Where to Stay in Savannah: Historic District Squares vs River Street, Victorian District & Tybee

Where you stay in Savannah shapes the atmosphere of your evenings: the northern waterfront along River Street and Bay Street is energetic, social and modern, whereas walking just four blocks south into the middle of the Historic Squares (between Oglethorpe Avenue and Forsyth Park) places you inside a quiet, gas-lamp-lit 19th-century residential sanctuary.

1. The Historic District Squares (Between Liberty St & Forsyth Park)

If your dream of Savannah is waking up to birdsong under 200-year-old live oaks, sipping afternoon wine and hors d'oeuvres in an 1850s parlour, and stepping out your front door onto a peaceful square, stay in the Central or Southern Historic District:

• Top Mansion Inns & Boutique Hotels: consider five-star Perry Lane Hotel (near Lafayette and Chippewa Squares, featuring a rooftop pool and Peregrin rooftop bar), Hamilton-Turner Inn (an opulent 1873 Second-Empire mansion right on Lafayette Square), The Gastonian, Eliza Thompson House (on brick-paved Jones Street), Bellwether House, or historic Mansion on Forsyth Park overlooking the park.

2. River Street, Plant Riverside & Bay Street (Best for River Views & Nightlife)

If you prefer full-service modern hotels with lifts, riverfront balconies, fitness centres and instant access to the waterfront bars and City Market, stay along the Riverfront or Bay Street:

• On River Street itself: anchor yourself at the JW Marriott Savannah Plant Riverside District, boutique River Street Inn (housed inside an 1817 five-storey brick cotton warehouse with exposed beams and iron Factors Walk bridges), The Bohemian Hotel Savannah Riverfront, or Thompson Savannah and The Alida Hotel.
• On Bay Street & City Market: look at The DeSoto Savannah (on Madison Square), Andaz Savannah (right on Ellis Square), Hotel Indigo or historic Marshall House (1851) on Broughton Street.

3. The Victorian District (South of Forsyth Park) & Tybee Island

Travelling with a car and looking for easier street parking and calmer nightly rates while still walking to Forsyth Park in three minutes? Book a gingerbread bed-and-breakfast in the Victorian District immediately south of Park Avenue (such as The Forsyth Park Inn or Catherine Ward House Inn), or split your trip with two nights by the ocean at Tybee Island.