I am driving to Savannah (from Charleston) for the day one day this week w/ my 60-something parents and teen daughter. Want to walk around squares, perhaps shop in a flea market/antique shop (interested in The Paris Market) and have lunch. Is there a particularly beautiful park or historic home that we must see? Anybody know of somewhere special for coffee or tea? I haven't been to Savannah in 20 years.
Thank you!

I've been gone too long to recommend antique shops, or stops for tea etc, but as for the squares, the prettiest are those on Bull St, from Bay St down to and including Forsyth Park. The closer one gets to Forsyth, the prettier the squares and homes. Also on Bull St. on Madison Square, you'll find a wonderful rarity...an independent bookseller, E Shaver's Books. Stop by for a little taste of local flavor while you are touring the squares. Who knows, they might still be selling autographed copies of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil!

I predict that, as you're driving back to Charleston, you'll be doing two things:
1) Kicking yourself for trying to visit Savannah in a day trip from 120 miles away.
2) Planning your next visit to Savannah -- with a minimum of two full days.

Thanks, OO. That's just the kind of help I was looking for

Take an architectural tour. We did, it was a per person charge and we had a tour just for the three of us. I wrote a report about our trip; click on my name to find it.

We had tea back in 2011 at Gryphon Tea Room, run by SCAD. Fun place, good tea.

http://web.scad.edu/experience/gryphon/

Thanks for leading me to your report, Michael. (I am jealous of your MANY travels!) Loved your photos - and I will look into a tour.

Gryphon looks perfect, jent103. Thank you so much!

We enjoyed taking the Old Town Trolley tour-hop on, hop off. It was a lot of fun and you can get an overview of the city.

Check to see if the Gryphon is still open.

I HIGHLY recommend Dirk of Savannah Rambles if you are interested in architectural walking tours. He originated the genre when he worked for the Savannah historic foundation.

The best tour guide I've had in any city -
http://www.savannahrambles.com/

No gimmicks, just a great guide who really knows Savannah inside and out.

I don't usually like tours, but Savannah has such a rich and long history that a tour is the best way to understand the place. I took a tour. It wasn't Dirk's tour, but I trust that if starrs says its good, its good.

HTtY

The Savannah Music festival is going on right now. There might be something that you want to do as part of that. It's a really great festival--all kinds of music.

http://www.savannahmusicfestival.org/

Hi lantana,

I concur with the other poster who mentioned that a day trip is probably too short. Here's a couple of ideas though...

- Take a horse drawn carriage tour to get yourself oriented
- Take a tour of a historic home (exp. Juliette Gordon Low, Owens-Thomas House, etc.)
- Walk down River St. for shopping
- I've heard The Tea Room is pretty good but haven't been to verify

My wife and I recently spent some time in Savannah and put together a write up of our favorite things here: http://ow.ly/v9bWX