Savannah is designed for walking. The Oglethorpe plan (22 public squares arranged in a grid, each with a central park space, surrounded by residential and civic buildings) creates a city where the public spaces outnumber the private ones. The squares are free. The cobblestone streets of the historic district are free. The Forsyth Park fountain, the riverfront walk along River Street, and the Spanish moss-draped oak canopies along Bull Street are free. The expensive parts of Savannah are the hotels in the historic district and the restaurant dinner service on River Street. Both have alternatives.
The Squares: The Core Experience
Savannah's 22 squares are the organizing structure of the historic district and the primary reason to come. Each square has a different character, different monuments, and different surrounding architecture, and the experience of walking from one to the next across 20 city blocks is the central activity of a Savannah visit.
The squares most worth stopping in: Chippewa Square (the bench from Forrest Gump, though the original bench is now in the Savannah History Museum), Johnson Square (the oldest square, center of commercial Savannah), Monterey Square (the Mercer Williams House, featured in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, on the south side), and Lafayette Square (Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist on the east side, worth entering for the interior).
Forsyth Park, at the southern end of the historic district, is a 30-acre public park with a cast-iron fountain (c. 1858) that is the city's most photographed feature. The park hosts a farmers market on Saturdays (8 a.m. to 1 p.m., April through December) with produce, prepared food, and local goods at market prices.
Bonaventure Cemetery: Free and Historically Significant
Bonaventure Cemetery, 4 miles from the historic district, is the burial ground featured prominently in John Berendt's Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil: it holds the grave of Conrad Aiken, the Trosdal family plot depicted in the book, and the statue of the Little Gracie that draws visitors specifically to see it.
The cemetery is a public space, open during daylight hours, at no charge. It's also a genuine Victorian-era garden cemetery with old-growth live oaks, Spanish moss, and elaborate funerary sculpture throughout. A self-guided walk takes 45 minutes to 2 hours depending on how much time you spend.
Getting there without a car: the Chatham Area Transit bus system has a route that covers the cemetery; check current schedules at catchacat.org. Cycling from the historic district takes approximately 20 to 25 minutes on the flat terrain.
River Street: What's Worth Doing and What to Skip
River Street is Savannah's tourist corridor: the nine-block stretch of restored cotton warehouses along the Savannah River waterfront. The cobblestone walk along the river is free and worth doing for the view of the river traffic (container ships pass at close range, a genuinely impressive scale differential with the pedestrian zone).
The restaurants on River Street price for their location and tourist concentration; the same food is available at lower price points in the City Market area one block north. The candy shops (River Street Sweets and Savannah's Candy Kitchen both roast nuts on-site with a visible production area) are worth walking through for the smell and spectacle without purchasing.
Paula Deen's The Lady & Sons is on Congress Street near City Market and operates a lunch buffet for around $16 per person (verify current price at the restaurant), which provides the Southern food experience at a lower price point than the dinner service.
City Market vs. River Street for Food
The City Market area (Franklin Square, between Jefferson and Montgomery Streets) has a mix of casual restaurants, food stalls, and bars at price points below River Street. Lunch in this area runs $10 to $15 per person for a full meal. The outdoor seating faces the active street rather than the river, which is a trade-off in setting but not in food quality.
The Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) operates Café SCAD, a cafeteria-style restaurant in the student services building that's open to the public for lunch on weekdays. SCAD students eat here; the prices reflect it. A full lunch runs under $10 (verify current prices on the SCAD website).
Accommodation Below Historic District Prices
Downtown Savannah historic district hotel rates during spring (peak season) run $200 to $350 per night for standard rooms. The alternatives:
Savannah Pensione is a budget accommodation in a historic building with basic rooms at below-market rates (verify current prices on booking platforms). The Thunderbird Inn, a restored 1960s motel on Oglethorpe Avenue within walking distance of the historic district, offers motel pricing in a historic location.
The Midtown area, 10 to 15 minutes south of the historic district by car or bicycle, has chain accommodations at standard chain pricing. The flat terrain of Savannah makes cycling from Midtown to the historic district practical, and rental bikes are available from multiple vendors in the historic district.
See also: minimalist Charleston weekend.
When to Visit Savannah
Savannah's peak season is spring (March through May) when temperatures are mild, the azaleas bloom, and the St. Patrick's Day celebration (one of the largest in the US) draws several hundred thousand visitors to the historic district. The St. Patrick's Day weekend is the highest-priced accommodation window of the year; if your dates are flexible, avoiding the second and third weekends of March reduces prices significantly.
Fall (September through November) is the second-best season for comfortable walking temperatures and the least crowded weekdays. Summer is hot and humid (temperatures regularly exceed 95°F), but accommodation prices drop and the squares are less crowded in the middle of the day.
Tybee Island: The Beach Day Option
Tybee Island, 18 miles east of Savannah, is the beach access for the city. The public beach is free; parking charges a day fee (verify current rates at tybeeisland.com/parking). The Tybee Island Lighthouse is open for tours at a small fee; the view from the top of the oldest and tallest lighthouse in Georgia is the primary reason to visit the structure specifically. The beach is wide and accessible without resort barriers. See also: Gulf Shores budget weekend.
A Practical Day-by-Day Itinerary
Day 1 (Saturday): arrive by train or car, check into accommodation. Morning walk through the squares from Chippewa to Forsyth Park, roughly 1.5 miles. Stop at the Forsyth Park Farmers Market (8 a.m. to 1 p.m.) for lunch. Afternoon: River Street walk and return through the French Quarter. Dinner at City Market area at lunch-hour prices if arriving early enough, or a restaurant in that corridor.
Day 2 (Sunday): Bonaventure Cemetery in the morning (take a bus or rideshare, walk back through the Tidewater neighborhood along the river bluff if fit). Afternoon: SCAD museum (free on Sundays; verify current status at scadmoa.org) and the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist interior. Depart by late afternoon to beat Sunday traffic.
