Gretchen

I think that is true of Charleston also.

Myer

Thanks for the comments.

At this point the plan is to be in Charleston/Savannah April 13 - 18 not counting a day at each end for travel.

I'm thinking of 4 days in Charleston. However, for 1 day I would rent a car and drive to Plantations and/or maybe Beaufort or the surrounding area. That would leave 3 days (plus part of the arrival day) for Charleston and 2 days for Savannah.

We could switch the days around and go to Savannah first. That would give us part of the arrival day in Savannah so it would be 2+ days.

Maybe the decision should be based on the following. We'd be in one city on Saturday and the other on Sunday. Does it make a difference?

Thanks for the help.

suewoo

I don't think so. And you could include your Beaufort trip on your travel day between the 2, since it's on the way.

Myer

I'll look into it bu I'm not keen on driving between the two as the drop-off charge on the car will probably be high. Maybe Amtrak.

But I'll look into the car thing.

thanks.

OO

I'm confused. How are you getting from Lauderdale to the first city you are touring?

suewoo

Amtrak will be tough. The train stations are not in the areas where you want to tour, and there isn't one on Beaufort. The closest one is Yemmassee. The train is slow and often unreliable. If you only have 6 days I wouldn't waste your time waiting getting to the stations and waiting for the train.

You may look into guided tours from Charleston to Savannah. I've heard there are some, but never done it myself. It's only 100 miles from Charleston to Savannah. Beaufort is halfway in between. You might consider renting the car in Charleston, drive to Beaufort and Savannah, spend a night or two then drive back to Charleston to return the car.

OO

I agree with Sue. While living in Savannah we'd often go to Charleston just for an afternoon of shopping, or to get out of Dodge for the day. It's an easy drive between the two cities. Actually in your shoes, because neither city is easy to fly into, I'd just drive up from Lauderdale, then you have your car for whatever else you want to do. It's about 7 hours, and I hate driving, but I hate flying even worse these days!!

suewoo

And the drive up is a straight shot up 95. Not the most scenic drive but it's not hard.

Myer

One of the options is to drive up but it's a long drive. If we did that we might stop in St Augustine for a day.

Otherwise, we can fly to Charleston and return from Savannah. Or the other way.

You mention that they're not easy cities to fly into. Why?

We've gone from New York to Philadelphia and New York to Boston by train and they were very pleasant evening rides.

In this case, since I think we'll spend a day touring, driving between cities and doing the touring that day is looking more appealing.

I don't dislike driving or flying. But I think it's a pretty long drive.

OO

Are you able to get direct flights to either city now from FLL? It may have changed since we lived there, but it was difficult to get anything direct. Most flights to Savannah went via Atlanta, which is a pain. We often would drive to JAX (2 hrs) just to get direct flights and at rates far less expensive than booking out of/into Savannah. Have you checked routing? Things undoubtedly have changed since we moved, but is it any better?

We've made the drive, trying to catch the 2nd leg of our JAX-MIA-Cayman flight after the JAX-MIA leg was cancelled due to the approach of a hurricane! Needless to say, we had torrential rain all the way, but still made our flight. It really isn't a bad drive (providing you aren't doing it in a hurricane! )

suewoo

OO is right. And the drive between Charleston and Savannah through that swamp , while slow and under construction, can be gorgeous.

Myer

The only airline (?) that has direct flights is something called Allegiant Arilines. I won't be flying with them.

If anything, more and more flights will have multiple legs as the airlines try to become more efficient. That's more efficient for them.

Direct flights may be better for the passenger but that means little. A direct flight means the airline could route passengers using part of that flight.

When somebody tells you something is better you should ask for whom.

I recently went to Yellowstone. At the time I bought the ticket there was one plane change. By the time I went I had two changes.

I haven't been on a direct flight since I flew to NY on JetBlue some time back.

Tell me more aboutr the drive between Charleston and Savannah. The part about construction ans swamp.

Thanks.

suewoo

The drive from Charleston to Savannah involves leaving Charleston on Highway 17. Between Charleston and Beaufort the road turns from 4 to 2 lane, which under construction to make it 4 lane. Part of it is through the swamp. After you pass the turn off for Beaufort at Garden Corner, you'll merge onto I95 to get to Savannah. The Sheldon Church ruins, just off 17 (there is signage) is worth a look. That's why I think you need to drive. You can't make stops like that one from that train.

flygirl

Spring home show is typically late March, Xmas home show early December. Really, the only times to avoid Savannah weather are June-July-August (emphasis on August). The rest of the year isn't bad. May can be hot but it's not HOT.

rascat

The drive from Lauderdale to either Savannah to Charleston will be longer than 7 hours.

I've been making the drive between the Titusville, FL area to Charleston at least once a month since April. The shortest trip was 6 1/2 hours (1 stop for gas and a snack purchased at the same time instead of a meal). The longest trip took 9 hours (major traffic jam on I-95, so pulled off for a sit-down lunch and waited for things to clear up). The average trip is 7 hours (1 stop for gas and a drive-thru meal).

Coming from Lauderdale will add at least 2 hours. I've only had minor delays in the construction zones suewoo mentioned, but there are 2 huge construction zones on I-95 in Georgia, and I've been stuck there for more than an hour a couple of times.

If you decide to drive, watch your speed on Hwy. 17. It changes from 65 to 35 mph several times, and they do go after speeders.

Everyone keeps saying that flights in and out of Charleston should drop once Southwest starts service, but I haven't seen it yet. Flights between Charleston and Orlando have averaged $350 pp and require a connection thru Atlanta. Right now, flights are averaging $330 pp, not low enough to switch from driving to flying. Flights take 7 hours total, and I've had to sprint thru ATL twice to make my connection. Myrtle Beach is often half the price, and you can connect in other cities, but that takes you about 90 miles in the wrong direction!

Myer

Flying to Myrtle Beach from Ft Lauderdale is only slightly less expensive than going to Charleston and you lose it all when selecting reasonable flights.

Driving is just too long.

This is what I did. I chose USAir since it's flight schedules are just so much better than SouthWest. SouthWest flights all leave much earlier and arrive much later (long stopovers).

We arrive in Savannah early in the afternoon. We'll stay there the rest of that day plus 2 more days. Then we'll pick up a rental and drive to Charleston making stops in Hilton Head (maybe), Beaufort and one or two plantations (maybe Middleton and/or Drayton Hall) outside of Charleston.

Then we'll spend 3 days in Charleston leaving in the evening of the third day.

The reason I selected that order is probably because the car rental office in Savannah is farther and they pick you up. I can drop off the car in Charleston about a 15 minute walk from the hotel.

For hotels I've selected Planters Inn in Savannah and Andrew Pickney Inn in Charleston.

Thanks to everybody who contributed for their ideas and opinions.