Savannah Historic District Private Tour With Driver: How to Get There and Where to Park

Savannah was laid out around open squares, and the Historic Landmark District still holds 22 of them, according to the city's tourism site. Every few blocks the street opens onto a small park shaded by oaks, with monuments in the middle and a ring of one-way lanes around the edge. It is lovely to walk and slow to drive. A visitor who treats it as a driving destination spends the first morning looking for a space, while one who treats it as a walking destination spends it under the trees.

A Savannah historic district private tour with driver takes the first approach out of the picture. The chauffeur handles the airport, the approach to the right corner and the pickup. You walk the squares. The rest of this guide covers what the official sources say about parking, shuttles, one cemetery that really does need a car, and the island day trip that does too.

How do you get to Savannah Historic District by car?

The visitor center sits at 301 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, on the western edge of the district, and the city's tourism site names its lot as one of the public parking facilities. The lot has 298 spaces plus RV parking, with the first hour free and an hourly rate after that, and no overnight parking. A chauffeur can use that as a meeting point, but most guests will prefer a drop at the hotel door.

For an arrival by air, our airport hub shows which terminals we serve. Savannah's airport is on Airways Avenue, and its official site encourages meeters to wait at the cell phone lot until arriving passengers call for curbside pickup; confirm the correct chauffeur pickup area with the airport before you land.

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How far, how long: Savannah in numbers

The parking rules, from the city's own pages

The Visit Savannah parking page is the best single reference. It lists seven public garages: Bryan Street, Eastern Wharf, Liberty Street, Plant Riverside District, Robert E. Robinson, State Street and Whitaker Street. The city also operates more than 3,000 metered spaces and five surface lots, and you pay by phone through the ParkSavannah app or at parksav.net.

Visitors can buy a Visitor Day Pass. As of 2026 the page lists $15 for 24 hours or $24 for 48 hours. It covers meters with a limit of an hour or more and overtime in limited-time zones, but it is not valid in street-sweeping zones. Passes are sold on weekdays at Mobility & Parking Services, 100 East Bryan Street, and need a license plate number and state identification.

Three warnings from that page matter most. Check the posted signs for street sweeping, because a car left in a sweeping zone is cited. Garages may close early during major events such as St. Patrick's Day, and film, music and holiday festivals can also affect parking. And many downtown streets are one-way. The page's own conclusion is that walking is often the easiest option once you are parked.

The River Street area has its own lots, Barnard Ramp and Abercorn Ramp, for riverfront visits.

The dot shuttle, the ferry and when to skip the car

The Visit Savannah getting-around page describes the dot, a free shuttle with 20 stops that connects downtown and Forsyth Park with parking garages, visitor centers and ferry landings. It runs every 15 to 20 minutes, is accessible, and runs Monday to Friday from 7:30 am to 7 pm and from 10 am to 6:30 pm on weekends and holidays, with no service on Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Year's Day.

The Savannah Belles ferry runs daily from 7 am to 10 pm, with service to Waving Girl Landing ending at 6 pm, and stops at the City Hall, Waving Girl and Trade Center landings. Weather and river traffic can interrupt it. The same page lists the airport express bus from the airport to the intermodal transit center, with stops at designated downtown hotels, and GEST Savannah, an electric vehicle service within the Historic Landmark District with a per-ride charge. All of these are good, low-cost ways to move around once you are in the district.

We would not pretend a car beats them for a two-block hop. A chauffeur earns the booking on the airport run, the night return from a restaurant, the trip to Bonaventure Cemetery, and any day with luggage or mixed mobility.

How a chauffeur reads a one-way grid

Savannah's squares act like small roundabouts, and traffic moves around each one in a set direction. The result is that the shortest walking route and the shortest driving route to a door are often different. A driver who knows the grid will approach a hotel from the side that allows a clean stop, rather than the side the map app prefers. Give us the exact hotel name or address at booking, and tell us if you are meeting someone at a particular house or restaurant so the pickup is set to a street that allows a legal stop.

Fall brings ghost tours and seasonal events, which the tourism site lists, and they bring evening pedestrian traffic on the squares. We keep pickups for those evenings a block or two from the busiest corners and message you the exact spot.

The squares and Forsyth Park on foot

The tourism site describes a walking route from River Street to Forsyth Park, and the Victorian District around the park as a 50-block neighborhood that was the city's first suburb. A reasonable morning loop starts at the river, climbs through the squares on Bull Street and ends at the park, with a coffee stop in the middle. The distance is about 2 km (1.2 miles) and takes a leisurely hour or two.

Our practice is to drop guests at the northern end and collect them at the southern end, so nobody walks back. Squares are public parks, so keep to paths and respect any private houses on the edges.

Bonaventure Cemetery: the stop that needs a car

Bonaventure Cemetery lies east of downtown at 330 Bonaventure Road. The city's page says it is open to the public daily from 8 am to 5 pm and that the Department of Cemeteries has its office in the administrative building at the entrance.

The city's page does not set out visitor rules, so use the nonprofit Bonaventure Historical Society's guidance as a general reference, and ask the cemetery office for the authoritative text. The society asks visitors to stay on pathways, to treat plots as private property, to avoid noise and running, to leave monuments untouched, to park in designated areas and to assume a funeral is under way when a hearse and cars are present. Professional filming needs registration.

A chauffeur makes sense here because the cemetery is some distance from the squares and closes mid-afternoon. We suggest arriving in the morning, allowing an hour or more on foot and returning to the district for lunch.

Tybee Island and the coast

Tybee Island is the usual beach day from Savannah, around 27 km (17 miles) away. Parking on the island is managed separately, and the tourism site points visitors to the Park TYB app and the visittybee.com parking page. Summer weekends bring queues on the road, so leave before mid-morning and return before the evening rush. Our drivers drop at the beach access point you choose and wait nearby, so you are not hunting for a space on the island or paying by app for hours you do not use. Tell us if you plan to stay for sunset, because the return drive is slower on a fine evening.

When to go

Savannah is most comfortable in spring and autumn. Summers are hot and humid, and a car with air conditioning between short walks is a practical comfort. The tourism calendar for fall 2026 lists an Allstate SEC women's volleyball tournament at Enmarket Arena on November 20 to 24, and a film festival in the fall without published dates in the material we read, so check dates before you plan. Event weekends fill garages quickly.

Mornings are quiet. Garage closures during big events, covered above, make Friday and Saturday evenings the hardest to plan by car.

In the warm months, heat shapes the day more than the schedule does. The best walking in the squares is early, under the oaks with a low sun, and again in late afternoon once the heat breaks. The hours in between suit the car: a pickup from the park edge, a cool ride to lunch and a rest at the hotel before the evening. A light hat and water matter more than an umbrella, and the driver can keep a bottle chilled in the vehicle on request.

From airport to Bonaventure: a worked day

1. Airport pickup at Savannah/Hilton Head International, about 18 km (11 miles) from the district, with flight tracking.
2. Hotel drop-off and luggage handling.
3. A morning on foot from River Street through the squares to Forsyth Park.
4. Lunch in the Victorian District, with the car called to the park edge.
5. Bonaventure Cemetery in the early afternoon, comfortably before the 5 pm closing time. Allow the driver a few minutes at the entrance to confirm where to wait.
6. Dinner back in the district, with a pickup after dinner.

If you are linking this with a longer coastal trip, our St. Augustine guide covers the Florida end, and travelers heading inland toward Atlanta can look at the Georgia Aquarium. The private tours with driver page explains how a day booking works, and the North America directory lists other cities.

Book a driver for the day

Step-free and mobility notes

The city's tourism site says accessible spaces in the Historic Landmark District still require payment, and refers questions to the city's mobility office. The dot shuttle is accessible. Sidewalks vary with age and tree roots, and some are uneven. For guests with mobility needs we suggest a Luxury SUV or a First Class Sedan, subject to availability, and a drop-off at the exact door rather than the corner.

Which way in: a side-by-side view

The tourism bureau's Visit Savannah site lists the current events calendar, and the airport's official site shows terminal and ground transportation pages.

A note on manners

Savannah's squares are shared by residents, dog walkers and tour groups. Keep to paths, do not climb monuments, and be quiet near houses of worship and burial grounds. Photographs of guests are not taken by our chauffeurs, and trips are never posted online; alias bookings are available.