Savannah, Georgia
Savannah, Georgia · Bigdaverhuberg · CC BY-SA 4.0
● Georgia

Savannah

A city planned square by square before a single house went up, where one woman waved at every ship for 44 years and a dead dairy became an arts district.

01

Fast Facts

Population
~149,440 (2025 est.)
Typical visiting season
Mar–May & Oct–Nov
One Unusual Stat
22 of Oglethorpe’s original squares still stand
Miles to Tybee Beach
~18 mi · ~30 min
02

What to Know Before You Arrive

General James Oglethorpe and the settlers of the ship Anne landed at Yamacraw Bluff on February 12, 1733, to found the thirteenth and last of the American colonies. The story most people repeat is that Georgia was founded as a dumping ground for English debtors sprung from prison — it makes a good tour-guide line, but it’s mostly legend. Oglethorpe did want debtors among the settlers, and the colony’s trustees screened every family’s character and circumstances before approving them, which is close to the opposite of a dumping ground. The charter also did something stranger for a future Southern colony: it banned both alcohol and slavery outright, on Oglethorpe’s theory that Georgia needed sturdy small farmers rather than plantations. Neither ban lasted.

What did last is the plan. Oglethorpe laid the town out as a grid of wards, each built around an open square, and Savannah still has 22 of them, more or less exactly where he put them in the 1730s. That grid is why downtown Savannah reads less like a typical Southern city and more like a puzzle box: you’re rarely more than a block or two from a patch of live oak and Spanish moss to sit under. The whole downtown became one of the largest National Historic Landmark Districts in the country when it was designated in 1966, and the nicknames stack up accordingly — the Hostess City of the South for the hospitality, and the older Forest City for the oaks that shade every one of those squares.

Savannah nearly erased a piece of its own history before it learned to protect the rest. The market building that had stood on Ellis Square since 1876 got knocked down in 1954 to make room for a parking garage, and the backlash to that single decision is usually credited with starting Savannah’s historic-preservation movement — the same one that later saved the squares and the row houses, and eventually handed the Savannah College of Art and Design entire blocks of derelict buildings to restore instead of bulldoze. It’s also, incidentally, part of why Savannah’s ghost-tour business is so big: a downtown this old and this intact has a lot of buildings with a lot of history attached, tours included.

03

The Road Trip Stop

Forsyth Park is 30 acres of the exact green space Savannah is built around — wide lawns wrapped in live oaks, with the two-tiered fountain at the north end that everyone photographs. The city installed that fountain in 1858, cast by the same Bronx foundry that made ironwork for the U.S. Capitol dome and the Brooklyn Bridge, loosely modeled on fountains at Paris’s Place de la Concorde. It has shown up in Forrest Gump, Cape Fear and a handful of other films, and every March 17th the city dyes it green for St. Patrick’s Day.

Budget the time

  • Thirty to forty-five minutes covers the fountain and a walk around the lawns, longer if you bring a blanket and just sit under the oaks.
  • St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, is the city’s largest event if the calendar allows it. The City of Savannah calls the parade one of the largest in America, and the parade committee says Savannah’s Irish Catholic community has celebrated the feast of Saint Patrick since 1824. The committee also lists the greening of the Forsyth Park fountain among the events leading up to the parade.
  • Walk north from the park through the squares instead of driving. Several of Oglethorpe’s original squares sit in a nearly straight line between Forsyth Park and River Street, so the walk doubles as the historic-district tour.
  • July and August are the hottest months here. The 1991–2020 climate normals put Savannah’s average daily high at about 92°F in July and 91°F in August, and the summers are hot and humid.
04

Neighborhoods

The Historic District & the Squares
Oglethorpe’s original grid, still doing its job: 22 small parks, each with its own trees and monuments, laid out so you’re rarely more than a short walk from one. It’s the reason Savannah is walkable in a way most Southern downtowns aren’t.

City Market
A cluster of restaurants, galleries and live music running between Ellis Square and Franklin Square, on the site of Savannah’s public market since 1733. The building that stood here for a century was demolished for a parking garage in 1954 — the decision that convinced Savannah to stop tearing down its own history.

The Victorian District
South of the Historic District, where the grid gives way to gingerbread trim and wraparound porches built after the Civil War. Quieter than downtown, and a good look at Savannah as neighborhoods rather than tour stops.

Starland District
Built around a dairy that shut down in the 1980s and sat empty until two SCAD students bought the old building in 2001 and started an arts district from scratch, keeping the dairy’s red star as the neighborhood’s logo. Now it’s cafés, galleries and a brewery instead of milk trucks.

05

Hidden Gems

▣

Bonaventure Cemetery

A 160-acre municipal cemetery on a bluff over the Wilmington River, planted with oaks and azaleas rather than rows of identical headstones. Naturalist John Muir spent six nights sleeping there in 1867 on his walk to the Gulf and called it one of the most impressive gatherings of plant and animal life he’d ever seen. It’s also a regular stop on Savannah’s ghost tours, though most people who actually walk it come for the trees and the quiet.

▣

The Waving Girl Statue

A bronze of Florence Martus at Morrell Park on the riverfront, sculpted by Felix de Weldon — the same sculptor behind the Marine Corps War Memorial in Washington — and installed in 1972. Look closely and the statue has her birth year wrong; nobody has ever fixed it.

▣

Owens-Thomas House & Slave Quarters

An 1819 Regency mansion designed sight-unseen by an English architect who mailed the plans over before he’d ever set foot in Savannah. The Marquis de Lafayette gave a speech from its side veranda in 1825, and the restored slave quarters out back still hold the largest surviving expanse of “haint blue” paint in North America — a color enslaved Gullah Geechee craftspeople believed kept spirits out. General admission across all three Telfair Museums sites, including this one, runs $30* and covers a week.

▣

Ellis Square, rebuilt

The whole square spent decades as a parking garage before the city buried the parking underground and reopened the square itself in 2009, undoing the 1954 decision that started the preservation fight in the first place. It’s just an open square again, the way Oglethorpe drew it.

*Fees subject to change, please check telfair.org for updated information.

06

The Food Stop

Leopold’s Ice Cream has been scooping since 1919, when three Greek-immigrant brothers — George, Peter and Basil Leopold — opened a parlor at a Savannah streetcar crossing. Savannah-born songwriter Johnny Mercer grew up a block away and worked at the shop as a boy; the shop says he once told Peter Leopold he would write a song about its tutti frutti. The Broughton Street flagship opened in 2004 with many fixtures from the original store, and the shop says its ice cream is still made with the original secret recipes handed down to Peter’s son Stratton Leopold by his father.

For an actual sit-down meal, Savannah’s real argument isn’t about ice cream — it’s about where to get proper Lowcountry cooking: shrimp and grits, she-crab soup, cornbread dressing. That fight has two sides, and it’s the whole subject of the Local Debate below.

Been here a while

Places that have been serving a long time. All were still trading when we last checked. Each name links to its source.

4 breweries within 10 miles of Savannah, one of them a brewpub with a kitchen.

See all 4

*Check before you go. This list says what the source records as open and where it is — nothing more. Opening hours, whether a kitchen is serving, and whether anywhere suits your family are not in this data and change without notice. A production site may have no public room at all. Please confirm with the venue.

Brewpub locations from Open Brewery DB (MIT)

07

The Home Teams

Savannah Bananas

Banana Ball
Grayson Stadium · Savannah

The Bananas started in 2016 as a summer collegiate team and turned into something else entirely: a barnstorming show built around dance breaks, comedy bits between innings, and rules designed to keep games fast and loose. Getting in the door now means entering a ticket lottery months ahead of time — the team’s own site calls a Savannah date “one of the hottest tickets on tour.” Games are simulcast on ESPN and Disney+, and the team’s social following outnumbers Major League Baseball’s own accounts.

Savannah State Tigers

NCAA Division II · SIAC
Ted A. Wright Stadium & Tiger Arena · Savannah

Football, basketball and a full slate of other sports at Savannah State University, competing in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Tickets are cheap and the campus is easy to walk onto on a Saturday.

No MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL or MLS team plays in Savannah, and the Bananas are not part of Major League Baseball: the team’s own site says its owner, Fans First Entertainment, fields six independent professional teams in the Banana Ball Championship League.

08

Day Trips

DestinationTimeDistanceHow we got it
Tybee Island27 min16 mirouted
Savannah’s beach, with a lighthouse that’s stood on the same spot since 1736; the current tower mixes an 1773 base with an 1867 top. Climbing to the top of the Tybee Island Light Station runs $14* for adults.
Fort Pulaski National Monument24 min14 mirouted
A brick fort finished in 1847 that was supposed to be unbeatable; rifled cannon breached one of its corner walls in about 30 hours during an 1862 siege, a demonstration that made masonry forts obsolete everywhere in the country, not just here. Check the National Park Service site for current entrance fees.
Wormsloe Historic Site20 min11 mirouted
The tabby ruins of a 1740s fortified house and a 1.5-mile avenue lined with more than 400 live oaks planted in the 1890s, on one of Georgia’s original colonial land grants. Check the state site for current admission.
Hilton Head Island, SC57 min38 mirouted
A short hop over the state line to South Carolina’s beach resort island, if you want sand without the lighthouse crowd.

Routed figures are computed over map data at free-flowing speeds, between map points rather than street addresses, so a real drive runs longer.

Distances routed by OSRM and places geocoded by Nominatim, over map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL)

*Fees subject to change, please check tybeelighthouse.org for updated information.

09

Worth a Weekend

5 more Highway Heads places lie within about 180 miles of Savannah in a straight line — far enough that most are a night away rather than an afternoon.

10

Wildlife Parks Nearby

Within 60 miles of Savannah, nearest first.

  • Oatland Island Wildlife CenterSavannah

    Hours
    10am-4:30pm daily; no entry after 3:30pm
    Season
    year-round

    Operated by the Savannah-Chatham County Public School System.

This is a list of what is near you, not a recommendation of any of it. None of these carry an accreditation we were able to confirm, which is not the same as none being accredited — we check against one register, and plenty of good municipal, state and university places are in no register at all. Opening times, prices and seasons change without notice, so check the operator’s own site — every name above links to it.

11

Music Venues Nearby

Within 60 miles of Savannah, nearest first.

Where to see something

  • Lucas Theatre for the ArtstheaterSavannah

    Address
    Abercorn St, Reynolds Square, Savannah, GA
    Capacity
    ~1,700 (as built)

    Residents blocked a 1986 plan to demolish it for a parking garage; reopened in 2000.

This is a list of what is near you, not a recommendation of any of it. Opening times, line-ups and ticketing change without notice, so check the venue’s or organiser’s own site — every name above links to it.

12

Water Parks Nearby

Within 60 miles of Savannah, nearest first.

This is a list of what is near you, not a recommendation of any of it. Every one of these runs a season rather than opening year round. Opening and closing dates move every year and we hold none of them, so check the park’s own calendar before you build a day around it. Prices, hours and ride closures change without notice — every name above links to the park’s own site.

13

Historic Sites Nearby

16 near Savannah, each checked against the operator or agency that runs it.

  • American Prohibition MuseumSavannah

    Hours
    Museum and speakeasy hours are behind links, not in the page text.
    Admission
    Includes Museum & Speakeasy Access (Speakeasy Closed on Sundays) Photos, murals and videos that captivate the senses Restored Prohibition era vehicles 200+ historic artifacts From $17.57 Museum Ticket Only source
    Season
    Not stated.

    A museum about the Prohibition era whose exhibits include antique cars (among them a 1936 Ford V8), moonshine stills, flasks and flapper dresses. One exhibit covers how moonshine runners took their driving skills to the racetrack after Prohibition.

    • Operator is Historic Tours of America, the company behind the excluded source domain; the museum's own site links to the excluded domain (not opened)
    • Alcohol theme: a working speakeasy bar and cocktail classes inside; age policy not found
    • Operator superlative: 'America’s Only Prohibition Museum'
    • Same page gives two artifact counts ('200+ historic artifacts' on the museum ticket, 'Around 1,000 artifacts' on the guided tour); neither used

    Run by Historic Tours of America

  • Andrew Low House MuseumSavannah

    Hours
    Monday – Saturday 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. (last tour begins at 4:00 p.m.) Sunday 12:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. (last tour begins at 4:00 p.m.) source
    Admission
    Adult $15 Senior (over 60 or AARP) $14 Student (6-21) $13 Girl Scout $13 Girl Scout Troop (reservations required) $12 Children under 6 Free source
    Season
    No seasonal schedule stated.

    A house museum where Juliette Gordon Low lived during the early years of the Girl Scouts. Admission includes a guided tour, the courtyard and the garden, and the tour covers both the Low family and the enslaved men and women who lived and worked there.

    • Guided tours on the hour and half-hour; no reservation needed under 10 people
    • Operator superlative: 'a must-see destination'
    • Ghost-tour marketing elsewhere ties a ghost story to this house (not used)

    Run by Andrew Low House Museum

  • Cathedral Basilica of St. John the BaptistSavannah

    Hours
    Touring hours are 9 AM-11:30 AM and 1 PM – 4:30 PM. Typically, docents are available Monday through Friday during open hours. source
    Admission
    No tickets are required to visit or tour the Cathedral. We do not sell tickets. source
    Season
    No seasonal schedule stated.

    A French Gothic-style cathedral first dedicated in 1876 and rebuilt after an 1898 fire that left only its outer walls and two spires. No tickets are needed to visit.

    • Active church: closed for touring during funerals, weddings and religious events
    • Address is the parish mailing address from its contact page
    • $3 per-adult donation requested
    • No pets except service dogs

    Run by Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist parish

  • Chippewa SquarePublic spaceSavannah

    Hours
    Open public square; no hours stated.
    Admission
    No page states a fee.
    Season
    Not applicable.

    A Bull Street square with a bronze statue of James Oglethorpe by Daniel Chester French, the sculptor of the seated Lincoln in Washington, D.C. The statue faces south, toward what was then Spanish Florida.

    • No city page about the square itself; the monuments page is the primary source
    • Statue is shown with a drawn sword (the city page says so)

    Run by City of Savannah (monument listed by the city)

  • Juliette Gordon Low BirthplaceSavannah

    Hours
    Open 7 days a week, 10am-5pm Limited tour hours on Wednesdays. source
    Admission
    $10 Registered Girl Scout (Adults and Students) $15 Adult $12 Senior $12 Military $12 Student 5-21 Free Child 4 & Under source
    Season
    No seasonal schedule stated.

    The 1821 house where Juliette 'Daisy' Gordon Low was born in 1860. In 1912 she announced the founding of the Girl Guides in America, renamed the Girl Scouts the following year.

    • Girl Scout troop experiences are sold separately ($28, minimum 8 people)
    • Fewer tour times on Wednesdays

    Run by Girl Scouts of the USA (owner since 1953)

  • Madison SquarePublic spaceSavannah

    Hours
    Open public square; no hours stated.
    Admission
    No page states a fee.
    Season
    Not applicable.

    A downtown square with an 1888 monument at its center to Sergeant William Jasper, honored for acts of heroism in the American Revolution. At the south end stand two road markers, each with a cannon mounted on top.

    • No city page about the square itself; the monuments page is the primary source
    • The Sorrel Weed House is reportedly on this square (not confirmed on a primary page)

    Run by City of Savannah (monuments listed by the city)

  • Mercer Williams House MuseumSavannah

    Hours
    Monday -Saturday 10:00 am - 5:00 pm Our first tour begins at 10:30 a.m. and our last tour begins at 4:10 pm Sunday 11:30 am - 5:00 pm source
    Admission
    Adult ticket: $14.95 Students and Active Military, with ID: $12.00 Children 6 and under: Free source
    Season
    Not stated.

    A house begun in 1860 whose construction was interrupted by the Civil War; despite its name, no Mercer ever lived in it. Guided tours last 35 minutes and leave every 20 to 40 minutes, first come, first served.

    • Not licensed as handicap accessible (stated on page)
    • Tickets and entry are behind the house at 430 Whitaker Street

    Run by Mercer Williams House Museum (owned by the Williams family)

  • Plant Riverside DistrictPublic spaceSavannah

    Hours
    No district hours stated; individual venues set their own.
    Admission
    No page states whether walking the district is free.
    Season
    Not stated.

    A hotel, dining and entertainment district built in a converted 1912 power plant at the west end of River Street. Its quarter-mile riverwalk includes children's splash pads and science exhibits.

    • Commercial district run by a hotel company; includes rooftop bars
    • Source typo: 'kids slash pads' (read as splash pads)
    • Operator superlatives ('largest and most transformative')

    Run by The Kessler Collection (developer and operator, per the district's About page)

See the other 8

  • River StreetPublic spaceSavannah

    Hours
    Public street; no hours.
    Admission
    Public street; no page states a fee.
    Season
    Not applicable.

    The street along the Savannah riverfront, with a 1974 monument to Chatham County seamen at the head of Abercorn Street and Plant Riverside District at its west end. The city's World War II monument stands in Rousakis Plaza, overlooking the river.

    • No city or agency page about River Street itself was found
    • The page does not say outright that Rousakis Plaza is on River Street; the note keeps them separate
    • Riverfront bars and nightlife (not sourced)

    Run by City of Savannah (public street; monuments listed by the city)

  • Savannah Children's MuseumSavannah

    Hours
    Exploration Station: Open Wednesday through Sunday from 9:00am to 3:00pm. STEAM Center: Open seven days a week from 9:00am to 3:00pm. source
    Admission
    $16 per person (ages 18mos. and up) source
    Season
    No seasonal schedule; outdoor areas close in bad weather.

    A children's museum with an outdoor Exploration Station (maze, puppet theater, art maker space, sensory garden, nature kitchen) and an indoor STEAM Center with an 1,800-square-foot mirror maze. The outdoor part closes in bad weather.

    • Exploration Station is closed Monday and Tuesday
    • Closes in inclement weather; operator suggests calling ahead
    • Combo 'SEE 3' ticket with other Coastal Heritage Society museums nearby
    • Operator superlative: 'the premier family-friendly attraction in the city'

    Run by Coastal Heritage Society

  • Savannah City HallSavannah

    Hours
    You can visit City Hall Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. source
    Admission
    Tours are free, but space is limited and registration is required. source
    Season
    Year-round per the page.

    Savannah's City Hall on Bay Street is open to drop-in visitors on weekdays, with a first-floor rotunda under a stained-glass dome and a self-guided exploration sheet at the Welcome Center. Free guided tours run at noon on the first Tuesday of each month.

    • First Tuesday tours need registration and are 'geared to a mature audience' per the page; youth group tours by request
    • City site footer gives the address as 2 East Bay Street
    • City also posts a coloring book, activity sheet and scavenger hunt (PDFs)

    Run by City of Savannah (Municipal Archives runs tours)

  • Savannah Cotton Exchange building (with the Cotton Exchange 'Lion's Fountain')Outside onlySavannah

    Hours
    No primary page says the building is open to visitors.
    Admission
    Not applicable for an exterior view; no page states one.
    Season
    Not stated.

    The Cotton Exchange building faces Bay Street, and in front of it a winged-lion fountain spouts water from the lion's mouth. The lion is a concrete replica, rededicated in 2009, of an 1889 terra-cotta original.

    • Building's current owner/use and any interior access not confirmed on a primary page
    • No page found that is about the Cotton Exchange building itself

    Run by Not stated on a primary page; the fountain in front is listed among City of Savannah monuments

  • Savannah Pirates and Treasure MuseumSavannah

    Hours
    Open Everyday: 10am to 6pm with final entry at 5:15pm. source
    Admission
    Prices from $17.57 appear on the page, but the text does not tie each price to a ticket type; child prices not shown.
    Season
    Not stated.

    A pirate-history museum below the American Prohibition Museum, with a gallery on the women pirates Anne Bonny and Mary Read; the operator suggests allowing at least an hour. One gallery, on medicine and punishment at sea, is marked as not suitable for children and has a bypass.

    • Operator is Historic Tours of America, the company behind the excluded source domain
    • On-site Pirates Tavern serves cocktails, wine and beer
    • Contact page ZIP reads 31404; the Prohibition Museum at the same address uses 31401
    • Page also describes a combat exhibit ('brutal combat'); check against the no-violence rule
    • Operator superlative: 'a must-visit'

    Run by Historic Tours of America (site: 'Owned and Operated by Historic Tours of America')

  • SCAD Museum of Art (SCAD MOA)Savannah

    Hours
    Museum hours mon 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. tues Closed wed 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. thur 10 a.m. - 8 p.m. fri - sat 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. sun Noon - 5 p.m. source
    Admission
    Children under 14 FREE source
    Season
    Holiday closures listed on the page.

    SCAD's contemporary art museum, showing commissioned works and rotating exhibitions; guided tours also cover the building's history. Children under 14 get in free.

    • Home page returned 403 to curl; the /visit page fetched normally
    • Guided tours are arranged in advance for groups
    • Operator superlative: 'premier'

    Run by Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD)

  • Sorrel Weed HouseTourSavannah

    Hours
    Tour times are only in the online booking system, not the page text.
    Admission
    History and Architecture Tour $14 Per Person source
    Season
    Not stated.

    An 1830s house built for merchant Francis Sorrel, seen on a guided history and architecture tour that meets in its courtyard. The operator says it was the first home in Georgia designated a state landmark.

    • The operator's main business is ghost tours and paranormal investigations; only the history tour is described here
    • Page spells the architect 'Clusky' and 'Hatian' (likely Cluskey, Haitian); state-landmark claim is the operator's
    • Page quotes others calling it a 'must see'

    Run by Sorrel Weed House (tour operator; owner not named on the site)

  • Tybee Island Light Station and MuseumTybee Island

    Hours
    Closed Tuesdays Tickets Sold 9AM-4:30PM source
    Admission
    Adults: $14 Seniors (62+): $12 Children (6-17): $12 Children (5 and under): Free source
    Season
    No seasonal schedule stated.

    A lighthouse with 178 steps to the top and a resting landing with a window every 25 steps. The ticket also covers the station's historic support buildings on a three-acre site and the Tybee Museum in Battery Garland.

    • Tickets sold on site only, not online
    • No backpacks of any size; shoes and shirts required; children must stay with an adult
    • Closed Tuesdays
    • Operator superlatives: 'Georgia's Oldest and Tallest Light', 'one of America's most intact'

    Run by Tybee Island Light Station and Museum (Tybee Island Historical Society)

This is a list of what is near you, not a recommendation of any of it. Opening times and prices here are quoted from each operator’s own page on the date we read it, and both change without notice. Where this list says an operator does not publish their hours or their price, that is what we found on their page — 7 of these publish no hours and 6 state no price. A blank is not “free” and not “always open”, so ring ahead where it matters. Every name above links to that page.

14

Practical Road Trip Info

Budget at least a full day for the Historic District and its squares, two if you want Forsyth Park, a museum, and Tybee Island without rushing any of them. Savannah rewards slow walking more than almost anywhere else on this route.

Spring and fall are the milder seasons. Average daily highs run from about 71°F in March to about 85°F in May, and from about 79°F in October to about 70°F in November, against about 92°F in July (1991–2020 normals). Explore Georgia’s spring guide points to the azaleas under the live oaks in Forsyth Park. Summers in Savannah are long, hot and humid.

Parking in the Historic District follows two sets of meter hours. The City of Savannah says meters north of Liberty Street are enforced Monday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., and meters south of Liberty Street Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; they can be paid with the ParkSavannah app. The city also runs several public parking garages downtown.

Savannah is one of the few U.S. cities that allows an open container downtown. Visitors 21 and up can carry one drink at a time in a 16-ounce plastic or city-issued aluminum cup within the Historic District. It doesn’t extend to glass, cans or public intoxication, so it’s a to-go cup law, not a free-for-all.

15

The Local Debate

16

Family-Friendly

▣

Forsyth Park

Wide open lawns and a fountain kids can run laps around while adults actually finish a sentence.

▣

Tybee Island beach

A real beach half an hour away, with a lighthouse kids can climb once they’re tall enough for the stairs.

▣

Leopold’s Ice Cream

Tutti frutti and a straightforward way to end any afternoon on a good note with kids.

▣

A Savannah Bananas game

Between-inning dance breaks and a stadium built for kids to enjoy nine innings instead of enduring them — if you can land lottery tickets.

17

Plan Your Visit

Forsyth Park

Address
Bull St & E. Park Ave, Savannah, GA
Hours
Daily, roughly 7 a.m.–9 p.m.
Price
Free

We checked fees, reservations, opening hours and operating status on 2026-09-21. These change without notice — confirm with telfair.org, tybeelighthouse.org, thesavannahbananas.com, mrswilkes.com, exploregeorgia.org and savannahga.gov the week you travel.

Sources — 36 claims, 36 checked against the source on 2026-09-21
ClaimSourceStatus
Oglethorpe and the ship Anne’s settlers land at Yamacraw Bluff, February 12, 1733Savannah, Georgia — WikipediaChecked
Downtown retains Oglethorpe’s original town plan; 22 squares; one of the largest National Historic Landmark Districts, designated 1966Savannah, Georgia — WikipediaChecked
Population 147,780 (2020 census); ~149,440 (2025 est.)Savannah, Georgia — WikipediaChecked
“Hostess City of the South” and “Forest City” nicknamesSavannah, Georgia — WikipediaChecked
Georgia charter banned slavery and alcohol; debtors’ colony narrative is largely legend; trustees screened settlers’ character before approvalProvince of Georgia — WikipediaChecked
Forsyth Park is 30 acres, expanded 1851 and 1859; fountain installed 1858 by Janes, Beebe & Co.; appears in film; dyed green on St. Patrick’s DayForsyth Park — WikipediaChecked
Bonaventure Cemetery established 1846, 160 acres, city-owned; John Muir slept there six nights in 1867 and called it beautiful and inspiringBonaventure Cemetery — WikipediaChecked
Telfair Museums founded via Mary Telfair’s bequest, opened 1886, first public art museum in the South; three sites; 4,500+ worksTelfair Museums — WikipediaChecked
Telfair Museums general admission $30, valid seven days across all sites; hours Tue–Sun 10am–5pmTelfair Museums — Hours & AdmissionChecked
monitored · 2026-09-21
Owens-Thomas House built 1816–1819 by architect William Jay; English Regency landmark; Lafayette spoke from the veranda in 1825; slave quarters have the largest surviving haint-blue paint expanse in North AmericaOwens–Thomas House — WikipediaChecked
SCAD incorporated 1978; first classes 1979 with 71 students; first building was the Savannah Volunteer Guards Armory; now 17,000+ students and 67 restored buildings downtownSavannah College of Art and Design — WikipediaChecked
Florence Martus waved at ships 1887–1931; statue by Felix de Weldon erected 1972 in Morrell Park; statue has an incorrect birth yearFlorence Martus — WikipediaChecked
River Street runs 2 miles along the Savannah River; Belgian block ballast-stone paving; former cotton warehousesRiver Street (Savannah, Georgia) — WikipediaChecked
Savannah’s public market centered on today’s Ellis Square since 1733; 1876 building demolished 1954 for a parking garage, spurring the preservation movement; square restored 2009City Market (Savannah, Georgia) — WikipediaChecked
Tybee Island is 18 miles east of Savannah; lighthouse combines an 1773 base and 1867 top; renamed Savannah Beach 1929–1978Tybee Island, Georgia — WikipediaChecked
Tybee Island Light Station adult admission $14; hours 9am–4:30pm, closed TuesdaysTybee Island Light Station & MuseumChecked
monitored · 2026-09-21
Wormsloe: 822-acre state historic site; 1.5-mile avenue of 400+ oaks planted in the 1890s; tabby fortified house built 1739–1745; ~11 miles from SavannahWormsloe Historic Site — WikipediaChecked
Fort Pulaski built 1829–1847; rifled cannon breached a wall within 30 hours during the 1862 siege, proving masonry forts obsoleteFort Pulaski National Monument — WikipediaChecked
Savannah Bananas founded 2016; Banana Ball format; Grayson Stadium home; ESPN/Disney+ simulcasts; social following exceeds MLB’s own accountsSavannah Bananas — WikipediaChecked
Savannah Bananas tickets are lottery-only and described by the team as one of the hottest tickets on tourSavannah Bananas — TicketsChecked
monitored · 2026-09-21
The Olde Pink House completed 1789 for James Habersham Jr.; survived the 1796 fire; became Planters Bank, Georgia’s first bank, in 1812; now a restaurantThe Olde Pink House — WikipediaChecked
Savannah’s open-container rule: 21+ with valid ID, one drink at a time, transparent plastic or city-issued 16-oz aluminum cup, within the Historic District boundarySavannah’s Open Container Policy — Savannah LodgingChecked
Leopold’s Ice Cream founded 1919 by George, Peter and Basil Leopold; tutti frutti signature flavor; Johnny Mercer worked at the shop as a boy; Broughton Street flagship opened 2004 with many original fixtures; original recipes handed down to Stratton Leopold by his fatherLeopold’s Ice Cream — About UsChecked
Savannah State University holds NCAA Division II membership as a member of the SIAC (Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference)Savannah State Tigers and Lady Tigers — WikipediaChecked
Mrs. Wilkes’ Dining Room: Sema Wilkes took over a boardinghouse in 1943; family-style seating at shared tables-for-ten; doors open at 11 a.m.Mrs. Wilkes Dining RoomChecked
monitored · 2026-10-13
Starland District takes its name from the Starland Dairy, which supplied Savannah with milk through the 1980s; two SCAD graduates, John Deaderick and Greg Jacobs, are credited with creating the arts district and bought the dairy in 1999 (per the Thomas Square Neighborhood Association)Thomas Square Neighborhood Association — About Our NeighborhoodChecked
Forsyth Park boundaries (Gaston St. to Park Ave., Whitaker St. to Drayton St.), daily hours 7 a.m.–11 p.m. and free admission as listed by Explore Georgia; the City of Savannah page for the park lists no hoursForsyth Park — Explore GeorgiaChecked
monitored · 2026-10-13
St. Patrick’s Day parade described by the City of Savannah as one of the largest in America and Savannah’s largest event; parade held March 17City of Savannah — St. Patrick’s Day celebrationChecked
Irish Catholic community has celebrated the feast of Saint Patrick in Savannah since 1824; committee lists the Forsyth Park fountain greening among pre-parade eventsSavannah St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee — official siteChecked
Savannah average daily highs 92.3 F in July and 90.8 F in August, mean daily maximums by month 1991–2020; hot and humid summers; long, almost tropical summersSavannah, Georgia — Wikipedia (Climate)Checked
Savannah Bananas’ owner Fans First Entertainment fields six independent professional teams in the Banana Ball Championship LeagueThe Savannah Bananas — About UsChecked
monitored · 2026-10-13
Savannah’s professional teams listed as the Bananas, the Savannah Ghost Pirates (ECHL) and the Savannah Steel (UpShot League); none in MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL or MLSSavannah, Georgia — Wikipedia (Sports)Checked
Explore Georgia’s spring guide for Savannah highlights live oaks and azaleas in Forsyth ParkExplore Georgia — Savannah in spring guideChecked
Parking meters enforced Mon–Sat 8 a.m.–8 p.m. north of Liberty Street and Mon–Fri 8 a.m.–5 p.m. south of Liberty Street; payable by ParkSavannah appCity of Savannah — Parking MetersChecked
monitored · 2026-10-13
City of Savannah operates public parking garages downtown (Bryan St., Eastern Wharf, Liberty St., Robinson, State St., Whitaker St.)City of Savannah — Parking GaragesChecked
monitored · 2026-10-13
Mrs. Wilkes’ Dining Room: Sema Wilkes took over a boardinghouse in 1943; homestyle Southern cooking served family style at shared tables-for-ten; doors open at 11 a.m., weekdays 11 a.m.–2 p.m.Mrs. Wilkes Dining RoomChecked
monitored · 2026-10-13
Make the drive part of the trip

Road Trippin’ with the Harts

The Highway Heads books turn the miles between stops into a game the whole car can play.

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✈

Nearest Airports

Straight-line distance from Savannah, not drive time.

  • Savannah Hilton Head International (SAV) — 7 miles
  • Hilton Head (HHH) — 25 miles
  • Brunswick Golden Isles (BQK) — 61 miles
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Also in

A stop on this page turns up in other Highway Heads collections.

Lighthouses
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