what to do in savannah

Stretch your legs as you see the sights on a Savannah walking tour. (Photo: Getty Images)

Outdoors

Moving Around Savannah: Outdoor Adventures Abound

If there were a list of top 10 cities perfect for a lazy day, Savannah and its sun-dappled squares would certainly qualify. So if that’s what you choose to do, no worries. But if you’re feeling like you want to mix a touch of “get up and go” (or sit down and paddle) into your Savannah experience, you’ve come to the right place.

Here are four active outings in the “Hostess City of the South.” (Really, that’s one of its nicknames.) As always, check for travel restrictions and closures before planning your trip.

Lace Up Your Sneakers

Savannah is one of America’s great walking cities. So really, take advantage of that with a walking tour that will lead you deep into the city’s history and culture. There’s a lot more to Savannah that first-timers expect.

Old City Walks‘ Grand Savannah Tour will catch you up to speed on everything from the horrors of the slave trade in Savannah to the book that thrust the city into the literary spotlight, “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.”

Prefer a single-theme focus for your tour? Private Walking Tours of Savannah should be your go-to tour company. Choose from history, architecture and much more. Of course, no good Southern city would go without having a few ghosts hovering around. Walk around with the spirits on a Ghost Walker Tour.

Standing Engagement

Prefer an adventure that puts your core to work and lets you stand tall on the water? Stand-up paddleboarding it is — though it may take a minute or two before you kick beginner’s wobble to the shoreline and get moving. But you will.

The guides at East Coast Paddleboarding can help. Sign on for a tour of Little Tybee Island that includes a full lesson to get you started with, if not style, at least forward movement.

Paddle On

Kayaking should be the official sport of Savannah. After all, there’s nothing rushed about it, it’s a great way to explore, and, of course, you can even enjoy a cocktail (or a can of beer) as your boat skims along the water.

Best of all? Savannah has so very many interesting waterways and shorelines to explore by kayak. Give Moon River Kayak Tours a call to paddle the low country’s marshes. Keep on the lookout for herons and eagles.

Want to mix some history into your paddle? Savannah Canoe and Kayak‘s Cockspur Lighthouse Tour is your ticket to ride, er, paddle. The half-day tour goes out to the lighthouse, built in 1855 and part of Fort Pulaski National Monument.

Reel Fun

There are some seriously big fish in the deep seas around Savannah. Get your muscles ready to pull them up with the help of the crew from Reel ‘Em N. There’s plenty of grouper and snapper, but they’re not the only fish in the sea. Depending on the time of year, you might also get a chance to reel in a barracuda or a shark. Yup, you read that right.