🏙️ Things to Do · Savannah, GA
Things to Do in Savannah, GA
52 real, verified attractions and tours across every category — historic house museums, ghost tours, forts, and Tybee Island — so you can plan around what you actually want to do instead of scrolling a generic list.
👻 America’s Most Haunted City
✅ Verified Direct Sources
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🏛️ Museums
👻 Ghost Tours
🚢 Tours & Cruises
🎖️ Forts
🏖️ Tybee Island
🌳 Parks & Golf
🎭 Arts & Shopping
🧒 Family Fun
Tips
FAQ
Savannah is built around General Oglethorpe’s 1733 grid of live-oak-shaded historic squares — Forsyth Park, Chippewa Square (of “Forrest Gump” bench fame), and 20 more — each free to walk and worth lingering in, though none has a single dedicated operator site so they’re mentioned here rather than carrying a card of their own. Around them sit house museums, art museums, and the ghost-tour operators the city is famous for; River Street and Broughton Street handle shopping and dining. About 20 minutes east, Tybee Island adds a lighthouse, a pier, and beach time to the trip. We checked each attraction and tour operator directly against its own official site rather than a generic aggregator list.
Antebellum Mansions & Landmark Homes
Mercer Williams House Museum
Antebellum mansion tied to “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.”
Owens-Thomas House & Slave Quarters
1819 Regency house with one of the most intact urban slave quarters in the South, part of Telfair Museums.
Andrew Low House Museum
1849 mansion, birthplace of the Girl Scouts under Juliette Gordon Low.
Green-Meldrim House
Gothic Revival mansion that served as Sherman’s Savannah headquarters in 1864.
Isaiah Davenport House Museum
1820 Federal-style home credited with sparking Savannah’s historic preservation movement.
Sorrel-Weed House
1840s Greek Revival/Regency mansion known for both history and paranormal tours.
Harper Fowlkes House
1842 Greek Revival mansion operated by the Society of the Cincinnati of Georgia.
Flannery O’Connor Childhood Home
Birthplace and early-life residence of the author.
Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace
National Historic Landmark, the Girl Scouts’ founding site.
Art, History & Heritage
Telfair Academy
Historic Greek Revival art museum, part of Telfair Museums.
Jepson Center for the Arts
Moshe Safdie-designed contemporary art museum, part of Telfair Museums.
SCAD Museum of Art
Contemporary art museum in a restored 1853 railroad building.
SCADstory
Free immersive exhibit on SCAD’s history and restoration work across Savannah.
Beach Institute African American Cultural Center
African-American art and history in a Reconstruction-era school building.
Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum
Maritime history museum in the historic Scarborough House.
American Prohibition Museum
Interactive 1920s Prohibition-era exhibits.
Roundhouse Railroad Museum
Historic rail yard and roundhouse, run by the Coastal Heritage Society.
Pin Point Heritage Museum
Gullah/Geechee culture and history on the marsh, run by the Coastal Heritage Society.
National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force
WWII air force history museum, located just outside Savannah in Pooler.
Savannah’s Famous Ghost Tour Scene
6th Sense World Ghost Tours
Walking ghost tours through the historic district.
Ghost City Tours Savannah
Historic-district ghost walking tours and haunted pub crawl.
Ghosts of Sorrel-Weed House Tour
Paranormal-focused evening tour of the Sorrel-Weed House.
Genteel & Bard
History and ghost tours emphasizing historical accuracy.
Mad Cat Tours
True Crime Pub Crawl and ghost/history walking tours.
Witching Hour Savannah
Ghost tours and pub crawls through the historic district.
Bonaventure Historical Society Tours
Nonprofit-led educational tours of the Spanish-moss-draped Bonaventure Cemetery.
Riverboat, Trolley, Carriage, Bike & Kayak
Savannah Riverboat Cruises
Sightseeing, dinner, and sunset cruises on the Savannah River.
Savannah Taste Experience Food Tours
Long-running guided food and bar tasting tours through the historic district.
Old Town Trolley Tours of Savannah
Hop-on/hop-off narrated trolley tours of the historic district.
Old Savannah Tours
Trolley and specialty tours of the historic district.
Carriage Tours of Savannah
Horse-drawn carriage rides through the historic squares.
Perry Rubber Bike Shop
Bike rentals and guided bike tours of the historic district.
Savannah Slow Ride
Pedal-powered party bike tours, including a ghost-themed evening ride.
Savannah Coastal Ecotours
Kayak and boat eco-tours of the marsh and barrier islands.
Civil War Forts & Colonial Ruins
Fort Pulaski National Monument
Civil War-era masonry fort on Cockspur Island, a National Park Service site.
Fort McAllister State Historic Site
Well-preserved Confederate earthwork fort near Richmond Hill.
Old Fort Jackson
Georgia’s oldest standing brick fort, on the Savannah River, run by the Coastal Heritage Society.
Wormsloe Historic Site
Colonial tabby ruins at the end of a famous mile-long oak avenue, run by Georgia State Parks.
Savannah’s Beach Town
Tybee Island Light Station & Museum
1736-origin lighthouse, the oldest and tallest in Georgia, open to climb.
Tybee Island Marine Science Center
Touch tanks and marine ecology programs on Tybee Island.
Tybee Post Theater
Restored 1930s Art Deco cinema hosting films and live shows.
Little Tybee Island Eco Tours
Boat and water-taxi eco-tours to the undeveloped barrier island, via Bull River Marina.
State Parks, Wildlife Refuge & Golf
Skidaway Island State Park
Coastal maritime forest and marsh trails with a nature center.
Savannah National Wildlife Refuge
Freshwater marsh refuge with the Laurel Hill Wildlife Drive.
The Club at Savannah Harbor
Resort golf course at the Westin Savannah Harbor, open to resort guests and public tee times.
Historic Theaters & City Market
Lucas Theatre for the Arts
Restored 1921 movie palace, now a SCAD-affiliated performance venue.
Savannah Theatre
Claims to be one of the oldest continuously operating theaters in the U.S., with live musical revues.
Trustees Theater
Restored 1946 Art Deco cinema, a SCAD-operated venue for film and events.
City Market
Four-block open-air shopping, dining, and gallery district.
Kid-Friendly Attractions
Savannah Children’s Museum
Outdoor hands-on museum with exploration mazes and sensory gardens, run by the Coastal Heritage Society.
Pooler Fun Zone
Indoor family entertainment center with arcade, laser tag, and mini golf in nearby Pooler.
Visiting Tips for This Area
- Walk the historic squares first. Savannah’s downtown is compact and best explored on foot — most house museums and ghost-tour meeting points sit on or near one of the 22 squares.
- Book ghost tours ahead for weekend evenings. Savannah is one of the most-toured “haunted” cities in the country, and the popular operators sell out on Friday and Saturday nights.
- Tybee Island is a separate trip, not a quick stop. Plan at least half a day — it’s about 20 minutes from downtown Savannah with its own lighthouse, pier, and beach.
- Hours and admission change without notice. Every detail above was pulled from the operator’s own site, but call ahead to confirm before a special trip.
Why is Savannah called “America’s Most Haunted City”?
The nickname comes from Savannah’s dense concentration of centuries-old buildings, cemeteries, and a long recorded history of yellow fever epidemics and Civil War-era deaths — it supports one of the largest ghost-tour industries of any U.S. city, from walking tours to Bonaventure Cemetery tours.
What’s the best way to see the historic squares?
On foot — Savannah’s historic district is compact and walkable, and a self-guided walk through the squares is free. Trolley and carriage tours are a good option if you’d rather sit and listen to narrated history.
Is Tybee Island worth the trip from downtown Savannah?
Yes — it’s about a 20-minute drive and adds a lighthouse you can climb, a fishing pier, and a real beach day to a trip that’s otherwise mostly historic-district walking.
How does NME choose which attractions to feature?
We verify each attraction or tour operator directly against its own official site rather than relying on aggregator lists, and we exclude anything we can’t confirm firsthand. Read more on our methodology page.
Know Something We Missed?
If you know a great attraction or tour in the Savannah area we’re missing, email us and we’ll take a look.
Heading to Savannah?
See the full trip guide — where to stay and where to eat, organized the same way, by category.
