Hospitality is the native language in Savannah, Georgia.
That’s what 13 tour operators and travel planner readers of The Group Travel Leader discovered during a four-day familiarization trip through the city and its sister destination, Tybee Island, in late July. Hosted by Visit Savannah, the tour showcased the incredible history, charming squares, beautiful coastline and delicious cuisine of “the Hostess City of the South.”
During the trip, participants toured the historic area on foot and aboard trolleys and explored some of the attractions that welcome millions of visitors to Savannah each year. They also took in the natural scenery of Tybee Island, enjoyed music and sunset views cruising the Savannah River and sampled local fare from a wide range of restaurants.
Follow along on this itinerary to begin planning your group’s trip to Savannah and Tybee Island.
Day 1
Travel planners from around the United States drove and flew to Savannah and made their way to seven hotels in the city’s historic district that would be their homes for the next three nights.
Once everyone had arrived, the group kicked off the tour experience with dinner at Java Burrito Company, a unique restaurant equally known for its coffee and its fresh Mexican cuisine. The group enjoyed a taco bar and margaritas while meeting representatives from Visit Savannah.
After dinner, the group took a sunset walking tour of the historic district that highlighted people and places immortalized in the famous book and subsequent film “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.” The tour served as a wonderful overview of Savannah’s unique history, as well as the bestseller and blockbuster that helped make the city one of the South’s most popular tourism destinations.
Day 2
• Historic city trolley tour
• Cathedral of St. John the Baptist
• Beach Institute
• Lunch at the Pirates House
• Green-Meldrim House
• American Prohibition Museum
• Gospel dinner cruise
Travel planners began their first full day in Savannah with breakfast at their hotels, followed by a trolley tour that showcased points of interest throughout the city’s historic district. Next, they stopped at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist to admire the church’s art and architecture, then had a wonderful introduction to Savannah’s Black history at the Beach Institute. Lunch was at the Pirates House, an establishment founded in 1753 that has a storied history and a variety of Southern culinary favorites. After lunch, the group toured the historic Green-Meldrim House and visited the engaging American Prohibition Museum. After some free time in the afternoon, they enjoyed an evening of music, food and scenery during a gospel dinner cruise aboard the Georgia Queen.
Trolley Tour
Savannah was founded in 1733 and designed by General James Oglethorpe, who laid the city out around a system of 24 public squares. Today, 22 of those are still in existence in the 2.2-square-mile historic district, and the most popular way to explore them is by trolley. The group explored the squares and many other scenic and important sites during a trolley tour of the city, which also highlighted the historic waterfront, the home of Girl Scouts founder Juliette Gordon Low and sites featured in the movie “Forrest Gump.”
Cathedral of St. John the Baptist
Among the most photographed spots in Savannah are the twin steeples of the Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist. Constructed in the 1870s, the cathedral is both a church with an active congregation and an architectural gem. The FAM group enjoyed a docent-led tour of the cathedral showcasing its history, architecture, stained-glass windows and gorgeous biblical murals.
Beach Institute
In 1865, a group of Savannah’s African American citizens built the Beach Institute as the first school for the education of free Blacks in the area. Today, the historic building is home to the Beach Institute African American Cultural Center, which preserves Savannah’s Black history, culture and art. Travel planners toured the center’s extensive collection of folk art and carvings by Ulysses Davis, a Georgia native and prolific self-taught sculptor.
Green-Meldrim House
At the end of his famous March to the Sea in 1864, Union General Tecumseh Sherman and his troops came to Savannah, and finding it so beautiful, decided not to burn it. Sherman stayed in the home of a local family, turning it into his de facto headquarters. That home is now preserved as the Green-Meldrim House, which the FAM group toured to admire the interior dome and ornate plastic work, as well as to learn more about Sherman’s time in the city.
American Prohibition Museum
The only museum in the United States dedicated to telling the story of the Prohibition movement, the American Prohibition Museum opened in 2017. It employs immersive exhibits, lifelike wax figures, multimedia displays and historic artifacts to help visitors understand the fascinating Prohibition period and its aftermath from multiple points of view. The travel planners enjoyed a guided tour through the museum, followed by a visit to the on-site speakeasy, where they sampled a traditional Chatham Artillery Punch.
Gospel Dinner Cruise
Savannah Riverboat Cruises operates a variety of dining and sightseeing cruises on the Savannah River. The FAM group took a gospel dinner cruise aboard the Georgia Queen, which can accommodate more than 1,000 guests on four decks. The cruise featured a full bar and delicious Southern food favorites — including fried chicken, shrimp and grits, and banana pudding — prepared in the on-board galley. The meal was accompanied by live gospel music performed by a local church choir.
Day 3
• Tour Tybee Island
• Dolphin Tour
• Lunch at North Beach Bar and Grill
• Tybee Island Marine Science Center
• Fort Pulaski National Monument
• Siege of Savannah experience
• Dinner at 45 Bistro
The next day featured a visit to Tybee Island, a barrier island in the Atlantic Ocean about a half-hour’s drive away from downtown Savannah. Upon arrival, the group got an excellent introduction to the island’s nature and history with Tybee Tour Company, then hopped on a dolphin cruise with Captain Derek’s Dolphin Adventure Tours. They took a break for a delicious lunch at North Beach Bar and Grill — a Tybee institution — before walking next door to meet sea turtles and other creatures at the Tybee Island Marine Science Center. On the way back to the city, the group brushed up on military history with stops at Fort Pulaski National Monument and a Siege of Savannah experience at Battlefield Memorial Park. After some time to refresh, the travel planners joined Visit Savannah staff for an elegant farewell dinner at 45 Bistro.
Tour Tybee Island
Jacilyn Ledford, a former history professor, first visited Tybee Island on a research trip and soon fell in love with it. Today, she operates Tour Tybee Islands, introducing visitors to the history and ecology of the island. Ledford joined the tour group to show them around, telling stories about famous residents, pointing out interesting flora and fauna, and taking them to see the Tybee Island Lighthouse, which was built in the 1880s and stands 145 feet above the waterfront.
Dolphin Tour
The Atlantic waters off the coast of Georgia and South Carolina between Tybee, Daufuskie and Hilton Head islands are a great place to see dolphins. The group got a chance to spot plenty on a cruise with Captain Derek’s Dolphin Adventure Tours, which departs from a Tybee Island dock. During the cruise, guides shared facts about the area’s coastal bottlenose dolphins, which can grow up to nine feet long and weigh as much as 400 pounds. Participants got to see the dolphins jumping, playing and engaging in other frisky activities.
Tybee Island Marine Science Center
Each year, some 2,000 sea turtles bury nests along the Georgia coast, many of them on Tybee Island. At the Tybee Island Marine Science Center, educators introduce visitors to loggerhead and terrapin sea turtles and teach them about their perilous journey from nest to ocean. The tour participants enjoyed the opportunity to interact with several sea turtles and other marine creatures at the center. There are also exhibits on right whales and marine fossils.
Fort Pulaski National Monument
Built in 1929 by the James Madison administration as a waterway defense, Fort Pulaski later saw Civil War action in 1862, when a cannon battle broke out between Confederates at the fort and Union forces on Tybee Island. Today, the fort is a national monument. A ranger led the tour group around the site — now a national monument — to point out its French-inspired architecture, tell them about the enslaved people who built its walls and show them its authentic Civil War cannons.
Siege of Savannah Experience
During the Revolutionary War, soldiers from what are now eight different countries faced off in 1779 at the Battle of Savannah. The fighting, which has come to be known as the bloodiest hour of the war, ended the weekslong siege of Savannah. Tour participants learned about the battle during the Siege of Savannah Experience, an interactive program featuring costumed interpreters and musket firing at the Savannah History Museum and Battlefield Memorial Park.
Day 4
On the final day of the tour, participants had some free time in the morning, which they took advantage of to enjoy breakfast in their host hotels, walk through the garden squares of the historic district or stroll the city’s vibrant riverfront.
Then the group paid a visit to Salacia Salts, a local small business founded by a woman who graduated from the Savannah College of Art and Design. During the visit, they learned about how she uses salts harvested around the world to create skincare and beauty products. Then, they sat down in the company’s workshop for an interactive experience, during which they worked with employees to create scrubs from their own custom blends of fragrances, salts, sugars and other natural ingredients.
From there, the participants departed with suitcases full of souvenirs, cameras full of photos and their minds full of ideas for their return trips to Savannah.
For more information on planning a trip to Savannah please contact Anjuli King with Visit Savannah at 912-644-6423 or aking@visitsavannah.com or go to visitsavannah.com.
