Savannah Tourism Guide

Two Days in Savannah Itinerary

Forsyth Park fountain in Savannah, the turnaround point of day one in this two days in Savannah itinerary
The Forsyth Park fountain, restored and running again since December 2025, is where day one turns back toward the river.

This two days in Savannah itinerary spends day one on foot in the Historic District: the river bluff in the cool of the morning, one guided house museum, the squares along Bull Street to Forsyth Park, and River Street at dusk. Day two leaves the grid early for Bonaventure Cemetery and Wormsloe’s oak avenue, then returns downtown for First African Baptist Church’s 1pm tour, the Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum and a last dinner. Two days covers the heart of the city well. It doesn’t stretch to Tybee Island unless you give up most of day two.

It’s built for first and second visits, staying in or near the Historic District, with or without a car. The caveat that matters is the calendar: the Telfair museums close on Mondays, the church tour and the civil rights museum don’t run on Sundays, and Mrs. Wilkes’ Dining Room serves lunch on weekdays only, so pick your days before you pick your stops. Hours, prices and closures were checked October 1, 2026 against official sources. For other trip lengths, start from our full set of Savannah itineraries.

Two Days in Savannah at a Glance

QuestionShort answer
Is two days enough?Yes for the Historic District, a house museum or two, Bonaventure or Wormsloe, and the river. Not with Tybee Island as well.
AdmissionsAbout $88 per adult for the five paid stops; about $161 with a harbor cruise and a ghost tour.
Best pair of daysAny two from Tuesday to Friday. Sunday plus Monday is the hardest pairing.
Do you need a car?Only for the morning of day two.
Book aheadDinner both nights and a ghost tour. The Owens-Thomas and Mercer Williams houses are first come, first served.
WalkingAbout 4 to 5 miles on day one, much less on day two.
Best monthsMarch to May and October to November. In summer, start at 8am and rest through midafternoon.

The whole plan, hour by hour:

TimeDay oneDay two
8:00 to 8:30amBay Street bluff, Johnson and Reynolds squaresBonaventure Cemetery
10:00amOwens-Thomas House and Slave QuartersWormsloe State Historic Site
11:05amCathedral Basilica, Colonial Park CemeteryWormsloe’s ruins, then back downtown
NoonLunchLunch near City Market
1:00pmBull Street squares, Mercer Williams HouseFirst African Baptist Church tour
2:30pmForsyth ParkCivil rights museum or Telfair Academy
4:00pmRestLeopold’s and City Market
6:00pmRiver Street and the Belles FerryHarbor cruise or a free evening
7:45pmDinner, then a ghost walkA last dinner

Which Two Days Should You Pick?

Most of Savannah keeps the same hours all week, which makes the exceptions easy to miss until you’re standing at a locked door. These are the ones that shape a two-day plan:

StopOpenClosed or limited
Telfair Museums (Owens-Thomas House, Telfair Academy, Jepson Center)Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 5pmMondays, plus MLK Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas
Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights MuseumTuesday to Saturday, last tour 3:30pmSunday and Monday
First African Baptist Church history tourMonday to Saturday, 1pm onlySunday
Davenport HouseMonday to Saturday, timed toursSunday
Mrs. Wilkes’ Dining RoomMonday to Friday, 11am to 2pmWeekends, and January 1 to about mid-February
Cathedral Basilica of St. John the BaptistMonday to Saturday, 9 to 11:30am and 1 to 4:30pm; Sunday 1 to 4:30pmSunday mornings, and during services, weddings and funerals
Mercer Williams House, Andrew Low House, Bonaventure, WormsloeDailyWormsloe closes Thanksgiving and Christmas Day
Your two daysWhat you loseHow to adjust
Any two from Tuesday to FridayAlmost nothingRun the plan as written.
Friday and SaturdayMrs. Wilkes’ on SaturdayBook dinner both nights. The Forsyth Farmers’ Market runs Saturday, 9am to 1pm.
Saturday and SundayThe civil rights museum, church tour and Davenport House on SundayDo day two on Saturday and day one on Sunday, and see the cathedral after 1pm.
Sunday and MondayTelfair on Monday, the civil rights museum both days, the church tour on SundaySunday: the Telfair sites, brunch and the squares. Monday: Bonaventure or Wormsloe, then the church tour and the Mercer Williams House.
Monday and TuesdayTelfair and the civil rights museum on MondayMonday: the out-of-town morning and the church tour. Tuesday: the Owens-Thomas House and the museum.

On St. Patrick’s Day, the Telfair sites, the American Prohibition Museum, Ships of the Sea, Mrs. Wilkes’ and Old Savannah Tours close, and in 2026 the City closed the City Market and River Street areas from the Friday before the parade, so treat that weekend as a parade trip. The free shuttle and ferry skip Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day.

Day One: The Squares, One Great House and the River

Day one asks for comfortable shoes and little else: roughly 4 to 5 miles with stops, through about a dozen of the 22 historic squares that survive, with an afternoon break so the evening still has some life in it. The river to Forsyth Park is about a mile along Bull Street, 20 to 25 minutes without stops.

8:30am: Start on the bluff, not the riverfront

Begin at City Hall on Bay Street, under the gilded dome, roughly where the colonists of the ship Anne landed at Yamacraw Bluff on February 12, 1733. Below you, the old cotton warehouses step down to River Street; leave that for tonight. Walk south on Bull Street into Johnson Square, the first square laid out, then two blocks east to Reynolds Square and south on Abercorn Street to Oglethorpe Square. At this hour the squares belong to dog walkers and street sweepers.

10:00am: Owens-Thomas House and Slave Quarters

Front facade of the Owens-Thomas House on Oglethorpe Square, Savannah, with green shutters and a columned portico
The Owens-Thomas House is toured together with the slave quarters behind it.

If you take only one guided house tour in two days, make it this one. The Owens-Thomas House is a Regency-style mansion on Oglethorpe Square, and the tour includes the slave quarters behind it, which makes it one of the clearest places in Savannah to see how slavery worked in a city: inside the same walls, a few steps from the family’s rooms. It isn’t a comfortable hour, and it isn’t meant to be. One Telfair ticket also covers the Telfair Academy and the Jepson Center for seven days, so keep it for tomorrow.

Plan it: Tuesday to Sunday. Guided tours leave every 15 minutes from 10am to 3:30pm, with times assigned at on-site check-in, first come, first served, and no more than 12 per group; self-guided audio runs until 4pm. Allow 45 to 60 minutes. Adults $30, seniors 65 and up $27, students 13 to 25 $20, ages 6 to 12 $10. Original staircases, no elevator.

11:05am: The Cathedral, then Colonial Park Cemetery

Walk south on Abercorn to Lafayette Square and the Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist. Go in first: sightseeing pauses from 11:30am to 1pm, and the doors also close for services, weddings and funerals. Then double back a couple of blocks to Colonial Park Cemetery, at Abercorn Street and Oglethorpe Avenue, for a slow lap under the oaks. The night tours tell it one way. By daylight it’s just quiet, and that’s the better version.

Want a second house? The Andrew Low House faces Lafayette Square, with tours on the hour and half hour. Girl Scout families should choose the Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace instead: book online ahead in summer and school holidays, and confirm hours at 912-233-4501, because its own pages disagree.

Plan it: The cathedral is free, with a $3 suggested donation, and opens only from 1 to 4:30pm on Sundays; the elevator entrance is on Harris Street. The Andrew Low House charges adults $15, opens daily and can’t accommodate wheelchairs.

12:00pm: Lunch, and the Mrs. Wilkes’ question

Mrs. Wilkes’ Dining Room is the one lunch worth reshaping a morning for: Southern dishes passed family style at shared tables. The line forms on West Jones Street around 9:30am for an 11am opening, so if that’s the meal you came for, queue first and see the Owens-Thomas House after lunch. It’s $35 for ages 13 and up, tax included, cash or check only, weekdays only, and closed from January 1 to about mid-February. Otherwise, eat wherever noon finds you; our guide to Savannah restaurants and local food has the longer list.

1:15pm: Down Bull Street to Monterey Square

A broad live oak spreading over benches and brick paths in one of Savannah's squares
Each square has its own canopy and its own monument; Bull Street strings five of them together.

After lunch, walk Bull Street south from Wright Square. This is the stretch that sells Savannah: a square every couple of blocks, each with its own monument and its own canopy of live oaks. Chippewa Square is where Forrest Gump waited for the bus, though the bench was a prop and now sits in the Savannah History Museum. Madison Square has the Sorrel-Weed House, which runs a daytime architecture tour and a nightly ghost tour. Monterey Square, the quietest, faces the Mercer Williams House, the house at the center of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.

Honest verdict: the 35-minute Mercer tour is worth it if you’ve read the book or seen the film. If you haven’t, you’ve already taken the stronger house tour today, and half an hour on a Monterey Square bench is a fine substitute.

Plan it: Mercer Williams House tours run Monday to Saturday from 10:30am to 4:10pm and Sunday from noon to 4pm, every 20 to 40 minutes, first come, first served. Adults $14.95 plus 7% tax. The house isn’t licensed as handicap accessible.

2:45pm: Forsyth Park

Forsyth Park starts just south of Monterey Square. The 1858 fountain at its north end ran again on December 19, 2025, after its first major restoration since 1988, and a new Shade Garden opened on the park’s central west side in February 2026. Walk the length of the park, sit for a while, and turn back. If day one is a Saturday, consider reversing it: start here at 9am for the Forsyth Farmers’ Market, which runs until 1pm at the south end, and finish at the river.

3:45pm: Get off your feet

By mid-afternoon you’ve been walking for most of six hours. The free DOT Express Shuttle’s Forsyth loop comes about every 10 minutes and takes you back toward the river. Or walk north on Habersham Street through four quieter squares, Whitefield, Troup, Columbia and Warren, past the Davenport House, whose rescue from demolition in 1955 started the Historic Savannah Foundation. Then take an hour at your hotel. In July and August, that break isn’t optional.

6:00pm: River Street at golden hour

Steep, worn stone stairs climbing the bluff wall between River Street and Bay Street in Savannah
The old stone stairs down to River Street are steep and uneven; the outdoor elevators are the easier way.

Come down to the river around 6pm, when the light turns gold on the water. Public outdoor elevators link Bay Street and River Street between the Hyatt and City Hall and at The Alida hotel; the old stone stairs are steep, narrow and uneven. Walk east to Morrell Park and the Waving Girl statue, then return to the City Hall landing and ride the free Savannah Belles Ferry to Hutchinson Island and back. The crossing is short, and the view back at the line of old warehouses is the best one in town. The ferry runs daily from 7am to 10pm, every 20 to 30 minutes from City Hall; the Waving Girl landing is served only until about 6:20pm.

For longer on the water, Savannah Riverboat Cruises runs a 1.5-hour narrated harbor cruise for $37.95 per adult. River Street’s shops run heavily to candy, T-shirts and souvenirs; the river is the reason to come. Drinks in to-go cups are legal from the river south to Jones Street.

7:45pm: Dinner and the night

The Olde Pink House on Reynolds Square serves in a mansion built in 1771, with Planters Tavern downstairs, and reservations are strongly advised. For a splurge, The Grey, in a restored Greyhound bus station on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, serves dinner Tuesday to Sunday and takes bookings through Resy. Afterward, a ghost walk suits the squares at night. Treat it as storytelling, not history. The Sorrel-Weed House runs a nightly 75-minute ghost tour for $35 (ages 10 and up, reservations required), and our haunted Savannah guide compares the rest.

Day Two: Bonaventure, Wormsloe and the History Downtown

Day two starts outside the grid while Bonaventure and Wormsloe are cool and quiet, then comes back downtown for the part of Savannah’s story the squares only hint at.

8:00am: Bonaventure Cemetery

A domed Victorian monument under live oaks and Spanish moss in Bonaventure Cemetery, Savannah
Bonaventure is a working city cemetery about 3 miles east of downtown, open daily from 8am.

Bonaventure is a city cemetery on a bluff above the Wilmington River, about 3 miles east of downtown. Victorian monuments, carved angels and family plots under Spanish moss made it famous, and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil made it more so. The Bird Girl statue from the book’s cover no longer stands here; she’s inside the Telfair Academy, which yesterday’s ticket still covers. The songwriter Johnny Mercer is buried here. Keep to the lanes, and remember that families still visit their graves.

Plan it: Free. Open daily from 8am to 5pm at 330 Bonaventure Road, about 10 minutes by car from downtown. Allow 60 to 90 minutes and bring water.

9:50am: Wormsloe State Historic Site

Crumbling tabby walls and blocks among trees at Wormsloe State Historic Site near Savannah
Tabby, a mix of oyster shell, lime and sand, is what survives of the colonial house at Wormsloe.

Wormsloe is about 20 minutes south of Bonaventure by car. It was the colonial estate of Noble Jones, one of the settlers who arrived in 1733, and it’s famous for a 1.5-mile avenue of live oaks. Since January 2024, cars stop at the visitor center, and you walk, bike or ride the free narrated open-air trolley, which leaves about every 30 minutes. Walking the avenue both ways adds 3 miles, which is lovely in November and punishing in August. Past it are the tabby ruins of the Jones family’s fortified house and the site’s trails.

Plan it: Open daily from 9am to 4:45pm; closed Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. Adults $12, seniors 62 and up $9, ages 6 to 17 $5.75, under 6 $3.25, and the state parks site says those rates include tax. The address is 7601 Skidaway Road. Allow 1.5 to 2 hours.

No car? Choose one

Without a car, pick one of the two. Bonaventure is closer and free, so the rideshare costs less and the morning stays loose. Wormsloe is the bigger outing, and the right choice if the oak avenue is the image that brought you to Savannah. Doing both by rideshare is possible, but you may wait for pickups at two gates well outside downtown.

With a car on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday, consider the Pin Point Heritage Museum, a short drive past Wormsloe. It fills the former A.S. Varn & Son oyster and crab factory in Pin Point, the community that formerly enslaved people and their descendants founded in the 1890s, and it tells the Gullah Geechee story of this coast. It opens Thursday to Saturday, 9am to 4pm, and adults pay $15. Swap it in for Bonaventure: Wormsloe at 9am, Pin Point by 11am, then a quick lunch downtown before the church tour.

12:50pm: First African Baptist Church

Be back downtown by noon, eat near City Market, and be at First African Baptist Church on Franklin Square by 12:50pm. The church gives one history tour a day, and the rest of day two hangs on it, so plan the morning backward from 1pm.

Plan it: Monday to Saturday at 1pm only. Adults $15; seniors, military and students $12. Arrive 10 minutes early. Tours can be canceled for church activities, and refunds are given only if the church cancels.

2:15pm: Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum

Next, walk to the Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. It was founded by W. W. Law, who also founded the Negro Heritage Trail Tour, the King-Tisdell Cottage museum and the Beach Institute, and it’s named for the man regarded as the father of Savannah’s civil rights campaign, which pushed voter registration and saw the city’s police department integrated in 1947.

Plan it: Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm, last tour 3:30pm. Adults $15, seniors $8, students $7; individual tickets are card only.

On a Sunday or Monday, or if you’d rather see art, use your Telfair ticket at the Telfair Academy and the Jepson Center. The Savannah History Museum, also on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, opens daily from 9am to 4pm, charges adults $12 and has the Forrest Gump bench.

4:00pm: Leopold’s, Broughton Street and City Market

Finish the sightseeing on Broughton Street at Leopold’s Ice Cream, which opens at noon Sunday to Thursday and 11am on Fridays and Saturdays. Then wander City Market, four blocks of restored warehouses beside Ellis Square with restaurants, galleries and artists working upstairs in the Art Center. It’s touristy and perfectly pleasant for an hour. The American Prohibition Museum there admits visitors until 4:15pm, with tickets from $17.57.

Evening: one more look at the river

Spend the last evening on whatever day one left you wanting: the harbor cruise, the ferry at sunset, or a dinner a few blocks back from the river. If you’re already wishing for more time, our three-day Savannah itinerary builds on this plan with Tybee Island and a slower pace.

Getting Around: Feet, a Free Shuttle and One Short Drive

Downtown, a car is more trouble than it’s worth. Two free Chatham Area Transit services fill the gaps: the DOT Express Shuttle, with two loops and 18 stops about every 10 minutes (weekdays 7am to 7pm, weekends 10am to 6pm, ADA compliant), and the Savannah Belles Ferry across the river (daily, 7am to 10pm).

A car earns its keep for exactly one morning, day two’s run to Bonaventure and Wormsloe. If you drive in, the City’s Visitor Day Pass covers on-street parking for $15 for 24 hours or $24 for 48 hours, though not in garages or street-sweeping zones; buy it at the Mobility and Parking Services office in the Bryan Street Garage, 100 E. Bryan Street, with your plate number. Our guide to getting around Savannah and parking covers garages, meters and rideshares.

Is a trolley tour worth it on a two-day trip?

A narrated trolley makes a good first hour if you have small children, limited mobility or a July heat wave. Old Savannah Tours runs a 75-minute nonstop Historic Overview, and Old Town Trolley Tours sells hop-on, hop-off tickets for 16 stops, from about $36.55 to $39.91 for one day online. Our Savannah tours guide compares trolleys, walking tours and boats.

Accessibility on this route

Access varies sharply from house to house. The Owens-Thomas House has no elevator, the Mercer Williams House isn’t licensed as handicap accessible, and the Andrew Low House can’t accommodate wheelchairs. The Jepson Center has an elevator to all three levels, the Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace has full elevator access, and many Old Town trolleys carry wheelchair lifts with 24 hours’ notice. Our accessible Savannah travel guide goes further.

What Two Days in Savannah Costs

Prices are per adult, as each operator listed them in October 2026.

ItemPrice per adultNotes
Telfair three-site ticket$30Three museums, valid seven days
Mercer Williams House$14.95 plus 7% taxAbout 35 minutes
Wormsloe State Historic Site$12Trolley down the avenue included
First African Baptist Church tour$151pm, Monday to Saturday
Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum$15Card only
Bonaventure, DOT shuttle and Belles FerryFreeNo shuttle or ferry on Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Year’s Day
Savannah Riverboat Cruises harbor cruise$37.95Optional; 1.5 hours
Sorrel-Weed House ghost tour$35Optional; ages 10 and up

The five paid stops come to about $88. Add the harbor cruise and a ghost tour and you’re at about $161, before meals, parking and lodging.

Can You Fit Tybee Island Into Two Days?

Only by trading for it. Tybee is 18 miles east of downtown on US 80, about 30 minutes each way, and that road is the only way on or off the island. If the beach matters more to you than the cemeteries, replace day two: Fort Pulaski National Monument on the way out ($10 per person 16 and up, card only; the fort is open 9am to 4:30pm), then the Tybee Island Light Station (closed Tuesdays; adults $14 for 178 steps) and the beach, where parking costs $4 an hour or $25 a day, with no cash accepted.

The price of the swap is Bonaventure, Wormsloe and the afternoon downtown, so most two-day visitors are better off saving the island for a third day. Our Tybee Island and Savannah beaches guide covers the beaches, parking and the lighthouse.

What to Skip When You Only Have Two Days

  • A two-day trolley ticket. At $75.90 it’s overkill when everything is walkable; one day, or the 75-minute overview, is plenty.
  • River Street at midday in summer. At 1pm in July it’s hot, crowded and ordinary. Come at 6pm instead.
  • Closed restaurants that older lists still recommend. Paula Deen’s The Lady & Sons closed on July 31, 2025, and Back in the Day Bakery closed on February 14, 2024.
  • A fourth house museum. After two or three, the rooms blur together. Sit in a square instead.
  • Climbing Cockspur Island Lighthouse. It has been closed to the public since 2015; see it from the Lighthouse Overlook Trail at Fort Pulaski.

Two Days in Savannah FAQ

Is two days enough time in Savannah?

For a first visit focused on the Historic District, yes. Two days covers about a dozen squares, a house museum or two, Forsyth Park, River Street, Bonaventure or Wormsloe and the Black history sites downtown, without rushing. What it can’t hold is Tybee Island as well. Add a third day for the beach, or hand it day two if the beach matters more.

What are the best two days of the week for a Savannah trip?

Any two from Tuesday to Friday: everything in this plan is open, Mrs. Wilkes’ serves lunch, and crowds are lighter than at weekends. Sunday and Monday is the hardest pairing, because the Telfair museums close on Monday, the Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum closes both days, and First African Baptist Church gives no tour on Sunday.

Do I need a car for two days in Savannah?

Only for one morning. Downtown, you’ll walk and use the free DOT Express Shuttle and Belles Ferry. Bonaventure and Wormsloe are roughly 10 and 20 minutes from downtown by car, so without one, take a rideshare to whichever you care about more. If you drive, the City’s 48-hour Visitor Day Pass covers on-street parking for $24.

How much does a two-day Savannah itinerary cost?

This plan’s five paid stops come to about $88 per adult: the $30 Telfair ticket, the Mercer Williams House at $14.95 plus tax, Wormsloe at $12, and $15 each for the church tour and the civil rights museum. A harbor cruise and a ghost tour bring it to about $161. Meals, parking and lodging are extra.

Should I tour the Owens-Thomas House or the Mercer Williams House?

If you take only one house tour, choose the Owens-Thomas House. It covers the main house and the slave quarters behind it, and the same Telfair ticket opens two more museums for seven days. The Mercer Williams House is the better pick only if Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is the reason you came.

Related Savannah Guides

Sources and How We Checked

Hours, prices, closures and transit details were checked on October 1, 2026. This itinerary is compiled from the museums, operators and public agencies listed below, not from other travel lists, and we don’t claim first-hand visits. Tour times shift with the season and with church and holiday schedules, so confirm before you go.

Savannah Tourism Guide is an independent publication. We are not affiliated with Visit Savannah, the City of Savannah or any attraction listed here, and no one paid to be included.

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