One week suggested itinerary
Do you only have a week and want to make the best of your time? Here is a suggested itinerary to help in your planning. These days can be flipped around as you desire.
Day 1
See Tybee attractions: Start with Fort Pulaski and allow at least 2 hours. See the film first, then take a guided tour if they are offered that day, or tour it yourself. Watch for alligators sunning themselves on the moat. Walk around the eastern outside wall to see where the rifled cannon balls penetrated the fort. Climb to the top of the walls and see the view and the remaining guns. Walk around the ground floor and visit the quarters and the prison barracks, and go into the underground powder store rooms. If you like hiking, take the trail out of the parking lot and see where John Wesley, founder of Methodism, landed when he came to Savannah. Visit some ruins and enjoy the fauna, flora and bird life. Allow extra time for your hike.
Have lunch at the Crab Shack and visit the alligator pit.
Go to the Lighthouse (closed Tues.) and visit the restored cottages and climb to the top of the Lighthouse (some 178 steps). The view is spectacular. Go across the street and visit the museum housed in Battery Garland, part of Ft. Screven. The gift shop at the Lighthouse is particularly nice–quality items. Allow 2 hours for all.
Go to the Marine Science Center down at the Pier. Allow 1 hour.
Dinner suggestions: Cousin Vinnie’s for great pizza; Sting Ray’s for great seafood and burgers; Hunter House for something more relaxful and elegant.
Day 2
Get your discounted tickets for the On/Off Old Town Trolley tour at the TVR Information Center. Drive to their headquarters for FREE parking and take the trolley tour around once. Make notes on what you would like to see and then go again, getting off and on to see your preferred sights. Have lunch at Ms. Wilkes Boarding House at 107 W. Jones St., a Savannah icon, or you can put your name in for a place at Paula Deen’s restaurant, Lady and Sons. Stroll down River Street for some shopping–make sure you visit the candy shops-you can sample free pralines. Make sure you catch the trolley back to your car by 4:30.
Dinner – Try a Savannah restaurant or come back to the beach and sit at AJ’s, watch the sunset while you sip your favorite drink, and have a lighter dinner fare.
Day 3
Go to Oatland Wildlife Center to see the animals and exhibits. Allow 2-3 hours. Stop at Grapevine on Wilmington Island for lunch, and if the weather is nice, go spend an afternoon on the beach. You can rent chairs and just relax. Or if you want to get some exercise, rent bicycles and tour around Tybee to see the historic cottages and back river homes.
Dinner – Go to the New South Cafe for an absolutely fabulous meal and then do the Sixth Sense Ghost Tour.
Day 4
Go out to the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum, a wonderful place for all ages. Take the tour through the museum and visit the grounds. They have a great gift shop, too, for aviation related souvenirs. They also have a small deli where you can eat lunch. Allow at least 3 hours, plus 45 min. travel time to and from.
On the drive back in, visit the Railroad Museum across from the Visitor’s Center. Very well done museum featuring old trains you can climb on, a model train set-up, machinery from the late 1800s, and the turntable that still works. Also see there the site of the Siege of Savannah, second bloodiest battle of the Revolutionary War.
On the way back to Tybee, visit Bonaventure Cemetery, one of the most beautiful cemeteries in the United States, and where Savannah favorite sons and daughters are buried, including Johnny Mercer and Conrad Aiken. The monuments are spectacular and date from the late 1700’s to the present. The flowers are gorgeous as are the live oaks with hanging moss. It’s just a great place to walk and relax.
Dinner: Johnny Harris Restaurant, a Savannah icon, with the best fried chicken around AND known for its barbecue sauce.
Day 5
This morning take Captain Mike’s Dolphin Tour and see Tybee from the Atlantic Ocean. You’ll see Cockspur Lighthouse and another view of Ft. Pulaski. Have lunch at Cafe Loco’s next to the Captain Mike’s.
Spend the afternoon at the beach; have an ice cream at Tradewinds on Tybrisa; shop some of the local shops on Tybrisa. Have dinner at Marlin Monroe’s on Tybee.
Go into Savannah to see the live show at the Savannah Theater on Bull St. Come back to Tybee and have a drink at Doc’s Bar, a Tybee icon.
Day 6
Have breakfast at the Breakfast Club, a must for visitors. Get a massage, a manicure/pedicure–something you may not normally get–this is your vacation, splurge; or head south and take a day trip to Jekyll Island or north to Beaufort, SC. Come back to Tybee and grab a bite at MacElwees.
Day 7
Your last day. Only one thing to do–go to the beach and enjoy a relaxing day before your trip home. Go back to your favorite restaurant, or try one you weren’t able to get to.
