Charleson - Hilton Head - Savannah
 

Hi,
We were planning to honeymoon in Charleston in June, and then my dad's friend offered us a week in his timeshare - anywhere in the world - as a wedding gift. The two I found in Charleston got pretty bad reviews on trip advisor (Lodge Alley Inn and Church Street Inn) but there are a lot more in the Hilton Head area.

So I thought maybe we'd fly into Charleston, spend 3-4 days there, go to Hilton Head, stay in the timeshare for a week, and while we're in Hilton Head, go on a couple of day trips to Savannah (I understand it's about an hour drive??) Then drive back and fly out of Charleston?

I'm just trying to figure this all out, as we just found out about it yesterday.

Any suggestions? Thanks!

Sounds good!! The only problem that I can see is getting the flight into Charleston. Depending on where you are coming from, you might have to go into Savannah anyway. If you do find it to be a problem, then perhaps make Savannah or Hilton Head your first stop with a day trip into Charleston. The Savannah Airport serves Hilton Head with Shuttles going over to the Island.

Thanks - I will look into the Savannah airport - but we still want to spend a couple of days in Charleston - I think it makes more sense to do day trips into Savannah, because its closer.

Can I rent a car on Hilton Head?

And another question - are there any plantations on the way between Charleston and Hilton Head, or Hilton Head and Savannah?

And do I need a car on Hilton Head on the days I don't plan on leaving the island?

Fly into Savannah, Grab the timeshare in HHI and relax. You can sightsee in the future. Try a day in Savannah. It's a max. of 45 minutes. Charleston is further but still do-able in a day trip. Splurge on an inexpensive car for the day trips and restaurants.

If by "plantation" you mean the Gone With The Wind, Tara type plantation, No. Sherman burnt them all. Hilton Head has "plantations" but that's what they are calling the resort/golf complexes.

Now, Charleston has a few great ones. Middleton Place and Magnolia Plantation are close together and you could spend an entire day seeing both of them. Skip the houses and just take in the grounds.

You can rent a car at Hilton Head. Depending on where you stay, you may or may not need one, but it would be very handy to have if you wanted to just see more of the Island or if it rained. I would get one.

Ditto cheapbutnice. HH is a good base for both Savannah and Charleston if you still want to see historic sites. It will be hot and humid in June.

There are a lot of good threads here on Charleston (and other places you mentioned) particularly you should check out Go Travels post - the link is:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34567869

she has a lot of valuable info on there.

Try the Drayton Hall tour; excellent!!

We think Middleton is the "best" plantation.
Don't understand why getting a flight into charleston is a problem.
Savannah is worth a day, not much more. Charleston is worth several days for sure.

You can fly into either Charleston or Savannah and fly out of the other. Budget will rent a car to you at the airport and you can drop it off at the other airport.

I think Savannah is worth more than a day.

We took this same trip over ten-ish days last summer. I think we spent something like 4 days in charleston, 2 in HH and 3 or 4 in Savannah.

Charleston was by far our fave of the 3. Plenty to do, gorgeous neighborhoods, great restaurants and bars (HAVE TO have AT LEAST a cocktail @ the Vendue Rooftop Bar - kobe burger also excellent :-) ), lots of history. We just love it. Had our bikes with us and biked around everywhere, and every morning. Great city! We stayed at Alice's Carriage House, a nice little B&B (only 1 unit) in the historic district - I can pass along contact info if you'd like.

We also enjoyed the cypress gardens blackwater swamp on the way to hilton head; we paddled around the swamp, saw an alligator, very cool ecosystem that we felt pretty secluded in.

HH was so-so for our tastes. It was very hot already (mid June), way too hot for the beach for me, and we don't golf, and it was a bit too hot for biking around most of the time, but we did have a great time on the extensive bike trails when we did ride them. Also kayaked on some inner inlets or creeks, lots of dolphin sightings, fun. All in all we'd have rather spent the time in Charleston, however. Can't recall any restaurant names, but we ate at several great ones. The best was a spectacular Mexican Resturant called Santa Fe Cafe; try to get a seat up on the roof in the open-air cantina after dark, great place. (LOL, all our faves are up on roofs!)

Savannah was also nice and full of history and character, but we felt that we enjoyed Charleston a good deal more. Savannah, IMO, also felt a little seedier and grungier than what we thought was an immaculately-kept Charleston. Did not regret the visit, though. If you're going to do a ghost tour (and they're everywhere!), I'd avoid the Ghosts and Goblins Buses (great purple paint job but hokey, silly tour) and book one with Shannon Scott with the Sixth Sense ghost tour (something like that); felt very authentic, plus you start the tour in this creepy house that he actually lives in - very cool.

Second Drayton Hall - wonderful! www.draytonhall.org

Depending on where you're flying from, you'll want to find the most efficient flights - you can fly into Charleston, Savannah or Hilton Head airports. Or if you can get a non-stop and avoid lengthy connections, Charlotte may a better option (3 hrs to Charleston, 4 to Savannah/Hilton Head). Part of the efficiency equation will be the cost of rental cars at the various airports - so check on that too (you'll defintely want a car for Hilton Head). Finally, as someone else mentioned, don't limit yourself to flying into and out of the same airport - try all combinations to get the most efficient routing.