Two Days in Savannah: Squares, Museums and Riverfront

Savannah’s squares connect monuments, stained glass and house history with the former cotton warehouses above River Street. From Forsyth Park, follow the Historic District north, then give a second day to the original Bird Girl statue, Juliette Gordon Low’s childhood home and the Jepson Center’s modern architecture.

Allow two full sightseeing days after arrival, with lunch, an accommodation break and dinner each day. Saturday followed by Sunday suits this order, especially the cathedral’s first-morning visit.

Your base, tickets and reservations

Starting point

Forsyth Park, after arrival day

Base

Historic District, between Forsyth Park and Broughton Street

Preferred days

Saturday–Sunday

First booking action

Select Owens-Thomas tour, then reserve Birthplace

From this part of the Historic District, you can walk to both starting sights, Forsyth Park and Telfair Academy. Other Tuesday–Saturday pairs also suit the cathedral morning, while a Sunday first day needs an afternoon cathedral visit.

Admission	Adult base price	Coverage	Purchase or reservation
Telfair shared ticket	$30	Owens-Thomas, Academy, Jepson	Online or onsite
Ships of the Sea	$17.50	Maritime museum	Walk-up, no standard reservation
Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace	$15	Birthplace tour	Online reservation requested
Base-admission subtotal	$62.50	Delivered paid visits	Per adult

The Telfair ticket allows unlimited visits for seven days from purchase, not from first entry. Owens-Thomas and Jepson use the shared admission rather than separate adult tickets. Standard Academy entry needs no reservation. Walk-up purchase avoids the maritime museum’s online processing charge.

Select an Owens-Thomas time through its online portal, subject to availability, or obtain one at its onsite booth. Check in at the booth even with an advance ticket. The portal offers times up to four weeks ahead, with tours starting every 15 minutes. Arrive at least five minutes before yours.

Lunch typically runs about 11am–2pm. The days use Harris Street and City Market, followed by dinners in Plant Riverside District and around Bull Street near Chippewa Square.

Day 1: Park, squares and riverfront

Forsyth Park’s fountain, the cathedral’s rose window and Factors Walk’s cotton warehouses make this a day of outdoor pauses and contrasting interiors, ending with waterfront dinner. The connecting sightseeing legs cover about 4.3 miles, with accommodation walks additional. On Monday, move the Owens-Thomas visit to another day.

Forsyth Park rewards a fountain-centred walk among lawns and Spanish-moss-draped live oaks. Monterey Square frames the Italianate Mercer-Williams House. Optional Jones Street adds residential façades before Madison Square’s monument to Sergeant William Jasper, who died during the Revolutionary War siege.

The Cathedral Basilica of St John the Baptist has a rose window and stained-glass scenes of saints. Monday–Saturday sightseeing runs 9am–11:30am and 1pm–4:30pm, while Sunday allows only the afternoon window. Worship, weddings and funerals take precedence over sightseeing, including closures on most Holy Days.

Chippewa Square was the setting for Forrest Gump’s bus-stop scenes. You can see shaded paths and the James Oglethorpe monument, but the film’s prop bench is not here. It is preserved at the Savannah History Museum. Pause before lunch around Harris Street.

Owens-Thomas House & Slave Quarters centres the experiences of enslaved people who lived and worked here. Its original indoor plumbing, including a cistern and flushing water closet, adds a striking architectural detail. Keep your selected tour ahead of optional Columbia Square, where the Federal-style Davenport House faces the square.

Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum combines a Titanic model with the historic William Scarbrough House and its garden. Optional Franklin Square adds the Haitian Monument, commemorating Haitian soldiers who fought alongside American forces in the 1779 siege.

Factors Walk’s brick passages, iron bridges and cotton warehouses reveal the bluff’s commercial history. Steep stairs and uneven surfaces make the riverfront difficult with limited mobility. After your accommodation rest, enjoy River Street, then choose among Plant Riverside District’s casual restaurants, seafood venues and more formal dinner options. Shrimp and grits, prawns over ground-maize porridge, offers a Lowcountry choice.

Day 2: Telfair museums and Girl Scout history

After the riverfront evening, Telfair Academy’s Bird Girl, the Birthplace’s restored parlour and the Jepson Center’s sweeping staircase offer a more interior-focused day, followed by downtown browsing and dinner. Set off again from your Historic District accommodation.

Telfair Academy displays the original Bird Girl statue, familiar from the cover of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Start with the sculpture and leave time for the art and period rooms rather than treating it as a photo stop.

Optional Johnson Square brings the obelisk honouring Revolutionary War general Nathanael Greene. Wright Square’s memorial honours Tomochichi, the Yamacraw chief and ally of James Oglethorpe. Drop these pauses if your house reservation requires a more direct approach.

Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace connects Low’s childhood and ideals with the founding of the Girl Scouts. Its restored parlour, furnished with period pieces, gives that story a domestic setting. Tours run within 10am–4pm, with limited Wednesday hours.

City Market’s restaurants and open-air courtyards make lunch flexible, with casual slices, pies or a sit-down meal rather than a food-hall circuit. Enjoy a short wander before returning towards Telfair Square.

The Jepson Center’s sculptural façade by Moshe Safdie merits attention before you enter. Inside, the three-storey atrium and sweeping staircase are part of the attraction, alongside the galleries.

Colonial Park Cemetery brings historic headstones, table tombs and brick vaults within a walled enclosure. Pedestrian hours are 8am–8pm in March–November and 8am–5pm in November–March, so keep it before your accommodation rest. Afterwards, browse Broughton Street and finish with dinner around Bull Street near Chippewa Square.

Walking, heat and rainy days

Wear comfortable shoes with grip, especially for Factors Walk and the uneven riverfront. Both days combine squares with indoor visits, but the gaps still mean time outdoors. Carry water and sun protection, and use the accommodation rests for a genuine break rather than another attraction.

Summer is long, hot and humid, with June–August daytime highs often around 88–92°F and frequent afternoon thunderstorms. Shorten Jones Street and the optional squares first, preserving the house visits and museums. Spring and autumn are generally more comfortable for walking.

In rain, give priority to your reserved Owens-Thomas and Birthplace visits and the Telfair museums. Reduce the outdoor pauses, and take extra care on wet stairs and brick surfaces. A museum visit makes a useful indoor stretch, but wait under shelter rather than continuing along an exposed waterfront during a thunderstorm.

River Street’s evening light changes sharply with the season. Summer sunset is around 8:30–8:45pm, compared with around 5:15–5:30pm in winter. In winter, take River Street before returning to your accommodation. Shorten optional Columbia and Franklin Square pauses to bring the waterfront forward, then retain dinner in Plant Riverside District. Spring and autumn fall between these extremes.

Late arrivals and shorter stays

For a late first morning, drop Jones Street first, followed by optional square pauses, and protect your selected Owens-Thomas tour. The cathedral can move into its afternoon sightseeing window only if the house and maritime museum still fit. Do not sacrifice the house reservation for another exterior detour.

An early second-day departure favours the Academy at opening or the reserved Birthplace visit, whichever fits your departure. Drop Jepson, the cemetery and the evening as necessary rather than compressing every visit.

For one day, retain Forsyth Park, the connected squares, Owens-Thomas where its tour allocation allows, and River Street. Leave out Ships of the Sea and the second day’s visits. Using fewer Telfair venues means using less of the shared ticket, so weigh the house visit against the admission you will actually enjoy.

The dedicated one-day Savannah itinerary offers a different single-house walking sequence if you want a complete alternative rather than a shortened version of these two days.

Sources & fact-checking

Checks against the sources below cover: opening hours, closures, services, and fares and charges. Route times and distances were calculated from geolocated stops.

• Visit Telfair Academy
• Telfair Museums — closures
• Jepson Center & Telfair Children’s Art Museum — Telfair Museums
• City of Savannah — opening hours
• Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace — opening hours
• Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace Museum — service
• Telfair Museums — service
• Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist — opening hours
• Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist — service
• Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum — opening hours
• Telfair Museums — fares and charges