are genuinely atmospheric regardless of your position on the supernatural.
Sunday morning at the Forsyth Park farmers market (8am-12pm), a walk down River Street, and the drive to SAV. Allow 45 minutes from the Historic District to the airport.
The Forsyth Park Farmers Market runs Saturday and (limited) Tuesday mornings under the live oaks at the north end of the park. Savannah-area produce, local honey, hot breakfast sandwiches, and the specific quality of a Southern coastal farmers market in spring or fall. The fountain is running; the park is at its best at 8am before the tourist crowds arrive from the Historic District hotels.
Savannah/Hilton Head International is 14 miles west of the Historic District on I-16 west and Airport Connector. Ride-share is $18-25 and 20 minutes. Allow 90 minutes before flight departure.
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