Savannah Georgia: Our Favorite Southern City For A Lazy, Romantic-Weekend-Getaway
We have a thing for Savannah.
What’s not to get starry-eyed over when it comes to giant live oak trees dripping with Spanish moss; neat little park squares nestled in between gridded cobblestone streets, and unique neighborhoods of rowhouses and carriage houses still fresh with European charm - it was the countries first planned city, after all.
Not to mention its dark, wacky, and deeply haunted history. . . It’s also considered to be one of the most haunted cities in the country.
If you’ve never been and you enjoy Southern food, charm, ghost stories, pirate lore and more, it’s definitely a destination to add to your travel list.
(Oh and read Midnight In The Garden Of Good and Evil by John Berendt first. Trust me.)
Looking at the corner of Jones Street, said to be one of the prettiest streets in the U.S. Source: my own photo.
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My love affair with Savannah began years before I had ever even visited, when I read Berendt’s National Bestseller. One of my favorite quotes from the book:
“If you go to Atlanta, the first question people ask you is, "What's your business?" In Macon they ask, "Where do you go to church?" In Augusta they ask your grandmother's maiden name. But in Savannah the first question people ask you is "What would you like to drink?””
-Midnight In The Garden of Good and Evil
Mercer House. Source: Explore Georgia
The book is a murder-mystery based on a true story that led me to Savannah a few years later, standing on the sidewalk at 429 Bull Street in front of the famed Mercer Williams House. Staring up at the beautiful terra-cotta colored mansion with its black wrought iron gates I slipped into a daydream and imagined I was a time-traveling fly on its lavishly adorned walls.
You can tour the house today and, like I did, try to transport yourself back to its heyday when one of Savannah’s most influential society members, Jim Williams, lived there.
Check out the Mercer House website here for ticket and tour information.
Photo by Jessica Furtney on Unsplash
We’ve visited several times during different seasons and stayed a few places in the Historic District, but our favorite place to stay by far is The Mansion On Forsyth Park. It’s an amazing boutique hotel right on Forsyth Park, as named, that’s part of the Marriott autograph collection and it. Is. Amazing. Check it out here , especially if you want to be in a walkable part of the historic district.
The Mansion on Forsyth Park hotel from the Marriott autograph collection
Looking out the Mansion courtyard and across to the pool. Source: my own photo.
Inside the main lobby at The Mansion on Forsyth Park. Dreamiest Christmas Tree ever. Source: my own photo.
Photo by katie manning on Unsplash
If you plan to go to The Hostess City of the South, here are some of our other favorite stops, spots, and activities:
Food & drink:
Olde Pink House - A classic Savannah staple.
The Lady And Sons - Paula Deen’s restaurant (we’ve personally never been but the reviews are stellar and there’s always a line or a huge wait. Plan this one ahead!) Check it out here.
Back In The Day Bakery - This biscuit though. . .
J. Christopher’s - Classic and quick lite diner-fare right in the historic district on Liberty Street.
Vinnie Van GoGo’s - If you need your pizza fix this place definitely hit the spot.
Mrs. Wilke’s Dining Room - More classically Southern-fare, served family style.
The Pirates’ House - How often do you get to dine in an inn from the 1750s that was frequented by sailors and pirates?
Leopold’s Ice Cream - Stop in Leopold’s when you’re wandering down Broughton Street. It’s a Savannah 100+ year institution, and the ice cream recipe still hasn’t changed.
Mirabelle Savannah - I probably drank a dozen lattes from here while we walked back & forth through the historic district.
The Bohemian Hotel Savannah Riverfront - go grab a cocktail on their rooftop bar and look out on the barge ships cruising by on the Savannah River
Photo by Paulina Ponce on Unsplash
How dreamy is The Olde Pink House? Source: Savannah Now
To Do + Explore in savannah:
The Historic District. I know that’s broad and vague but for me personally, it’s what Savannah is all about. It’s the largest Nationial Historic Landmark District in the country and makes up the vast majority of what is considered “the first planned city” in the country. The history spans through the Civil and Revolutionary Wars, and its mansions, monuments, and scattered cobblestone streets are broken up neatly by over twenty park squares. Put on your walking shoes and explore every block and park square. (Jones Street is said to be one of the prettiest streets in the country, and I’d have to say I agree.)
Learn more and start planning here.
Alex Raskin Antiques on Bull Street. We love antiques. Really we’re just grown-ups who love history, treasure, and the idea of stumbling across something incredible. Hence why Alex Raskin is by far the most amazing antique store I’ve ever been in, because it’s essentially set in a historic Savannah antebellum mansion. Go find it while you’re in the Historic District; it’s right by Mercer House. The quote on their website sums it up perfectly:
"Walking through this suspended-in-time, stuffed-to-the-gills mansion is a bit like visiting Miss Havisham of Great Expectations, except that here the dusty tramp art and Biedermeier chairs are for sale." -Garden and Gun Magazine
Mercer House - or Mercer Williams Museum as it’s also now known. The famous home of Savannah’s Jim Williams and the primary setting for the non-fiction novel about his life there, Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil. If you’ve read the novel you should definitely consider touring the house while visiting town. And if you haven’t read the novel do it if you have time before your trip. It gives you a great feel for the city and a good taste for Savannah’s multi-faceted history. Check out information on tickets and tours of the beautiful house here.
River Street - probably the most touristy part of Savannah nowadays, but a spot with a hundreds of years of history. The cobblestoned street is lined today with art studios, pubs, shops, and restaurants that still sit in the old cotton warehouses from centuries ago.
Old Savannah Tours - They offer lots of different guided tours throughout Savannah. On one Fall visit to town we decided to embrace our tourist-selves and took their haunted “Grave Encounters Telfair Academy Visit” Tour. . . and LOVED it! Our guide’s name was Kathleen and she was incredibly knowlegable and quick-witted. Our version of the trolley tour seems split into two now- but included a visit to both the haunted Telfair Academy Museum and The Pirates’ House & Rum Cellar. You cover a lot of other territory and learn a lot of Savannah’s centuries-deep eerie past. It seemed like every other historic site and square we passed was considered to be haunted.
To Do + Explore just outside of town:
Tybee Island - You’re so close to the ocean! If you have a car to get around you should make your way out to Tybee Island and go check out the lighthouse, run around on the beach, and get your seafood fix while you watch the waves crash.
Wormsloe Historic Site - Also worth a visit if you have a car to go on a mini-adventure, and like us, you love trees. It’s an 18th century plantation site about 20+ minutes outside of Savannah that has the most beautiful driveway canopy of oak trees I’ve ever seen. It’s definitely a Southern fairytale scene and we made a point to visit just to drive the stretch of driveway as slowly as we could. Read more about the park here.
The oak canopy driveway at Wormsloe Historic Site; Photo by Jose Llamas on Unsplash
We still have a lot of uncharted territory to cover in The Hostess City.
Did we miss one of your favorite spots in Savannah? Let us know so I can check it out next time we’re there.
I told my fiancé many times that I could envision retiring there just because I think it would be one of the prettiest places imaginable to take your dog for a walk every day! Good criteria, right?
We hope some of this fodder inspires you to look into a visit to one of our favorite little quintessentially Southern towns at some point in your adventures!
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Originally published January 22, 2020. Edited June 27, 2020.