Traveling Around HHI

[tchrrx]

We will be in HHI either at the end of June or the beginning of July. I'm trying to convince DH that Orlando is only a 4 hour drive, so we should continue on to Disney. He's saying we should travel north & do something. (Of course, he also said that Vermont should only be about 6 hours away. Umm...try about 18 or more.) Anyhow, what cities and sites are within a 4 hour drive of HHI that you would recommend? We've never traveled around that area, so we're open to almost anything.

 

[Doctor P]

At minimum, you should consider going to Savannah, Georgia and Charleston, South Carolina. Both are easy drives from HH (40 minutes and a little under two hours respectively). If you were a little more ambitious, you could get to Asheville, North Carolina and the Great Smoky Mountains in under 5 hours.

 

[disneydiz]

We were at HH a couple weeks ago, and on the way home we went to Charleston for a couple days. It is an incredibly beautiful, interesting city and there was so much to do. We are definitely planning on going back because we didn't get it do everything we wanted. It might be hard to visit for just a couple hours, and parking in the historic district is almost non-existent. Charleston was about 2 - 2-1/2 hours from HH.
Savannah would be good for a day trip because it is a lot closer. There are a lot of tours from HHI to Savannah (by boat) that will take you there for the day.

 

[dis-happy]

In case you do talk him into WDW, the drive time from HH-DVC to WDW is 5 hours, no stops.

 

[PBB]

Savannah is a great place to explore from HH. One of the problems with HH as is with any island vacation area is that it is a hassle getting on and off the island. So depending on what days you try to travel it could take 45 minutes of traffic just to leave.

Savannah has so much history that you could spend two days just there. If you get a chance and are into history (especially civil war) then I would recommend you visit Ft. Pulaski named after General Casimir Pulaski of the American Revolution Forces. He was General of the Calvary.

Ft. Pulaski is a wonderful treasure of history. Located on the road to Tybee Island it sits overlooking and protecting the Savannah River. One of the original engineers of the fort was a young first Lt. named Robert E. Lee whose first assignment was as an engineering officer on the fort. The pentagon shaped fort still has the artillery shells embedded into the walls of the fort from its' last battle against the union. The unions invention of the rifled cannon made these type fort obsolete These types of shells leveled on side of the in a matter of hours forcing the confederates to surrender.

Charleston is another great historical town. Ft. Sumter is there, Patriots point museum with the Yorktown carrier, Destroyer, submarine and several other ships on display. The market place and the battery are other great places of interests. The back roads to HH from Charleston are a step back in time and are quite beautiful. Also, don't forget about Beaufort as a side trip if you go to Charleston. Beautiful antiques shops and restaurants. Forest Gump and the Big Chill were filmed there.

 

[tchrrx]

Sorry, I meant to say that we'll be staying at HHI for about 4 days & then we'll stay wherever else we travel to. So, getting on & off the island won't be a big deal. We really just wanted to stay within the 4 hour limit b/c I think it's cheaper to get a roundtrip flight.

 

[Doctor P]

Sorry, I meant to say that we'll be staying at HHI for about 4 days & then we'll stay wherever else we travel to. So, getting on & off the island won't be a big deal. We really just wanted to stay within the 4 hour limit b/c I think it's cheaper to get a roundtrip flight.

I would not assume that a round-trip flight is cheaper. Many open jaw itineraries end up cheaper. The issue would be a one way rental car. That can be expensive.