Savannah Historic District Open-Air Cruiser Tour

Tour Details

Why ride instead of walk

Savannah is a beautiful city to walk. It is also flat, humid, and larger than it looks on a map — the distance between Forsyth Park and River Street is longer than most first-time visitors expect, and River Street’s cobblestones are genuinely hard going on foot.

The open-air shuttle solves a specific set of problems:

• You’re short on time. Cruise passengers, day-trippers, and anyone with one afternoon in Savannah see the entire district in an hour and a quarter.
• It’s July. Savannah summers run hot and humid. Moving through the air beats standing in it, and the open sides mean you get the breeze that a sealed coach doesn’t give you.
• Someone in your group can’t walk two miles. Grandparents, recovering knees, tired legs after a long drive.
• You want the overview first. Many guests take this tour on their first morning, work out what they want to go back to, and spend the rest of the trip doing exactly that.

If you’d rather take it slowly and spend more time standing in the squares, our Savannah historic district walking tour covers the core of the same route on foot.

What you’ll see

The route runs as a single loop from the Savannah Visitor Center, south through the mansion district, then north to the riverfront.

Chippewa Square

The cultural centre of the old city, home to the Savannah Theatre and — more famously — the site where the Forrest Gump bench sat during filming. (The bench itself is in the Savannah History Museum now; your guide will show you exactly where the crew placed it.)

Forsyth Park

The southern turn of the route, and the image most people have in their heads when they picture Savannah: the white cast-iron fountain, thirty acres of oak canopy, and the Victorian mansions lining the perimeter.

Monterey Square & the Mercer-Williams House

The square most associated with Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Your guide covers both the house and the story that made it famous, with a short break here.

Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist

The tallest spires in Savannah and the sharpest architectural contrast on the route — French Gothic rising straight out of a neighbourhood of colonial brick. Photo stop.

Reynolds Square, The Olde Pink House & Planters Inn

The oldest standing structures in the district, in the brick-and-stucco style of the late 1700s. This is where you get a sense of how young the rest of the city is by comparison.

Factors Walk & River Street

Multi-level brick passages and rare wrought ironwork built for Savannah’s cotton trade. The shuttle takes the riverfront cobblestones directly — a stretch most visitors only ever see on foot, and rarely enjoy doing it.

Savannah City Hall

The gold dome above the river, looking down onto the cobblestones where cotton factors once set the world price for the crop.

City Market

A four-block open-air pedestrian district of galleries, restaurants, and bars — worth knowing about, because most guests head straight back here after the tour ends.

Itineraries may vary slightly with traffic, events, and street closures.

What’s included

Included

• Licensed local guide for the full 75 minutes
• Open-air shuttle transportation
• Live narration throughout the route
• Photo stops at key landmarks

Not included

• Food and drinks
• Attraction entrance fees
• Gratuities (appreciated, never expected)

Where we meet

Pick-up: 405 E Gaston St, Savannah, GA 31401

We meet in the grass lot directly across the street from Ganems. Please pull into the grass lot — not the paved Ganems parking lot, which belongs to the business next door and is not available to our guests.

Please arrive 10 minutes before your departure time. The shuttle leaves on schedule — with a 75-minute loop and back-to-back departures, we can’t hold it for late arrivals, and no-shows aren’t refundable.

A note on parking: the grass lot has only five spaces, reserved for guests who are actively on a tour. Please move your car as soon as your tour returns — cars left in the lot after the tour may be towed. If you’re continuing into the Historic District afterwards, there are paid public garages a few minutes away.

Is this tour right for you?

Good fit if you:

• Have half a day or less in Savannah
• Are visiting with older relatives or anyone who tires easily
• Want an orientation before exploring on your own
• Are travelling in summer and would rather not walk in the heat
• Want to see River Street without walking the cobblestones
• Like photographs but don’t need twenty minutes at each one

Consider the walking tour instead if you:

• Want to go inside courtyards and down lanes a vehicle can’t enter
• Prefer a slower pace with longer stops
• Are travelling with very young children

Good to know

• Parking is limited and tour-only. Five spaces in the grass lot, for guests on an active tour. Cars left behind after the tour ends may be towed.
• Dress for the weather. The shuttle is open-sided. In summer, bring water, sunglasses, and sunscreen; between November and March, a jacket makes a real difference once you’re moving.
• Tours run in light rain. The canopy roof covers you from directly above, but rain can still blow in from the sides. Heavier weather may mean a reschedule — we’ll contact you directly.
• River Street is cobbled. The ride is smooth for most of the route and deliberately bumpy for about two minutes of it. That’s the historic street surface, not the suspension.
• Open-air vehicles carry inherent risks including sudden stops, turns, traffic, and weather exposure. By joining, you accept these for yourself and anyone in your party.