Savannah in 3 Days: The Perfect Itinerary

Three days is the sweet spot for Savannah. Long enough to see the Historic District properly, add a beach day, and not so long that you run out of squares. The mistake most first-timers make isn't missing a highlight — it's booking a museum-house marathon and a Tybee day into the same afternoon. This itinerary orders the city the way it's actually walkable, puts the free stuff in the right sequence, and leaves you room to be spontaneous.

A few things worth knowing before Day 1. The Historic District is genuinely walkable — that's the whole design. Two free transit lines cover the rest: the fare-free DOT shuttle loops the Historic District and waterfront roughly every 15–20 minutes (check CAT's current hours at catchacat.org before relying on it), and the Savannah Belles Ferry runs free across the river daily from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Parking downtown is paid and hunted — garages beat street meters for all-day stays.

Day 1: Squares, the Cathedral, and the Riverfront

Start at Forsyth Park — the 30-acre anchor at the district's south end. The fountain photo everyone takes happens at the north end; go early, before the crowd ring forms. Coffee first if that's your ritual: the coffee guide maps the walkable cafés on the way north.

Walk up Bull Street and let the squares happen in order — Chippewa, Madison, Monterey — until you reach the Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist on Lafayette Square. It's free to visit and takes donations; touring is typically 9:00–11:30 a.m. and 1:00–4:30 p.m. Monday–Saturday (from 1 p.m. Sunday), and it closes to visitors during noon Mass, so the morning window is your friend. Check the cathedral's site before you go.

Lunch in the middle of the walk rather than detouring: the restaurants guide covers the squares-and-Broughton range, from oyster halls to sandwich counters.

Afternoon, go downhill: Bull Street ends at City Market's open-air blocks, then two blocks farther to River Street along the cobblestone bluff. When your feet wave the white flag, hop the free Belles Ferry from the River Street landing across to Hutchinson Island — it's a 15-minute round trip with the skyline view you'd otherwise pay a boat tour for.

Dinner back up the hill, and if it's a weekend, the happy hour guide covers who runs deals within walking distance of your table.

Day 2: House Museums, City Market, and an Evening Out

Day 2 is the deep-history day, and the Historic District's house museums are the reason. The Owens-Thomas House & Slave Quarters, the Davenport House, and the Mercer Williams House Museum all sit within a few blocks of each other — our things-to-do guide compares what each one does best. The Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace runs guided tours too; times vary, so check juliettegordonlowbirthplace.org for the day's slots. Two houses in a morning is plenty; three is a marathon.

Lunch at City Market — open-air tables, shade, and the bars and nightlife hub nearby if the afternoon needs a pub stop.

Split the afternoon by trip type. History-first travelers should read the tours overview and book whatever matches the morning's mood — walking history, food tours, the ghost story come nightfall (the ranked ghost tours guide settles that question). If the miles from Day 1 caught up with you instead, the spa guide maps historic-home day spas a block off the squares — one appointment between monuments is a very Savannah way to spend two hours.

Evening: check the live music guide for who's playing — from the Historic Theatre to improv rooms — or take the dinner long at a riverfront restaurant.

Day 3: Tybee Island

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Day 3 goes to the beach, and it deserves the full day. The drive from downtown is about 18 miles and 30 minutes out US-80, longer on summer weekends. Budget beach parking into the plan: Tybee's metered lots run $4 an hour, enforced 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., with a $25 day pass available — the Park Tybee app covers every metered spot, and lots fill earliest on weekends.

Two stops on the way. Fort Pulaski National Monument sits just off the highway — $10 per person 16 and up, free for kids 15 and under, and the masonry damage from the 1862 siege is the kind of history lesson that doesn't need a tour guide. And if you have an extra hour, the Tybee Light Station at the island's north end is $14 to climb (the Tybee day-trip guide has the full island map).

The beach day itself needs no instructions — that's the point. If you'd rather not haul gear, the beach rentals guide covers who sets up chairs and umbrellas on the sand before you arrive, plus jet ski and kayak rentals for the hours sitting still gets old.

Stay for the sunset if you can swing the drive back, or make the last night a Tybee night — Hotel Tybee puts you a block from the pier.

Swaps, Add-Ons, and a Fourth Day

Three days leaves things out on purpose. The ones worth trading in:

• Wormsloe State Historic Site — the oak avenue from every Savannah photo you've seen, 20 minutes southeast of downtown. $12 per adult, open 9 a.m.–4:45 p.m.; check the state park's site for the current day schedule before driving out.
• Bonaventure Cemetery — the moss-draped eastside landmark; the attractions hub has its visiting details and the drive's other stops.
• A ghost tour, any night — Savannah's signature evening move, covered head to head in the ghost guide.

If your trip stretches to four days, the pattern writes itself: one more squares day at half pace, Wormsloe in the morning, and the second Tybee afternoon you told yourself you didn't need.

Where to Stay for This Itinerary

The itinerary works from two bases. Downtown puts you inside Day 1 and Day 2 on foot — the where-to-stay guide compares every Historic District option by trip type, and the B&B guide covers the historic-inn route.

For the downtown splurge, check rates at the Perry Lane Hotel — boutique scale two blocks off the squares, and the rooftop bar ends Day 1 correctly. For the beach-forward version of this trip, check rates at Hotel Tybee and flip the itinerary: Tybee first, city after.

What Three Days Actually Costs

Counting only the priced items above, two adults pay about $48 in attraction admissions for this itinerary (Fort Pulaski at $10 each plus the lighthouse at $14 each; the cathedral, ferry, and shuttle are all free), or roughly $72 with Wormsloe added (the state historic site's rates are plus tax). Everything else is meals, parking, and where you sleep. Savannah's expensive days are the ones you buy a tour package for; this one mostly isn't that.

Questions on the order of things, or traveling with kids, dogs, or a tight budget? The things-to-do guide sorts the city by traveler type — start there, then bend this itinerary to match.