Charleston, SC & Savannah, GA visit

[BigAl_50]

We are planing a trip to Charleston, SC and Savannah, GA the week of April 1st....are there any "must sees" or "stay away from" for our trip? All input is apprecated.

 

[Paumavista]

Raptor Center

Do you like birds?
We always have a bunch of kids with us and rarely spend any time in the city so I have no city recommendations....we'll be at Seabrook at the coast next week. But we won't take these 6 kids into any city attractions (it's either too expensive or too nerve wrecking); We'd love to visit the aquarium in Charleston just cause I really like aquariums (one time we got free tickets for the foster children....but they've apparently done away with that and it's just much too expensive for our group.

But anyway....my suggestion....if you like birds....raptors specifically, there is a really wonderful raptor center we found a little north of Charleston. It was really an out of the way kinda place but they do a fabulous job and although I am NOT a bird lover I really enjoyed it. They take you around and talk about the birds and then do some demonstrations. But it's one of those places you normally wouldn't just come across (luckily I found it on tripadvisor somehow).

I do suggest trip advisor if you don't get too many suggestions here.
Have a great trip
Hope we all have fabulous weather!!
Judy

 

[pkyorkbeach]

These two cities are on my list of must see. So I am anxious to see what our Tugers have to say about their visits.

 

[singlemalt_18]

The only thing to avoid in Savannah is Paula Deen's restaurant; it was the place to go many years ago before she was a big Food Channel celeb. The old place was very small and had a lot of charm - and good food. The new place is to be avoided at all costs.

The Oyster House down on the waterfront is the place to go if you like to eat them by the dozen on the half shell.

As for Charleston, here is a recent thread where a few suggestions where discussed. I am partial to Patriot's Point and the Hunley at the Warren Lasch Center...

http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=162241

 

[Carol C]

This is the season for home and garden tours in Charleston. When you arrive, stop in the visitor's center on Meeting St for all the info you need. It's beautiful with azaleas all abloom...and neighboring Summerville SC also has azaleas like crazy, and there are national historic gardens at Middleton Place, Drayton Hall and Magnolia Gardens (I've just visited...spectacular!) My vote is for you to go to Charleston...oh yeah great beaches nearby, Isle of Palms and Folly Beach being two, and Kiawah for upscale beaching. Enjoy!

 

[tschwa2]

Is it going to be just adults or kids and adults? Are you based in a TS in Hilton Head and doing day trips or are you staying in a TS in Charleston and doing Savannah for a few days.

Our family will be in Hilton Head that week and I have been grouponing day trip activities to Charleston, Savannah, Edisto Island (where we are stopping for a night on the way down) and to Hilton Head itself. There are walking tours, trolly tours, ghost tours, kayaking tours, dolphin tours, etc.

I'm trying not to over plan. They have a deal where you can try Groupon VIP free for 2 months that lets you get access to offers that have expired but not sold out. It also lets you have extended time to refund if you don't use the groupon.

 

[tombo]

We LOVED Savannah!!! Do the hop on hop off trolley tour in Savannah for a day or 2. I rode the entire length seeing all the sights and listening to the interesting commentary by the tram operator. After making the full trip i began to get off at various stops to see the sights that interested me the most. One day is $24, 2 days is $34. You will never see everything you want to see in a day, but you can see a lot in 2 days. The parks, statues, fountains, old churches, old homes, museums, riverfront bars and restaurants. There is so much to see and do.I like Savannah better than Charleston, but both are great.

http://www.trolleytours.com/savannah/rates-and-reservations.asp

http://www.trolleytours.com/savannah/civic-visitors-center.asp

We took a horse drawn carriage tour in Charleston and really enjoyed it. Charleston historic district is not nearly as large or spread out as Savannahh is. Once we returned from the carriage tour we walked to various locations on foot that we had seen. The outdoor market is great if it is not too hot. The bay and all of the boats. The old homes, restaurants. Charleston is a great city too.

 

[Cheryl20772]

You might like the Charleston tea plantation. http://www.charlestonteaplantation.com/Tours.aspx

It's the only tea garden in America and both educational and unique. My mother visited there and when she got home couldn't stop telling me about it.

 

[cpnuser]

Private walking tour

In Dec. 2010, my son arranged for a private walking tour in Savannah with Bobby Davis www.exploresavannah.com 912 507 9144.

We had lunch at The Olde Pink House http://www.americascuisine.com/georg...PinkHouse.aspx The food & service were great.

After lunch, we met Bobby in Reynolds Square. Bobby outlined the tour before we started. We had planned to do a ghost tour also the next day, but Bobby mentioned it was suppose to rain. So, instead, he threw in some very interesting & informative comments about ghosts during our walking tour(almost 3 hours)of all the squares in historic Savannah. We learned a lot from his commentary & had many good laughs. I highly recommend Bobby, if you want an excellent tour guide of Savannah. It was $35 each and well worth it.

 

[hcarman]

We did a horse drawn carriage ghost tour. It was a little bit of history and some ghost stories - tours are in the evening, as far as I know. Then we went down to the river front where they have some shops, restaurants, bars, etc.