Savannah, GA

Day 1: Arrive!

Morning: To maximize your time, fly in early to the Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport (Airport code: SAV). This airport is about 13 miles or a 20 minute drive to Savannah, GA.

OPTION A: Get a rental car for the weekend! It’s not required with this itinerary, but a rental car will open up some other options for you. More on this at the bottom of the page.

OPTION B: Call a taxi. Maybe it was due to COVID-19, but there were barely any ride-sharing services (Uber, Lyft, etc.) available during our trip. We called a taxi to take us from the airport to the hotel because the wait times for ride-sharing was over 30 minutes.

Afternoon: Arrive at Perry Lane Hotel (or one of the others recommended at the bottom). You have many choices when looking for a place to stay in the Savannah area, but we had a great experience here. Perry Lane is a well-deserved hotel in the Marriott Luxury Collection. Complimentary champagne all day, a great restaurant and boutique shop on site, and a killer rooftop pool and bar - there’s almost no reason to leave. Almost!!

Evening: When you do decide it’s time to venture outside the hotel, you’ll find plenty of restaurants to appease any appetite. Walk down to Vic’s on the River (make a reservation in advance here) where they serve dinner nightly from 5pm-10pm, often with live music. You can’t go wrong with the Crawfish Beignets and Famous She Crab Soup to start, then we recommend the Scallops and Flounder for dinner. The patio is first come first serve, but we recommend making a reservation to sit inside. The service is phenomenal!

Day 2: Explore & Shop

Morning: Perry Lane has a great hotel gym if you’re up for a morning workout, or you can head downstairs and grab a coffee and breakfast at the Emporium, a restaurant and coffee bar connected to the lobby. The Emporium is open for anyone, not just hotel guests.

Afternoon: Savannah was a relaxing weekend. We tried not to structure it too much, so here are some of the top things to get done today:

• Walk to Forsyth Park (1 mile from Perry Lane), one of Savannah’s most famous parks, and eat lunch nearby at Collins Quarter (reservations). We recommend the Avocado Toast, Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich, and Gyro. A taste of everything!

• Call Rivers & Glen Trading Co., an Orvis outfitter, and ask about recommended fishing guides.

  • NOTE: Do this in advance of your trip. This is typically a 4 hour event in the morning or afternoon.

• Go on a Trolley Tour, if that’s your thing, to see Savannah with a tour guide. This one in particular has 15 stops and is hop on hop off.

• Savannah City Market is a free outdoor/indoor shopping and dining area less than 1 mile from the hotel. You’ll find a lot of tourist information here, as well!

Evening: If you do any research on Savannah you’ll notice that there’s one restaurant that keeps popping up. We’re here to tell you that Olde Pink House is worth the hype (reservations). Hopefully you’re looking at this a couple months ahead of your trip and you’re able to snag a reservation at Olde Pink House. Reservations are a hot commodity, and don’t come easily. We ended up making a reservation for a 10pm dinner, far past our bedtime, in our to check this place out. It didn’t disappoint!

NOTE: There is a speakeasy at the bottom of Olde Pink House that is first come, first serve. Try and get here by 6pm to see if you can get a table. If there’s no tables and you aren’t willing to wait, ask if you can at least go down there to check it out. It’s pretty amazing.

Day 3: Art, History, and Karaoke

Morning: If you were able to get a fishing trip lined up, you’ll spend from about 7am-11am on the boat. If fishing isn’t your thing or it just didn’t line up this time, don’t worry - there’s plenty of other things to do in Savannah today. First, grab a coffee and waffle at Mirabelle Savannah.

Afternoon: Again, we wanted to provide a good list of recommendations to do today. Save a bit of energy, though, because we have a couple non-negotiable events tonight.

• Cathedral of St. John the Baptist - open for visitors Monday-Saturday – 9:00 A.M. – 11:30 A.M and 12:45 P.M. – 5:00 P.M. Right across from Mirabelle Savannah, come here after your breakfast!

• SCAD Museum - SCAD is the Savannah College of Art & Design.

• Historical Homes - most notably the Davenport House ($10/pp, open from 10am-4pm, closed Sunday, tours every 1/2 hour)

• Afternoon at the rooftop pool!

• LUNCH: There’s just too many restaurants in Savannah and not enough time. For a casual lunch, it’s your choice between either fair-like foods from Traylor Park (get the Grilled Chicken Apple Pie sandwich) or unique sandwiches from Zunzi’s (Get the CONQUISTADOR). Both are walking distance from the hotel, located in central Savannah.

Evening: Plan to get dinner early, around 6pm, so you can partake in tonight’s activities. We recommend going to the Common and taking advantage of their great happy hour specials, including $.50 oysters and $5 glasses of wine. You may especially want the wine before the next event.

• For Fun: Ghost City Tour at 8pm. Don’t even think about it, just do it. Savannah has a famous history for ghosts and other haunted tales.

• Grand Finale: Karaoke at McDonough’s!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Incredible experience.

If you are unhappy with these suggestions you can email me personally! We had so much fun, I can’t imagine anyone not having a good time.

Day 4: Travel day - head home!

Morning: However you got to the house, by ride-sharing service, taxi, or rental car, you’ll head back to the airport the same way. Keep in mind it’s about 20-30 minutes drive time to the airport. Security was quick, from our experience, but we always recommend arriving at an airport 1.5 hours before your flight departure for domestic flights.

Checklist Before You Go:

1. Book your roundtrip flight to arrive at Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport (SAV) on Day 1 and depart from the same airport on Day 4.

2. Book your rental car (if you choose) to pick up and drop off at Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport.

3. Book your stay at the chosen hotel (options listed below). We stayed at Perry Lane Hotel and have no regrets!

4. Make dinner reservations at Olde Pink House (reservations) and Vic’s on the River (reservations).

5. Book a guided fishing tour, if interested. Reach out to Rivers & Glen Trading Co. for recommendations.

6. Book your Ghost City Tour.

7. Check the weather and pack accordingly!

Other Considerations

POINTS, POINTS, POINTS!!!!! All of the hotel recommendations are available on Chase Travel using your Chase Credit Card points. We cannot stress enough how valuable a credit card with a good points system can be. In our experience, Chase Sapphire Reserve is the best credit card for points.

Flights: If you can fly Southwest into SAV, do it! Coming from Houston or other major hubs, you can often find flights to SAV for under $250. We recommend booking well in advance, though.