Hilton Head Day Trips at Christmas

[trampslady]

Hello! My husband and I will be driving at a leisurely pace from Dallas to Hilton Head. We will arrive at the resort on Sunday, December 28 and plan to checkout on Friday, January 2 and head home. This will be our very first visit and we are very excited about this trip.

Can anyone give me an idea of what to expect this time of year. Also we are very interested in taking a couple of day trips to Charleston and Savannah. How long is the drive to each of these and is it realistic to plan a day trip?

 

[CarolA]

Savannah is an easy day trip. I think it takes around an hour to get there and it is a wonderful city to see and tour. However, you might want to do some research before you go. With that being a holiday weekend things could be closed.

 

[DownNeckBoy]

Savannah and Charleston are lovely cities. I have visited both. I prefer Charleston over Savannah, for a variety of reasons. However, getting to Charleston from HHI is noticeably more difficult than it is to get from HHI to Savannah. The Savannah trip should not take you more than 45-50 minutes. The trip to Charleston, conservatively, is at least 2 hours. That having been said, Charleston at Christmas time should be more than worth the effort!

Good luck with your planning!

 

[gracelrm]

We were there this past year at roughly the same time. I can't offer suggestions about day trips, as we stayed put in HH and enjoyed activities at the resort and around HH. I can say that it was a nice time of year to be there, not too crowded, but still plenty to do. The only thing I noticed were that some restaurants in the Shelter Cove area appeared to close on Jan. 1st and posted they would reopen in March. I don't know if other restaurants on the island do this as well, but apparently some do. However, we didn't starve and managed to find plenty to eat! Have a great time

 

[trampslady]

Thanks so much for all the great info. We are looking forward to a very laid back holiday...just the two of us. Hilton Head sounds like just the place for that! Keep the suggestions coming!

 

[Candace]

I was just there last week and took a day trip to Charleston. A CM at the front desk gave me good directions, and when we arrived in Charleston, I just followed the signs to the visitor center. We parked there and did a bus tour (Mom is 83) - Grayline, I think, which could include house tours, if you wish. I would like to return and do the walking tours at a cooler time of year. We toured a 200 year old home at the end of the bus tour, and the house was across the street from the Charleston Museum, which is also very good. The Museum is right by the visitor center, and when we walked back there from the museum, I bought two city bus tickets and we went downtown. There is an old, old city flea-market downtown and the bus stopped right by it. After visiting the market, we went just about a block to the Charleston Place Hotel. I wanted to see this because it is one of the Concierge Collection hotels. Beautiful! We went up about 1/2 block and ate at Hyman's Seafood restaurant. The She-Crab soup was delicious, and so were the fried green tomatoes appetizer! Our bus tour stopped at the seawall, and the driver pointed out Fort Sumter across the water. I want to go back to Charleston again - there is so much to see. When we left, the parking attendant wrote down exact directions to get me out of the city. It is twice as long as driving to Savannah (which I also love), but it was still an easy daytrip. Enjoy!

 

[trampslady]

Candace, thanks so much for such a thorough report. I can harldy wait. I would imagine that these two "southern belles" really dress up wonderfully for the holidays. I'm looking forward to some of the tours offered.

 

[Connears]

We have spent 4 holiday seasons at HHI and it is really fun. If you want things to do, you can also check the HHI website and there is a calendar of events. We visited Beufort once and did a tour of some of the antebellum houses and had lunch along the waterfront. There is also a historic museum there. Fun day out. Lot's of post Christmas sales at the outlets. We usually have had dinner out and then returned to resort for private NYE festivities, but many hotels have gala festivities. DVC at HHI has kids party so adults can party alone in their villa.

you will fall in love with it(like us) and watch out for buying some points there(add-on 50 pts).

Connears