Savannah - ideas for our visit

My wife and I will be visiting relatives in Vero Beach FL in August this year and I would like to visit another area of the USA. Savannah has always intrigued me and I would like to know if it%26#39;s a good idea to drive there, how long should I allow and is there anywhere interesting to stay en route.

I really want to sample the %26#39;real%26#39; USA so nothing too touristy would be ideal.

Any other areas to be considered that are driveable from our base in Florida? We are staying for three weeks so could spend a week on this excursion.

Savannah - ideas for our visit

You could easily visit Savannah from Vero Beach (where my parents live), I think it would be around a 3-4 hr drive but hopefully others here will know for sure. All of the USA is pretty ';real'; and every place is known for some level of tourism so its a matter of personal ';taste and expectations. I would drive up along Rt 95 from Vero then get off onto secondary roads as soon as you can and head out over the tidal creeks to small towns that border the Atlantic Ocean. We plan to visit Shellman Bluff in a couple of weeks on our way from the airport in Jacksonville, Fla to our second home base in Sav. There are a bunch of small, pretty towns along the coastline as long as you%26#39;re willing to get off the beaten path. Decide if you want coastline or inland. I don%26#39;t know much about inland destinations but others may help you here. You could look at maps and see how far it is to the Everglades from Vero which is fantastic and not touristy at all since its a bit remote. Same for some of the large swamps between Florida and Georgia. There are tons of accomodations pretty much everywhere but plan ahead since August is such a big vacation month for the USA and the roads will be full of travelers.

Savannah - ideas for our visit

You can have the best of both worlds. Come up on I-95 to HWY 204 at the Savannah area. Drive 204 all the way to the Savannah River. This will take you through the ';real'; Savannah and later, towards the end of the route, the historic area.

204 becomes Abercorn Street, so when it does, stay on Abercorn until you go all the way. The area where it changes is known as Midtown and it has numerous hotels/motels and restaurants if you don%26#39;t want to stay in the historic district.

Thanks very much for that Karrieb. Seems like Savannah is closer than I thought. Would you recommend anywhere further north in the Carolinas say? We could spend a few days around the area. I reckon on staying in Savannah for two nights as well probably within the old part of town and visiting the ';John Berendt'; areas as I was fascinated by his book ';Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil';

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