Help With South Eastern Itinerary
 

Hi

Having received useful information with my OP, we have now some idea of a reasonable itinerary to include 3 locations:

This itinerary is for 2 adults sometime during August 2007:

Nashville TN – 7 nights

Savannah GA – 7 nights

Although 7 nights may seem a long time in each location, we will use a Nashville hotel as a base and tour Tennessee, within reason, the same applies for Savannah, use it as a base, and tour Georgia within reason.

We are stuck with our 3rd location, I have looked at SC, but to be honest, I don’t seem to get a feel for it.

We will have a car for the 3 weeks; so driving is not a problem, regardless of the distance, also, we do not have to return our hire car back to its original location; we are flexible where we drop the hire car off.

We prefer to stay in the same hotel for 7 days, and tour round, rather than live out of a suitcase, i.e. 3 days here, 4 days there etc.

Combining a 3rd destination with the above 2 does not have to be done in any particular order, we are flexible where we start and finish.

Anyone have any suggestions for our 3rd location.

I trust the above is self-explanatory.

Thanks in advance

Paul

you should put "MID WEST" in the title.

just kidding!

but i'll recommend seeing the Smokey Mountains, even if you just drive thru the main road on your way from GA to Nashville (or vice-versa)

One of our favorite places is Sea Pines Plantation on Hilton Head Island In SC-only an hour from Savannah. Could be a 3rd location or a few days off the Savannah part of your trip.

I think 7 days is sort of long in Savannah, even using it as a hub to go elsewhere. What types of things do you like to do? I think I'd do 7 Nashville, 7 - Asheville and 7 in Charleston, SC. From Charleston you could easily go to Savannah but also go up to Myrtle Beach (if you wanted).

Thanks for the replies.

As we were planning 7 days in Savannah, we thought we could pop up to Myrtle Beach for the day, hence, why we did not want to spend a week in SC.

Paul

Is there a reason you are leaving Charleston off your list?

Hi

No particular reason why we have left Charleston off our itinerary, just something we had not really considered.

However, I am now online looking at Charleston.

As for what we like doing, we like museums, art galleries, preferably beach location, walking even if city based, and we prefer to be amongst the action.

None of the above is a definite “Must Do” we are flexible to everyone’s recommendations.

Trust this helps.

Paul

Savannah to Myrtle Beach is 4 hrs each way - tough and tiring to do it as a day trip. Given your likes/preferences I'd definitely say Charleston and Asheville should be two of your 7 nite stays.

I like leahinsc's plan of

7 Nashville, 7 - Asheville and 7 in Charleston, SC

It's more than a day of driving between Nashville and the coast. Also, Charleston puts you between Savannah and Myrtle Beach.

You could do 3 or 4 in Charleston and Savannah each. You could easily do 5 in Charleston.

I like the advice from leahinsc.

The following itinerary is looking very favourable:

7 Nashville
7 Asheville
7 Charleston

Would 7 days in each location be sufficent, or does anyone think 7 days would be to long?

Paul

I think you could do 6 in Nashville.
5 in Asheville 5 in Savannah 5 in Charleston I would just do less days in all the areas you are talking about and do a really great city hop.

I guess it depends how far you want to travel and what you want to see from your base of operations. For example, you could stay in Charleston and easily spend 2-3 full days exploring the city before heading out to the beaches, down to Beaufort(SC) or Savannah or up towards Pawley's Island/Myrtle Beach. You could do plantation tours around Charleston. Depends how leisurely of a trip you like. Personally I enjoy just taking things easy (stopping for a beer, glass of wine or a good cup of cappucino) and not being tied to an aggressive "gotta see that" itinerary.

Thanks for the advice and support.

leahinsc

That is exactly what we like to do, which is why we prefer to do 7 days in each location.

Spending 7 days in one location, and having the use of a car, should enable us to see and do all that the state has to offer, within reason.

We have changed the order of our itinerary:

7 Days Charleston
7 Days Asheville
7 Days Nashville

Hotel rates are coming out better, doing our itinerary in this order.

Paul

GoTravel has posted lots of good info on Charleston including restaurant and hotel info and if you need anything on Asheville let me know. I think you are picking an itinerary which will show you a variety of scenery. For restaurant recommendations look at chowhound.com and check hotels and restaurants on trip advisor. Be advised that it will be pretty hot and humid in Charleston and Nashville in August. You will get some relief in Asheville due to the altitude but some days are bound to be a bit steamy.

Hi

If you have been following my OP on creating an itinerary, you will know this itinerary is something completely different to what we are used to.

I am happy & feel confident with our choices in Charleston & Nashville, as I believe there will be sufficient to keep us occupied for 7 days.

My only concern is Asheville; having done a little research on the area, although the scenery looks beautiful perhaps you can convince me Asheville will be OK for 7 days.

I do appreciate the time you have taken with my itinerary.

Paul

AreYouSure: Biltmore Castle is there and they have some dancing (clogging) in the streets/fiddle playing in some of the smaller surrounding towns. Hiking and natural water slides is what I remember - but it is an old memory, so not sure about the specifics.
Also, log cabins and country crafts abound.

AreYouSure, I spent a weekend in Charleston last February and wrote a pretty detailed trip report and checked out a lot of hotels.

My husband and I also live very near Charelston and do apend a lot of time there.

Here is my trip report:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessa...Most+Excellent

Absolutely positively do not try and stay outside downtown. It is a big PIA no matter what anyone tells you. My husband and I just did that very thing a couple of weeks ago and it wasn't fun.

My mom comes has come to visit several times so I will give you a compilation of things we here in Asheville do when we have visitors or suggest they see:
-Biltmore house, gardens and vineyards - at least one day
-Biltmore village (outside of the Biltmore house) a couple of hours - stopping by Enoteca for drinks and appetizers or having a margarita on the deck at La Paz - have dinner at Fig in Biltmore Village
-stroll around downtown Asheville and the Grove Arcade - there are several streets worth of shops and galleries - have breakfast at Tupelo Honey, lunch at Salsas
-take a trolley tour of Asheville that takes you through the Montford historic distric (full of B&B's) and up to the Grove Park Inn.
-Take a drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway - either up to Blowing Rock or down to Waynesville and explore - either will be a day trip
-go out to Hot Springs and reserve a spring fed hot tub by the French Broad and have a soak and then have dinner at Mountain Magnolia Inn
-Visit some of the small towns around Asheville - Black Mountain, Hendersonville, Spruce Pine...all have neat shops and crafts
-Take a hike, tube down the river, go white water rafting, horseback riding, on a llama trek, canoe,
-Tour the Arboreteum on a Segway
-Do a "brews cruise" and visit the 3 or 4 breweries in town
-Have a spa treatment at the Grove Park Inn and spend the day lounging in their fantastic pool.
-Drive out to Dillsboro and take a train ride to Bryson City on a steam engine train that winds through the mountains.
-Go to one of the outdoor music events
ok, I'll stop now

Hi

Can anyone clarify the difference between these 2 Holidays Inn’s, although there does appear to be some distance between them, they are located on the same road.

Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites
Asheville – Tunnel Road
42 Tunnel Road
Asheville

Holiday Inn
Asheville – Biltmore East
1450 Tunnel Road
Asheville

leahinsc's suggestions are right on the money. I think you might find 7 days in Asheville is not enough. There's also the Folk Art Center on the Parkway, Pisgah National Forest near Brevard, self-guided waterfall tours in State Parks, the art walk downtown, and so much more. Just exploring the natural beauty all around Asheville could easily fill a week.

I can't believe no one has mentioned Atlanta!! Seven nights in Nashville and Savannah are too much. Atlanta now has the city pass which gets you into the new aquarium, World of Coca Cola, CNN Tour, High Museum of Art-they are the only partner in the world with the Louvre and are displaying some of their paintings, and a choice between the zoo and Atlanta history center and a choice between the Fernbank Museum-natural history-and the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. Right outside of Atlanta is Stone Mountain Park and Six Flags is on the outskirts of town. They have both the Carter Center and Library, MLK gravesite and center, Sweet Auburn-historical African-American area, tours of the Georgia Dome and Turner Field, Centennial Park right downtown and many other sites. Additionally, it is an easy drive from Nashville to Atlanta and then on to Savannah. You could easily do a week in Atlanta and 3-4 days in the other cities and maybe Ashville or Charleston.

Since you mentioned wanting to see the Smokies, here's another suggestion for something to do while you are in the Asheville/Eastern Tennessee area.

If you like visiting old historic sites, you'll love Cades Cove. It is part of the National Park, and features an 11 mile loop paved road that you can meander along in your car. It weaves in and out of forests, pastures and old homesites. The entire area is surrounded by beautiful mountains. There are several churches and ancient graveyards along the way, and you can get out and wander around and inside each building while you are there. There's also a gift shop, working mill, cabins once occupied by early settlers and other interesting things to see.

One unique feature of Cades Cove is that the animals are quite used to humans being around, and if you are there just before dusk, many of them come out to feed. You will be treated to close-up views from you vehicle of lots of deer, other wildlife and occasionally a black bear. The last time I was there, I had the pleasure of watching THREE cubs climb up a tree nearby, while their mother sat at the base of the tree and kept a watchful eye on them.

There are also certain times when the road is closed to vehicles, and bicycles are the only mode of transportation allowed in. You can rent bikes from the park office and take a leisurely cruise around the entire park. There's horseback riding and lots of other interesting activities as well.

Although you could take highways most of the way to get there, you can also follow the Blue Ridge Parkway south until it ends, then get on the Great Smoky Mountains Parkway and take it all the way to the Visitor's Center just a few miles before you reach Gatlinburg. Make a left at the Ranger Station/Visitor's Center (might want to stop in for souvenirs, directions, maps, etc.) and follow that road all the way until it ends at Cades Cove.

Here's a link for more information:

http://www.cadescove.net/

Thanks for that additional information.

With all the help and recommendations we have received, we thought we had this itinerary sussed:

Charleston - SC 7 nights
Ashville - NC 7 nights
Nashville - TN 7 nights

Then someone (no offence) throws in Atlanta, with a great itinerary as what is on offer in Atlanta.

Guess it’s back to the drawing board.

Thank you all for the advice & support.

Leahinsc

I asked you to convince me that Ashville was worth 7 nights, reading yours and other post’s has convinced us it is worth 7 nights.

Paul

I think Atlanta has some great attractions and would give you a metro kind of stay. The new aquarium is spectacular as is the renovated/expanded High Art Museum.

No offense and while I like Atlanta and it does has some great things to offer, it is more of a metro locale than a vacation spot.

Given your seven night deal, IMO, that would be too long in Atlanta.

totally agree that 7 nites is too long in Atlanta but maybe to take one of those 7 nites (maybe Nashville) and spend only 3 or 4 there and 3 or 4 in Atlanta?

I, myself would either do your Charleston, Nashville, Ashville plan or do what leahinsc recommends.

Nashville
to
Ashville
to
Atlanta
to
Charleston

would not be bad. You did mention that you wanted to be amongst the action, so perhaps adding Atlanta is not a bad idea.

However, I think Asheville and Charleston are going to offer you an environment that is unique to this part of the country. The other cities are simply not going to do that to the same degree, especially Atlanta will not.

If you're going to give up some days to add Atlanta, take them from Nashville, not the beautiful Appalachian mountains and not one-of-a-kind Charleston.

One final point. You mentioned wanting to be near the beach. You do realize that Charleston is a harbor town, right? However, you can drive to beautiful beaches such as Isle of Palms in half an hour from downtown Charleston.

AreYouSure-

Since I live close to Asheville, I rarely...if ever...stay in hotels up there. But, I tried to find out a little information about the two Holiday Inns you asked about. It seems the biggest difference between them is that the one at 1450 Tunnel Road is 6.1 miles from downtown Asheville. It has an outdoor pool.

The one at 42 Tunnel Road is 1.41 miles outside of Asheville, and has an indoor pool.

If you've never been to Tunnel Road, it is a commercial area....the mall is there, many major fastfood chains and national chain restaurants, movie theatres, hotels, outdoor specialty shops, a toy store, etc. If you head west on Tunnel Road from either of those hotels, you will encounter multiple traffic lights and eventually can drive through the tunnel and will find yourself downtown on the other side.

Or, you can get on the highway and zip into town, taking any of the next few exits to get you right into the heart of Asheville.

Downtown Asheville is quite ecclectic, and worth taking a leisurely stroll around.

Tunnel Road is pretty busy traffic-wise most of the time, but you can be out and on the Blue Ridge Parkway from there in no time at all.

If you drive through South Carolina on your way up, gas taxes are cheaper in that state, so you might want to fill up before you cross the state line and see the prices jump!

Enjoy your trip.

Wow, Wow, Wow.

With so much advice and help, it was difficult trying to come up with the best itinerary.

Most forum members who have contributed to my post, seem to be in agreement with Nashville – Charleston – Asheville, although there are different opinion’s on which to do 1st, however, we have decided on the following itinerary:

Charleston – 7 days

Asheville – 7 days

Nashville – 7 days.

My partner and I are very very grateful to the members on this forum, without your contribution, we would never have come up with the above itinerary.

Stevebarr

My appreciation to you for taking the time to investigate the difference between the 2 Holiday Inn’s, on Tunnel Road.

Paul

Areyousure-
We're going to Charleston in a few weeks and would love to hear about your trip! Please post when you get a chance.

swalter

Very sorry, Our trip is not until August 2007.

Paul