boffey

Hello,
We are planning a trip the last weekend of March. There are 4 of us traveling including two teenage girls. Our tentative itinerary has us flying into Charlotte (this is based on airfare). We plan to stay two nights in Asheville, two nights in Charleston, a night in Savannah and then a night in Charlotte (our flight would leave early the following morning. We understand this is a bit of a strange trek but we want the best of both worlds (mountain hiking and beaches). First question, recommended hikes in or around Asheville? I know we will be right by the AT. Other things that shouldn't be missed? We have Biltmore on the list as well. As far as Charleston is concerned. We would like to do some sort of water activity with the understanding that it probably won't include swimming. This could be kayaking, sailing or something similar. Any suggestions that would give us the best chance of seeing some wildlife? We would like to bike as well (maybe on one of the islands). Last stop would be Savannah. Our plan is to take a tour and just poke around the town as there won't be a great deal of time.

Thanks for your help!
Ryan

starrs

It's doable but not a lot of time in each of the cities. If your flight wasn't early in the morning, I would suggest 2 nights in Charleston, Savannah and Asheville (in that order). It would be a 2 hour drive back to the airport.

You have 12 hours of driving in a short trip. I don't see you getting in the Biltmore, seeing Asheville AND hiking in that amount of time. As much as I love Savannah it may work better to leave it off this trip.

Is Greenville SC an option for your airport? If so, you could drop a little bit of driving and would be an hour from the airport the next morning.

If you go to Savannah, here's a highly recommended guide -
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractio...h_Georgia.html

Here's a great water activity, especially for kids, but it's another hour past Savannah and you're driving a lot already.
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractio...a_Georgia.html

Gretchen

Starrs has good ideas. It's not a bad loop. You might consider reversing it--going to Charleston (3.5 hours) and Savannah then Asheville. Savannah still is the sort of outlier and I prefer Charleston in any case. You could do the islands if you drop Savannah. What's the bird preserve near Beaufort?

Gretchen

Starrs has good ideas. It's not a bad loop. You might consider reversing it--going to Charleston (3.5 hours) and Savannah then Asheville. Savannah still is the sort of outlier and I prefer Charleston in any case. You could do the islands if you drop Savannah. What's the bird preserve near Beaufort?

boffey

Thanks for the response. My girlfriend has some concerns about the whether as it pertains to the water. Obviously it will be too cold to swim but would kayaking be comfortable at the end of March? It seems like it might be a bit difficult to predict. Being from MN, I can relate.

Gretchen

There are always wet suits.

suewoo

No bird presete near Beaufort. Gretchen, did you mean Hunting Island? It's excellent.

Gretchen

Yes, Hunting Island.