Hilton Head Planning Help Needed

[MarkW]

We are planning our first trip to Hilton Head after many Disney trips. However, we would like to spend some time in Savannah and Charleston. How long does it take to get to each city from Hilton Head and is it feasible to do day trips to these cities. Has anyone planned a trip like this or have any suggestions?
Thanks in advance for any help you can provide!

 

[DownNeckBoy]

I have been to both Charleston and Savannah and they can be done as day trips from Hilton Head. Of the two choices, Savannah is the easier trip, as you can do it in about an hour or so. Charleston is 2 to 2 1/2 hours away. It is not an easy route to Charleston.

However, Charleston is a wonderful city and is well worth the trip. You can't go wrong choosing either city as a day trip. I have planned to do that as well each time I have gone down to Hilton Head. What I discovered, though, was that I did not want to leave! Oh well, perhaps next time. Good luck with your trip!!!

 

[MarkW]

Thank you for your response. We would love to hear from others who have planned or are planning a similar trip.

 

[Cap]

If you go to Savanah, take the bus tour for a good overview of the city. We parked at the train station and took the bus with no problems. When we went last year, we dawdled at HH in the morning, and then found we didn't have as much time as we would have liked to see Savanah. This year we plan to get an earlier breakfast and have more time to enjoy the city.

 

[Candace]

Last year, when my mom and I visited DVC at Hilton Head, we flew in on a Saturday to Savannah and spent the night there. That saved those Saturday night points , and we spent Sunday touring Savannah. It is a jewel of a little Southern city. Go to the visitor center downtown and take one of the bus tours. This was more satisfactory for my 80 year old mom, since it was July, and a walking tour was out of the question - even for me. The historic area is fascinating and the downtown area along the river (if I remember correctly) is very interesting and trendy. We toured, drove on to HH DVC, later that afternoon and checked in. We didn't do Charleston, but I hope to on a later trip, maybe spending one night at the Charleston Place hotel which sounds lovely.

 

[KMarie]

We just came back from a trip to HH last week, and we spent a day in Savannah.

The drive is about an hour from the HH resort. There also is a cruise you can take from Harbourtown on HH that departs HH about 10 a.m. and leaves Savannah for the return about 2:45 p.m. We had planned to take that boat instead of driving, but we were not permitted into the Sea Pines area in which Harbourtown is located, because we were driving a small RV. If you decide to try to cruise, call ahead to make sure it's operating because this is off-season.

We drove from HH to the Savannah Visitor's Center and picked up the Old Town Trolley, which is a 90-minute trolley tour of the city, narrated by the driver, that lets you get on and off at any stop. A trolley runs about every 30 minutes. There's another trolley called Old Savannah (I think that was the name) that looked to us to do the same thing, but it seemed to run more frequently. Every time we were waiting for our trolley, we saw the other one go by, which really irked my DH! You can tell the difference between them by their color -- Old Town is orange and green, Old Savannah is white.

Our tour went by all the famous and historical houses and neighborhoods in Savannah, some of which you can go in and visit. We went into and took a tour of the Juliette Gordon Low birthplace house because I was a Girl Scout leader for many years and was interested in it. We also got off at the River Street stop and walked along the "boardwalk" on the Savannah River, where there are all sorts of shops and restaurants. We had a late lunch in a restaurant on River Street called The Boar's Head, and it was pretty good.

We are planning to visit Charleston on our next HH trip, since we didn't have enough time to go on this visit. We may stay a weekend night in The Charleston Place Hotel, which we have heard is in the heart of the historical district and very nice. You can use points to stay at that hotel, but we'd probably pay cash to save the points.

I brought home most of our tour and visitor brochures, so if you have any questions, just ask!

KMarie

 

[KarenB]

Hi!

I'm not sure if you are flying or driving. We drove to HH last June and stopped at Charleston on the way down. It is a beautiful town, lots of history, and beautiful homes along the waterfront. Next time we go, we would like to spend the night there, then go to HH the next day.....there was a lot more we wanted to see and do there.

Be warned......our plan was to take day trips to Savannah and Charleston while visiting HH. We loved the resort and all the area had to offer in and around the resort so much that we never made it!!!! We got to the point that we wanted to soak every minute we could right there in HH!


Have a wonderful time!

Karen

 

[mommydeac]

We love both Charleston and Savannah. Of the two cities, I prefer Charleston, but it is a much more inconvenient day trip. We've traveled between the two (HH and Charleston) once, and I didn't think we'd ever get to our destination.

However, Charleston Place is an absolutley lovely hotel, and I would highly recommend spending a night there on points (or cash, if you'd rather). The nightlife in Charleston can be fun, so for that reason I'd say, take one day of your vacation and spend it in Charleston.

Dana