If they are staying in the Historical District they s/b able to do without a car. However they might enjoy a day trip to Ft. Pulaski or Tybee Island. If they decide to do that maybe they could rent for just the day.

It depends on how many days they are planning to stay there, and what outdoor activities they like. A possible scenario is to plan 3-4 days seeing the city, and then rent a car if they want to roam.

It would help if they look at a guidebook, such as Fodors, as make a list of things which look interesting. Then get back here for opinions as to which are recommended by the mavens here.

Downtown Savannah (at least the areas they'll want to walk around in) is compact. For young and healthy and non-lazy the free trolley isn't really necessary.

However, if they're going to be there a week, I think they'll want to explore further with a car. Car rentals are cheap. Unless their hotel charges a lot for parking, it will be comparable (or even cheaper) to rent a car than take cabs everywhere.

The airport in Savannah is so far out of town, that it's darn near as much for a cab as it for a small car rental for a day. We also wanted to check out Tybee Island.

I'm glad we got a car, although we never used it in Savannah itself.

Great advice. Sounds like what they'll spend on cab fare will equal the cost of renting a little compact car. I think that they'll probably want to explore beyond the Historic District, even though that's where they'll be staying. Tybee Island was featured in Continental Magazine, and it sounded like a great place to go for the day. Thanks!

What time of the year? Tybee Island is pretty dead in Jan/Feb. They will need a car to get out to Uncle Bubba's which has the best oysters.

They'll be there in mid-June.