The charming Deep South city with movie-star good looks

Times

a day ago

Positioned around a series of garden squares, Savannah is one of those rare US cities that is easy to explore on foot. Built in 1733 as the capital of the thirteenth American colony established by Britain, Georgia's oldest settlement survived the Revolutionary and Civil wars — and still manages to look radiant. With its oil lamps, ornamental ironwork and oak trees dripping with spooky Spanish moss, it's so quintessentially Southern that Hollywood loves it, having used it as a location for plenty of films, including Forrest Gump.
But there's more to this Southern beauty than magnolia-scented boulevards and wraparound verandas. Take a guided tour of its mansions and you'll unearth tales of ghosts and pirates. Wander the 18th-century harbourfront and you'll find paddle steamers, jazz cruises and dolphins. Head to the nearby barrier islands and you'll swap cobbled streets for the gorgeous beach used in the Baywatch film.
• Morning: Green-Meldrim House• Eat at: the Lost Square• Afternoon: First African Baptist Church• Drink at: Better than Sex• Evening: Savannah Hauntings Ghost Tour• Dinner: Common Restaurant
• Morning: Tybee Island• Eat at: the Olde Pink House• Afternoon: Owens-Thomas House & Slave Quarters• Drink at: Congress Street Up• Evening: Savannah Riverboat Cruises• Dinner: Fleeting
• Savannah is full of grand homes offering guided tours, but none charts the American story quite like the gothic-revival Green-Meldrim House. General Sherman of the Union Army made it his HQ while he burnt his way across the Confederate South; the future of newly emancipated slaves was first planned here; and one of its most scandalous residents made the iconic pink suit worn by Jackie Kennedy when her husband was shot (£12; greenmeldrimhouse.org). • Jingle Bells, Methodism and the I Have a Dream speech all have origins in the pretty chapels of Savannah. But you should also check out the unassuming First African Baptist Church. Built by enslaved people and the site of kidnappings of 'free blacks', it has air holes in the floorboards that enabled hidden runaways to breathe before escaping to freedom in the north (£11; firstafricanbc.com).• Whether you believe in the supernatural or not, a ghost tour of the 'most-haunted city' in America is a fun way to explore its dark past. You'll wander around graveyards cloaked in spooky Spanish moss and hear tales of dismembered soldiers, cruel slavers and the pirate abductions that inspired Treasure Island (£22; savannahghostlytours.com).• The Georgian coastline is dotted with barrier islands where locals go to relax, surf and kayak among dolphins. It's a 16-mile drive (about £25 by taxi) to the pier, crab shacks and dune-flanked lighthouse of Tybee Island. While there, check out the Marine Science Center, which can arrange everything from marsh treks to turtle-hatching walks (from £18; tybeemarinescience.org).• The guides at the Owens-Thomas House and Slave Quarters do a fantastic job of bringing to life this Regency mansion, with its grisly history of slavers and the enslaved. Upstairs, you'll swoon over its Gone With the Wind-style glamour (the place is a fantasy of marble, mahogany, gilt and Greco motifs); downstairs, you'll hear heartbreaking tales of floggings and family separations (£24; telfair.org).• See Confederate ramparts, a shipwreck and maybe a dolphin or bald eagle on a 90-minute, Mississippi-style sunset cruise down the Savannah River. Some paddleship cruises include live jazz or gospel performances. The highlight, though, is the £5 peach cobbler and ice cream sold in paper cups — delicious (from £28; savannahriverboat.com).
This casual, rooftop hangout in the wharfside district has a menu that is part Mediterranean tavern, part American sports bar. There is great red shrimp with harissa, Calabrian chicken wings and black-eyed pea falafel with pickled fresno, tzatziki and lettuce (small plates from £8; thelostsquare.com).
Some of the innuendoes on the menu of this seductively lit cocktail and dessert lounge would make the Carry On writers blush, but the mixologists are creative geniuses. Think peanut butter whisky served in a glass with a white-chocolate rim or spiced rum topped with a crunchy pecan pie crust –— naughty (cocktails from £6; betterthansexdesserts.com).
If Raymond Blanc and Grandma Walton opened a restaurant, it might be something like this place, which serves hearty Southern comfort food with a fancy European twist. Try fusion dishes such as short-rib ravioli, gumbo risotto, fried-green-tomato caprese and traditional shrimp and grits served with pancetta and hondashi aioli (mains from £16; commonrestaurant.com).
• Read our full guide to the United States
Back in the city, American favourites are served beneath grand chandeliers and portraits of wigged grandees at this white-tableclothed stalwart. Crowd-pleasing dishes are put together with a creative flourish — such as the chicken and sweet potato, which comes with a pecan-vanilla butter, and crispy flounder topped with a sweet apricot and shallot sauce (mains from £14; theoldepinkhouserestaurant.com).
You'll hear how the founder of Savannah accidentally killed a man in a bar fight (and later tried to ban alcohol) as you make your way through the only Prohibition museum in America to drink moonshine boilermakers and French 75s in this easy-mingling speakeasy (£23 including a cocktail; americanprohibitionmuseum.com).
This swish, open-kitchen restaurant draws inspiration from the state's natural pantry, with lots of seafood, wild herbs and seasonal veg. Come during one of the regular pop-up evenings, when chefs don trucker caps and champion nose-to-tail cooking using trotters, snouts and less popular cuts (mains from £20; fleetingrestaurant.com).
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Simple Southern charmBuilt on the site of John Wesley's former parsonage, the classy, no-nonsense Planters Inn is a short stroll from the riverfront, main shopping street and the best bars and restaurants. With four-poster beds, floral pelmets and freshly cut hydrangeas, it's elegant without being pretentious. Make sure that you're back at the lobby piano bar by 4.30pm for the free 'Communion wine' and cheese (room-only doubles from £105; plantersinnsavannah.com).
Sleek urban oasisThis former power plant on the waterfront is Savannah's answer to Battersea, with art displays and upscale shops and restaurants in its turbine room. The suites are incredibly sexy, offsetting the industrial aesthetics with touches of purple crushed velvet and polished marble. Its rooftop cocktail bars and poolside cabanas, however, are as far removed from south London as you can get (room-only doubles from £228; marriott.com).
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Ice-cool retreatThis hotel-cum-members' club feels more Miami than Savannah, with its peach-and-green palette, palm-lined pool and chill-out bar. There are suite-like rooms, a stunning bird-cage atrium, a brooding cocktail lounge and one of the city's top restaurants, Saint Bibiana. There's also a huge gym and vitamin IV drips at the spa, in case you're not quite ready to strut around the pool (B&B doubles from £279; staybardo.com).
Virgin and British Airways fly via Atlanta or New York to Savannah airport, from where it's an £18 taxi ride into the city. Savannah is a doddle to explore by foot, but there are also free trolley buses and hop-on, hop-off tours (from £30; trolleytours.com).
If you want to extend your journey through the historic South there are twice-daily trains between Savannah and Charleston in South Carolina. The journey takes 90 minutes and costs from £21 one way.Adam Edwards was a guest of Visit Savannah (visitsavannah.com) and Savannah/Hilton Head airport (savannahairport.com)
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