Help with budget trip to Savannah, GA

southernbelle5672

DIS Veteran
Joined
Sep 4, 2008
I am planning a surprise getaway for me and DH to Savannah, Ga. Does anyone live there or have you visited there? We have never been there before and I need some help on what is worth doing. It will be a weekend trip so we won't need many activities but I was thinking of doing the Paula Deen tour (me and DH both love to cook and love Paula Deen), a ghost tour, and the murder mystery dinner show at the Savannah Dinner Theatre. Unfortunately, each of those activities has a pretty hefty price tag ... does anyone know ways to get discounts? Any and all help is appreciated. I would love to hear feedback on those activities or suggestions of things you think would be more fun.
 
We have been to Savannah once and fell in love with the River Street Inn, it is an old mill that sits right on the Savannah River. Rooms aren't as expensive there as most hotels in the area and we got Deluxe treatment at Moderate prices and even had a room with a River View. Seeing these huge ships come in is jaw dropping. We had 2 queen beds with the River View for $150/night, most in the area are $300/night.

Here is a link to their site:

http://www.riverstreetinn.com/

This hotel is close to Paula Deen's restaurant and above the River Walk that has lots of little shops. They offer a package with the tour, but we had no interest in that since you don't get to eat at her restaurant (you eat at her brother's restaurant) and that is the only reason we went to Savannah. We took a picnic lunch and ate in the car, but had Saturday night dinner and Sunday lunch at Lady and Sons, it was soooo good we couldn't eat anywhere else, besides it was for my mom's birthday. If you want to eat there, you need to get your name on the list starting at 9:30am, Sunday is first come first serve.

Here is a link to the restaurant site:

http://ladyandsons.com/index.php/restaurant/hours/

It is the best food I have ever had. It was hard to eat at a restaurant for a long time because nobody's food was as good.

I didn't really notice any other areas I would have felt comfortable in with a decent price, but I am pretty picky about hotels.

Suzanne
 
We just got back from a night there on our drive home from disney. We ate at Uncle Bubba's Oyster house and it was YUMMY! *cheap and casual right near tybee island. It's a good one to try. Have fun it's a great city.
 
If feel comfortable doing it, try priceline. We got 2 nights at a hotel downtown 1 block from the main drag for like 69 or 79 dollars in Sept of 06
 


thanks for the info, we thought about stopping in Savannah on our way down to disney to check out Paula Deen's place. Thanks.
 
We have been to Savannah once and fell in love with the River Street Inn, it is an old mill that sits right on the Savannah River. Rooms aren't as expensive there as most hotels in the area and we got Deluxe treatment at Moderate prices and even had a room with a River View. Seeing these huge ships come in is jaw dropping. We had 2 queen beds with the River View for $150/night, most in the area are $300/night.

Here is a link to their site:

http://www.riverstreetinn.com/

This hotel is close to Paula Deen's restaurant and above the River Walk that has lots of little shops. They offer a package with the tour, but we had no interest in that since you don't get to eat at her restaurant (you eat at her brother's restaurant) and that is the only reason we went to Savannah. We took a picnic lunch and ate in the car, but had Saturday night dinner and Sunday lunch at Lady and Sons, it was soooo good we couldn't eat anywhere else, besides it was for my mom's birthday. If you want to eat there, you need to get your name on the list starting at 9:30am, Sunday is first come first serve.

Here is a link to the restaurant site:

http://ladyandsons.com/index.php/restaurant/hours/

It is the best food I have ever had. It was hard to eat at a restaurant for a long time because nobody's food was as good.

I didn't really notice any other areas I would have felt comfortable in with a decent price, but I am pretty picky about hotels.

Suzanne

Thanks for the info! That little inn sounds wonderful. I can't wait to eat at the Lady & Sons now!
 
We just got back from a night there on our drive home from disney. We ate at Uncle Bubba's Oyster house and it was YUMMY! *cheap and casual right near tybee island. It's a good one to try. Have fun it's a great city.

Thanks for the recommendation! Lunch at this restaurant actually comes with the Paula Deen tour so hopefully we will eating here!
 


My sis and I did the Paula Deen Tour back in Sept 2007. Unless you are a die-hard, can't-live-without-seeing-it fan, I would recommend just doing a regular Savannah tour. On her tour, you don't see much of downtown Savannah at all. It focuses on stuff about her. The produce market you stop at is very small and overpriced, IMO. Byrd's Cookie Co was nice, but we stayed there way too long. The house she used to live in is jsut a regular old tint brick house, and you just drive by it. Yes, it includes lunch at Uncle Bubba's, but it a special 'buffet" in a back room, not off the menu. Since I can't eat shrimp, there was very little I could eat, and my sister said the shrimp dish was not very good anyway. The best part of the tour was the free praline, jar of Silly Salt (love the stuff!) and the special number to call for reservations. However, that's not worth the price of the tour. I thought the tour included a stop at River City Sweets, but it did not. We went there on our own.

IMO, I would just do a regular trolley tour and get to Lady and Sons early to get your name on the list. You don't have to stand in line the whole time if you do that, I believe. Be sure to visit the Paula Deen Store next to the restaurant.

There are some certificates on Restaurant.com. I know they used to have Vinnie Van Go-go's, and they are supposed to have really good pizza. Be sure to hit both candy stores, River City Sweets and Savannah Candy Co. A lot fo the discount books have coupons for them. If you love to ccok, there was a great kitchen store we visited. I think it was called Kitchens on the Square. It's right off Congress St near Lady and Sons.

We didn't stay there (we stayed at Hilton Head), but I've heard good things about the Ellis Inn (don't be turned off because it's owned by Days Inn). There was alos a very nice Hampton Inn & Suites over on MLK Blvd. Some of the people on our tour stayed there, and we got to see it when they dropped them off at the end.
 
My sis and I did the Paula Deen Tour back in Sept 2007. Unless you are a die-hard, can't-live-without-seeing-it fan, I would recommend just doing a regular Savannah tour. On her tour, you don't see much of downtown Savannah at all. It focuses on stuff about her. The produce market you stop at is very small and overpriced, IMO. Byrd's Cookie Co was nice, but we stayed there way too long. The house she used to live in is jsut a regular old tint brick house, and you just drive by it. Yes, it includes lunch at Uncle Bubba's, but it a special 'buffet" in a back room, not off the menu. Since I can't eat shrimp, there was very little I could eat, and my sister said the shrimp dish was not very good anyway. The best part of the tour was the free praline, jar of Silly Salt (love the stuff!) and the special number to call for reservations. However, that's not worth the price of the tour. I thought the tour included a stop at River City Sweets, but it did not. We went there on our own.

IMO, I would just do a regular trolley tour and get to Lady and Sons early to get your name on the list. You don't have to stand in line the whole time if you do that, I believe. Be sure to visit the Paula Deen Store next to the restaurant.

There are some certificates on Restaurant.com. I know they used to have Vinnie Van Go-go's, and they are supposed to have really good pizza. Be sure to hit both candy stores, River City Sweets and Savannah Candy Co. A lot fo the discount books have coupons for them. If you love to ccok, there was a great kitchen store we visited. I think it was called Kitchens on the Square. It's right off Congress St near Lady and Sons.

We didn't stay there (we stayed at Hilton Head), but I've heard good things about the Ellis Inn (don't be turned off because it's owned by Days Inn). There was alos a very nice Hampton Inn & Suites over on MLK Blvd. Some of the people on our tour stayed there, and we got to see it when they dropped them off at the end.


Thank you so much for all of the information. It does make me think twice about going on the tour since it is so expensive. And I really wouldn't call us die hard fans of Paula Deen, we just watch her every once and a while. That is also interesting that you only get a buffet at Bubba's Oyster House, especially since I'm not a big fan of shrimp and REALLY not a fan of buffets. I guess it would be better for us to just try to go to Bubba's Oyster House and the Lady & Sons on our own. I'm also interested in the kitchen store you mentioned ... were things reasonably priced or relatively high? Are all of the stores you talked about in the same general area? For instance, if we want to park somewhere could we just walk to all of the stores (the kitchen store, the candy stores, etc). If we decide to only do the Murder Mystery Dinner Show and ghost tour, what would you recommend doing instead of the Paula Deen tour? Do you think visiting the shops you talked about would entertain us for an entire day?
 
I thin kthe candy shop is on the River Walk and that might entertain you for a good part of the day. We went to the mall, since my 9 year old cousin was along and we let her go to build a bear. there is a really nice kitchen store on the corner around for Lady and Sons, I beleive it is Kitchen on the Square. There are quite a few shops in the area, but not stuff that interested us. I dont' know where the other place she was talking about is. We were only there for about 24 hours and Dh had to stand in line for a dinner ressie while mom and I went to check in, then we picked him up, went back to the hotel to freshen up, went to the mall, then waited until our ressie time at the restaurant, because they might call you early if someone leaves.

Because we had waited so long the night before, the hostess remembered us and when we went back to eat on Sunday, she was very accommodating :thumbsup2

Suzanne
 
We stayed in Savannah one night at the begining of June. We did the ghost tour where you ride in the back of a hearse. http://www.hearseghosttours.com/ That was alot of fun and many people take pictures of you as you drive around. That tour covers most of the area, so we skipped the trolley tour the next day. We stayed in the HI Express and liked the service and location. You won't need to use you car. There is a Hampton Inn next door that also looks nice.
We had dinner at Kevin Barrys. They have a good cheese pizza so my son was happy, and a nice selection of Irish dishes so the adults were happy. They have a second floor balcony that overlooks the river so you also have a view. Everyone kept recommending the Chart House, but we have one of these where we live, so we skipped it here.
 
We stayed in Savannah one night at the begining of June. We did the ghost tour where you ride in the back of a hearse. http://www.hearseghosttours.com/ That was alot of fun and many people take pictures of you as you drive around. That tour covers most of the area, so we skipped the trolley tour the next day. We stayed in the HI Express and liked the service and location. You won't need to use you car. There is a Hampton Inn next door that also looks nice.
We had dinner at Kevin Barrys. They have a good cheese pizza so my son was happy, and a nice selection of Irish dishes so the adults were happy. They have a second floor balcony that overlooks the river so you also have a view. Everyone kept recommending the Chart House, but we have one of these where we live, so we skipped it here.

Ohhh, thank you so much for the ghost tour link! I was wondering which one would be the best because I know that my DH definitely wants to go on one of those. Do you know where The Renaissance hotel is? My Dad can get a great rate at those hotels so I was thinking that we would probably stay there, as it would be about the same price as HI Express. Just wondering if it's close like HI Express.
 
I thin kthe candy shop is on the River Walk and that might entertain you for a good part of the day. We went to the mall, since my 9 year old cousin was along and we let her go to build a bear. there is a really nice kitchen store on the corner around for Lady and Sons, I beleive it is Kitchen on the Square. There are quite a few shops in the area, but not stuff that interested us. I dont' know where the other place she was talking about is. We were only there for about 24 hours and Dh had to stand in line for a dinner ressie while mom and I went to check in, then we picked him up, went back to the hotel to freshen up, went to the mall, then waited until our ressie time at the restaurant, because they might call you early if someone leaves.

Because we had waited so long the night before, the hostess remembered us and when we went back to eat on Sunday, she was very accommodating :thumbsup2

Suzanne

Thank you very much for the info! :goodvibes:thumbsup2
 
If you want a cheap tour, just hop on the Trolley that goes by the Visitor's Center. This is not the tours that leave from the Visitor's Center (those cost money). It is just the regular Savannah City Trolley. It is free for tourists, but locals ride it too. It stops at the regular tourist spots and the bus driver doesn't give you any kind of speech about where you are going, but it saved us a ton of money for the 4 of us. Just pick up a map in the Visitor's Center and it will tell you where the trolley stops are. You can get on and off where ever you want. :cool2:
 
Tybee Island was a nice place to visit.

Also, Vinnie's is AWESOME...and Kevin Barry's was great for a pint (or three :rotfl:). :drinking1

Honestly, just walking around downtown is fun ~ and free!!

Have a great time. DH and I visited there four years ago and I loved it. It's a gorgeous city, and most of the people were wonderful. :thumbsup2
 
I'm going to Savannah next week for a work conference for 4 days. I'll have 3nights free, and I was looking at 1 of the ghost tours. Defintely going to check your link out.

My room is at the Hilton, across the street from the Sorrel-Weed House (??) is that close distance to the river walk?
 
Tybee Island was a nice place to visit.

Also, Vinnie's is AWESOME...and Kevin Barry's was great for a pint (or three :rotfl:). :drinking1

Honestly, just walking around downtown is fun ~ and free!!

Have a great time. DH and I visited there four years ago and I loved it. It's a gorgeous city, and most of the people were wonderful. :thumbsup2

Is there a public beach on Tybee Island? How far away from Savannah is it?
 
Is there a public beach on Tybee Island? How far away from Savannah is it?

I know there is because that's where we went to the beach, but I can't remember where it was! It was very close to the lighthouse, though. That much I remember.

Tybee Island was around 30 mins away, if I remember right. :)
 
Yes, the public beach for Tybee Island is right across the street from the Lighthouse. I believe you have to pay for parking, unless you are getting there after a certain time. There is another parking lot closer to the beach if you just explore a little bit from the parking light directly across from the lighthouse. There is a restaurant and bar there, too. On the way to the Lighthouse, there is Fort Pulaski, a National Historic Site. We loved it, too. :cool2:
 
Thank you so much for all of the information. It does make me think twice about going on the tour since it is so expensive. And I really wouldn't call us die hard fans of Paula Deen, we just watch her every once and a while. That is also interesting that you only get a buffet at Bubba's Oyster House, especially since I'm not a big fan of shrimp and REALLY not a fan of buffets. I guess it would be better for us to just try to go to Bubba's Oyster House and the Lady & Sons on our own. I'm also interested in the kitchen store you mentioned ... were things reasonably priced or relatively high? Are all of the stores you talked about in the same general area? For instance, if we want to park somewhere could we just walk to all of the stores (the kitchen store, the candy stores, etc). If we decide to only do the Murder Mystery Dinner Show and ghost tour, what would you recommend doing instead of the Paula Deen tour? Do you think visiting the shops you talked about would entertain us for an entire day?

http://www.savannahgetaways.net/poi/index.cfm

When we went to the kitchen store and lady and Sons, we lucked out and found street parking.If memory serves, it was right near the intersection of Barnard and W. Broughton (see map in link, look for City Market then go below and to the right). There are all kinds of shops in the area, especially in the City Market. There is a Savananna Candy Kitchen at City Market and also the one on River Street. Can't remember which is the original. When we visited River St, we just parked in a city lot on Bay St. Inbetween some of the old buildings there in Factors Walk, there were staircases that took you down to River St (not a lot of parking on River St that I saw). Cafeful in that area, though! It's all cobblestone-y. I almost bought it on the stairs once! :laughing:

That kitchen store had some pricey stuff and some not so bad. Similar to Williams Sonoma and Sur la Table. They have the really pretty measuring cups and spoons that Paula uses on her show, but those are rather spendy I thought!


If you can work it in, visit Forsyth Park. We didn;t get to stop, but it sure was beautiful!!!! If you wnat to see where Forrest Gump sat on the bench waiting for the bus to visit jenny, that's at Chippewa Square (corer of E Hull and Bull Sts). :goodvibes However, the actual bench is in the Historical Museum.

Hope you have a good trip! I only got to spend a few hours of 2 days there, so I will definitely be going back.
 

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