Best Family Activities in Savannah — Trip Planner

Savannah with kids, realistically

The free DOT shuttle loops the Historic District and the Savannah Belles Ferry crosses to Hutchinson Island at no charge, which reads to a six-year-old as a boat ride. Tybee Island adds a marine science center and a lighthouse with 178 steps to the top. Oatland Island keeps wolves and alligators on a boardwalk trail. River Street's ballast cobbles will defeat any stroller you own.

When the weather turns in Savannah

Afternoon thunderstorms arrive most summer days and pass within the hour. Duck into the Jepson Center, the Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum with its cased model hulls, or the American Prohibition Museum and its working speakeasy. The Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist is free and cool. Plant Riverside hides a fossil and geode collection in its atrium, and the Savannah Bee Company pours mead flights.

What things cost in Savannah

Thirty dollars buys seven days across all three Telfair museums, the best value downtown by some distance. Mrs. Wilkes charges a flat cash price around thirty for lunch. A scoop at Leopold's is a few dollars, a ghost tour usually thirty to forty, and metered street parking a couple of dollars an hour. The DOT shuttle and the Savannah Belles Ferry cost nothing at all.

What to eat in Savannah

Shrimp and grits, low country boil and crab stew are the register here. Mrs. Wilkes Dining Room serves fried chicken family-style at communal tables, weekday lunch only, cash only, with a queue down Jones Street. Mashama Bailey cooks at The Grey inside a restored Greyhound bus terminal on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Leopold's has scooped ice cream since 1919; Byrd's sells cookies by the tin.

Savannah after dark

Open containers are legal inside the Historic District if the drink is in a plastic cup under sixteen ounces, which sets the tone: people drift between City Market, Congress Street and the Bohemian's rooftop with a to-go cocktail in hand. Bars serve until three. Ghost tours, candlelit and slightly silly, are the other evening industry. River Street after ten belongs to bachelorette parties and cover bands.

When to go to Savannah

The month to avoid is July — around 32°C (90°F) with roughly 19 rain days. Prices and crowds track the weather here: October is the sweet spot, July the month most people skip.

Pack for peak season: Summer clothes, plus one light layer for air-con and evenings, Comfortable walking shoes — every guide on this site assumes you'll use them.

Where to base yourself in Savannah

• Historic District — Squares grid — Spanish moss, antebellum mansions, the Cathedral of St. John.
• River Street — Cobblestone waterfront — restaurants, river-cruise dock, candy shops.
• Starland — Hip south district — coffee shops, breweries, the SCAD art scene.