Getting Around Savannah Like a Local
Savannah is known for being a walkable city, and while the inner city is very friendly for pedestrians in the Downtown area, the Greater Savannah Area is expansive and requires other forms of transportation. We’ve got a few tips to help newbies navigate the city.
Walking
If you’re just getting settled in a new city, the best way to get to know your way around is to walk around. Savannah has incredible streets, framed perfectly with shade from heavy oak trees dripping with moss. The Downtown area is best suited for walking, especially in public spaces like Forsyth Park and the beautiful squares. As we start to get outside the main areas of Savannah, the roads may get a little busier. We don’t let that stop us from walking around in the smaller neighborhoods and subdivisions or, better yet the nearby parks and nature trails.
Worth checking out: Hit the big three Savannah parks (Forsyth, Daffin, and Lake Mayer)
Biking
Don’t be afraid to take control of the road in Savannah when on two wheels. The city has adapted to its growing bike community over the years, establishing bike lanes on pretty much every street. The best part about biking around Savannah is all of the fun short cuts you can discover on your own, whether that be cutting through alleys or taking it off-road at one of the city’s many bike-friendly parks. It’s not advised that we ride our way through busy traffic if we’re trying to get to the Southside, but the city has come up with a solution. Check out the Truman Linear Park Trail, a six-mile trail suitable for bikers and walkers alike, stretching from Daffin Park to Lake Mayer.
Driving
Driving around our city never takes more than 20 minutes from top to bottom. The Truman Linear Parkway stretches all the way from Downtown Savannah to Southside Savannah and allows us locals to get anywhere in a jiff. The parkway runs all the way down Savannah with onramps and offramps nearby or within all the major neighborhoods of Savannah.
Public Transit
Savannah’s transit mainstay has always been CAT buses. CAT (Chatham Area Transit) has over 60 buses and 17 different routes we take to get off at one of their 1,300 stops throughout the city. If you’re looking for a free way to get around the downtown area, check out the DOT Downtown Free Trolley. It’s super quick and gives a brief tour of the sights in between stops.
This last one serves as both transportation and a date night opportunity. Use the Belle’s Ferry to get from River Street to the Westin across the river. Whether we’re in it for a romantic night or a breezy and calm commute, it sure feels nice to travel by boat with that cool breeze coming off the water.