We plan in Hilton Head for two weeks on our way home from Florida, via Savannah, next March. Which area would you recommend we stay? We like to walk the beach, cycle, and if possible walk to restaurants. Places we are looking at are Harbour Town and Coligny. One property is at Sea Pines Beach Club. Your thoughts? We don't need beach front as we will have had that for two months in Florida. Thank you.

Harbor Town is about 3 miles from the beach so you'll have to bike or drive to do your beach walks but it does have a few restaurants & shops within walking distance.

Sea Pines Beach Club is at the beaches you can walk to the beach and a couple nearby restaurants.

Depending on where you stay in the Coligny area you can be close to the beach and, compared to the other two locations you mentioned, a larger variety of shops and restaurants.

You can cycle in all three locations.

HINT: To help you make your decision go to Google Maps and bring up Hilton head - zoom in on each location you are considering and you'll get a feel for what is around each location.

Thank you. This is really helpful.

Do you like a big sterile resort like Hilton Head or would you prefer a beach area with more personality? Just asking a real question.
There are really (IMO!!) so many more attractive beach areas along the southeast coast.
You don't say when this is happening.

Gretchen: We are on Lido Key, Sarasota for January and February next year. We have then booked 10 days in the heart of old Savannah for the beginning of March and are looking for somewhere for a couple of weeks to round off our winter before heading north. On reflection, we like Amelia Island, so Amelia Island, followed by Savannah and then home would probably have been a better idea. I would very much appreciate your ideas on "beach areas with more personality". Thank you.

That's a nice vacation time for sure. I'd spend some time In Charleston also.
Edisto Island is charming. The beaches around Charleston? Pawley's Island or Litchfield further up the coast.

I had a beach house for ten years near Hilton Head and while it's pleasant, it's basically a big suburb. A big suburb of what, is unclear.

I did enjoy SUP and kayaking from Shelter Cove with Outside Hilton Head. I also liked Skull Creek Boathouse for drinks/hanging out - and kayaking left from there, too. I never did bike much there although there are lots of trails. A friend who used to post here on Fodors lives there too and she bikes a LOT. Beautiful photos on Facebook on weekends!

Why not Beaufort? You said you are already spending ten days in Savannah, which, if I hadn't known that, I would have mentioned Savannah over Hilton Head. From Beaufort you can reach the beaches (via car) and you are closer to Charleston. HHI to Charleston will be a two hour drive, give or take, whereas from Beaufort it will be under an hour and a half. Lots of little towns near Beaufort to explore, too, with it as a base.

Or Charleston itself?

If you are just looking for relaxing and good restaurants and some pleasant boat rides, biking, SUP, kayaking, etc, HHI certainly has that. Not to dissuade you.

If you haven't looked him up already, Pat Conroy is a marvelous author and his books are well worth reading. They will give you a flavor for the area. I think he may have lived on Edisto Island if my memory serves. He grew up in that area and knows it well and writes so very well. I saw him speak at the Savannah Book Festival one year (the festival is always the middle of February, and if you can arrange your time to be there I recommend it - even if it means a drive up from Florida and a drive back) and he was such a well spoken man. Very interesting! He died a few years ago.

I think you may know Forrest Gump was filmed not only in Savannah but in the Low Country in general? In Beaufort I bought a book about movies filmed in the Low Country. You could do a little self guided wander, with that.

I was pushed to look up where Conroy lived and it was Beaufort as it turns out. GREAT idea to read some of his books--my fave is Prince of Tides (heavily autobiographical) and Beach Music. AND of course, they must read Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil if they are going to Savannah and Beaufort!!

Here are some interesting articles:

https://www.thestate.com/news/local/...e64244597.html

Conroy Country - Atlanta Magazine

I just poked around - he had a summer home on Fripp Island, not Edisto.