Uk to Hilton Head Island

[Bad Llama]

Hi guys, hope you can help me out. We're thinking about going to HHI next August, but just not sure of the best way to get there from the UK. My current thinking is to fly to Atlanta (or even Orlando) and drive the rest, which I think is around 250 miles, rather than change flights in the US. Has anyone been to HHI from the UK?, if so, what do you think is the best way to get there. Thanks vm for your help....

 

[Pappy]

Hilton head is a great place to visit very restful and a good base for visits to Savannah and Charlottesville. When we went we stopped overnight at Daytona and then spent the nest day with a slow drive up stopping at a view places on the way up. We got there about mid afternoon. On the way back we set off after breakfast and were back in Orlando for midafternoon

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

Hi guys, hope you can help me out. We're thinking about going to HHI next August, but just not sure of the best way to get there from the UK. My current thinking is to fly to Atlanta (or even Orlando) and drive the rest, which I think is around 250 miles, rather than change flights in the US. Has anyone been to HHI from the UK?, if so, what do you think is the best way to get there. Thanks vm for your help....

I am not from UK, but I have driven from Atlanta to Hilton Head. It does take about 4 1/2 hours to drive from Atlanta. The traffic is almost entirely interstate highway, and mostly rural.

Atlanta airport is the busiest airport in the United States, and is huge.
Driving in Atlanta can be a real adventure. I make a point to go through Atlanta at midday or on the weekends when the traffic is not crazy. You will be getting on I75 and staying on it through Atlanta, so that may not be as awful, but you will be in several lanes of traffic. The transfer to I16 in Macon/Warner Robins is not bad at all.

DH and I spent a night in Savannah before going to Hilton Head. We really enjoyed doing this. As Americans, we enjoyed seeing the preserved old houses, with very mature oak trees, and Spanish moss, with the traditionally drawn streets, with parks on each street. This may only be impressive to Americans, as 300 year old structures are more common in the UK. However, I still believe that you would find Savannah to be lovely. (The opening scenes of the movie Forrest Gump are in Downtown Savannah.)

I do highly suggest driving through Downtown Savannah if for only a few minutes, and then taking US17 to Hilton Head instead of I95. We did and it is a beautiful scenic drive.

One last thought would be to consider flying to Charlotte, NC. Charlotte is also about 4 hours from Hilton Head. It is a hub, but smaller than Atlanta airport, and would make an air transfer easier. Surely the traffic in Charlotte is not as bad as Atlanta, and you will be near the Appalacian mountains, which are pretty and scenic. The blueridge parkway is beautiful.

From Atlanta, you will see the farm land of the "Old South." From Charlotte you will see a more mountainous terrain. There are subtle but significant differences in the people, culture, etc. of the 2 areas.

I hope this is helpful even though it is from an American perspective.

 

[tubtruck]

Have you considered flying to Durham Raleigh airport from Gatwick

 

[jjpenguin]

We always fly with United and flew to Savannah via Washington and then drove to HHI. We preferred changing flights to driving 250 miles on unfamiliar roads after a long flight and jet lag.

If you don't want to change flights I would suggest getting a hotel on arrival and driving down the next day. Much more relaxing start to the holiday.

 

[Bad Llama]

Thanks for the suggestions, it looks like I have got some options to investigate. Reading about HHI, I think we definately want to go for it next August (if we can get in at the 7 month window)

 

[Pootle]

We did exactly what you are suggesting a few years ago - direct flight to Atlanta on a Saturday, drove part of the way and stayed overnight en route, 5 nights in HH, left Friday morning and got a plane back from Atlanta late Friday.

I must confess to being a bit anxious about the traffic in the Atlanta area on a Friday afternoon, so we left plenty of time (started out early) and had no problems.