Savannah, GA
 

Hi, I'm interested in visiting Savannah around the end of June. Any recommendations for lodging, that's convenient to getting around by bus/shuttle? (Hopefully in the $100 or less price range).

I love historic homes - the Davenport House, Owens-Thomas House, and Green Meldrim House all sound good - any others not to miss? The 'Annual NOGS tour of the Hidden Gardens' looks nice - is it still only held in late April? Thanks, Greg

Oops, I forgot to ask about Paula Deen's restaurants, The Lady and Sons and Uncle Bubba's Oyster House. Are reservations usually necessary for dinner, do they get really packed or is it ok to just show up? Thanks

Balance of price and convenience may be a problem. There are all sorts of inns and B&Bs in Savannah (do a search here) but we like Hampton Inn on Bay St (not the one on MLK Blvd). I entered random June dates of 6/24-27 and the rate is about $150. Then checked on Trip Advisor for other hotels that I know of - I do not think you will find a Historic District hotel for the price limit you have.

Less convenient is the area called "Midtown" which is not a town or mid to anything - it is about 5-8 miles from Historic District, but a straight easy drive if you have a car. By end of June you have a reasonably good chance of getting street parking once you get to Historic District. This area is non-scenic - think every big box store and strip mall you have ever seen - but is not that far and has every chain hotel you can imagine. We have stayed at many of them (son lives in Savannah) - check on TripAdvisor to see who has best deal at the time. There are several suite-style hotels that come with breakfast that are good deals. Do not stay at the Days Inn - it is the only one that we have found truly horrible and I would sleep in my car before staying there again.

I do not think Uncle Bubbas takes reservations. If you go, bring bug repellant as waiting area is outside and close to a swamp with bugs tyhe size of small jets. Also consider Crab Shack - although reviews are certainly mixed on various review sites, we have been several times and enjoyed it.

It will likely be hot and humid by the end of June - plan accordingly.

Thanks for the advice, gail. I may need to alter my plans and go in mid-March instead, when I have time off from school. How's the weather that time of year - Spring-like?

gail covered everything else, so let me talk about historic homes. My favorite is the Owens-Thomas house, simply because that type of architecture is fairly rare in the US (very elegant) and the restoration process is so interesting.

The Davenport House gives you a great picture of what life was like in Savannah when it was built - ask the docent how they beat the heat in the days before air conditioning.

The Andrew Lowe House is from a later period, but also worth visiting (if it is still open for tours; I had heard that the organization that runs it was considering not doing tours). gail, do you know?

The Savannah homes and gardens tour is in March.

Mid-March is beautiful - everything is in bloom and the weather is generally wonderful. Downside is that it is more crowded and lodging may be a bit more costly.

I believe Savannah has a big St. Pat's celebration. You might want to check it out and take that into consideration for a March trip.

St. Pat's alert is in order - I forgot about that! It falls on a Tues in 2009 and that means that I would not even consider going to Savannah from the Friday before until Wednesday 3/18. Lodging is filled and expensive. Streets are closed. Drunks are everywhere - most of the Historic District is gridlock and little sightseeing is going to happen. My 22 year old son thinks it is great fun, but it is difficult to see how anyone outside that demographic would.

gregs317-Uncle Bubba's does not do reservations and it fills up very quickly! The last time we went we arrived at 5:00 which is when it opens and they already had an hour and a half wait! The food was good, so worth the wait! As far as Lady and Sons, you have to arrive around 8am to stand in line for a lunch or dinner time! They start handing them out around 9am! We went 3 days in a row and it was full each time we reached the hostess! Finally on the 4th day we managed to get a lunch spot!I would suggest getting there around 7:30 am to get in line!

Hi, We've been to Paula Deen's and Uncle Bubba's. We stood in line for Paula Deen's to get a lunch time and the line moved quickly. The food was wonderful.

We went to Uncle Bubba's and did not have a wait but was not as impressed with the food.

Savannah should be beautiful in March, but as said before you probably won't be able to get any reservations around the 17th.

Have a great trip, it is one of our favorite places to go.