After spending the morning at Fort Pulaski, we decided to spend the afternoon getting the lay of the land in Savannah. Mom and Dad spent time in Savannah years ago. Tom and I are planning on visiting again while we are in Georgia. We decided to go to the Savannah Visitor Center (big free parking lot) and take the Old Town Trolley Tour.
Tickets for the trolley were a little pricey (about $30 each), but it is a 90 minute guided tour of all the sights to see in Savannah. You can hop on and hop off as much as you want during the day, or buy a multi-day ticket. The trolley runs from 9 until 5 from August through March. There are 15 stops located at the top tourist destinations.
Even though the Old Town Trolley was a hop on and hop off tour, we stayed on the trolley for the entire route. We wanted to hear the tour and get the lay of the land. Our guide was Honey and she did a great job. We were really impressed with the way she maneuvered in some really narrow spaces while continuing her tour guide patter the entire trip.
Most of the stops had people waiting to board the trolley. Some of them had more people in line than could fit on our trolley, so Honey called the home base to let them know they needed another trolley. Trolleys run the route every 20 minutes.
We saw the Historic, Colonial, and Victorian districts on our tour. We “oooohed” and “ahhhhed” at the different architecture and laughed at Honey’s jokes. There were stops at Madison Square, Forsyth Park, Columbia Square, Chippewa Square and Ellis Square. We drove by many of the other squares. At the Cathedral of St. John I stuck my head out to see all the way to the top of the spire. We passed City Market and River Street – two of my must-sees when we return. Along the way, Honey told us about other things we could see in the area: Juliette Gordon Low’s house, Temple Mickve Israel, and the Pirates’ House. She also told us about other tours we could take with the company such as the Ghost tour and the Paula Dean tour.
Usually Tom and I would skip a tour like the Old Town Trolley in favor of walking. But we learned a lot and know what we want to visit when we go back to Savannah. For us, on this afternoon, it was worth the money.