Savannah to Charleston: 3-Day Lowcountry Coastal Drive

Savannah's 22 historic squares are the organizing principle of one of the most intact pre-Civil War urban grids in the United States. Each square is a small park surrounded by 19th-century townhouses and churches — the effect is a city that functions as a continuous outdoor museum. Walk rather than drive: the squares are 300 feet apart and a car is actively unhelpful.

• Forsyth Park — the 30-acre park at the south end of the historic district; the cast-iron fountain (1858) is the most photographed subject in Savannah; the park is surrounded by antebellum mansions on all four sides; the Saturday farmers market (8am–noon) is excellent
• Chippewa, Monterey, and Madison Squares — these three squares in the residential grid away from the waterfront have fewer tourists and the best examples of Federal and Greek Revival residential architecture; the Mercer Williams House on Monterey Square is the setting for Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
• Bonaventure Cemetery — a 160-acre Victorian cemetery 3 miles from downtown; the double allées of live oaks draped with Spanish moss over marble monuments are extraordinary; the cemetery is free and open daily; bring a map — the grid is complex and getting pleasantly lost is part of the experience
• Mrs. Wilkes Dining Room — communal Southern dining table, one seating at 11am; arrive 30 minutes early and join the queue; fried chicken, collard greens, macaroni and cheese, biscuits; cash only; the experience is worth the wait and has been operating since 1943
• Leopold's Ice Cream — a Savannah institution since 1919; the current location on Broughton Street has a 1950s soda fountain aesthetic; the seasonal flavors change weekly; lines move fast despite always being long

Take US-17 north out of Savannah rather than I-95 — it runs directly through the Lowcountry coastal landscape the interstate bypasses entirely. The road crosses tidal creeks and salt marsh for most of the drive, with live oak canopy sections near Hardeeville and through the Jasper County backroads. Hunting Island State Park is the best public beach stop between Savannah and Charleston. Beaufort is the second-oldest city in South Carolina and one of the most architecturally coherent small cities in the South.

• US-17 through the Lowcountry — the 65-mile route passes through Hardeeville, SC and across a series of tidal creeks with open marsh views; the live oak canopy sections near the state line are the most scenic; the road is slow and you want it to be
• Hunting Island State Park — the most accessible undeveloped barrier island beach on the South Carolina coast; the 1,650-acre park has 4 miles of beach, a salt marsh, and the 136-foot Hunting Island Lighthouse (open to climb); the beach erodes and accretes faster than almost any on the East Coast, creating a boneyard landscape of fallen trees at the waterline
• Beaufort waterfront promenade (Bay Street) — the antebellum waterfront district is intact because Beaufort was occupied by Union forces early in the Civil War and was never burned; the Bay Street promenade overlooks the Beaufort River; the Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park has a small marina and riverside views
• Pat Conroy's Beaufort — the novelist lived in Beaufort for most of his life and set The Great Santini, The Lords of Discipline, and The Prince of Tides in this landscape; the Pat Conroy Literary Center on Port Republic Street is a small museum worth 30 minutes

The direct route from Beaufort to Charleston on US-21 and I-26 takes 90 minutes. The Sea Island routing via Edisto Island adds an hour and delivers the most undeveloped landscape on the entire drive. Edisto Island is one of the last Sea Islands without significant resort development — a 25-mile detour from the highway through salt marsh and live oak to the boneyard beach at Botany Bay Plantation Heritage Preserve.

• Botany Bay Plantation Heritage Preserve, Edisto Island — a free South Carolina DNR property with a 2-mile boneyard beach where dead trees stand in the surf as the shoreline erodes; the imagery is dramatic and genuinely unlike most East Coast beaches; the preserve is open Wednesday–Sunday, dawn to dusk; 4WD is not required but the sandy access road requires slow speeds
• Edisto Island downtown — one restaurant (the Old Post Office Restaurant, closed Monday–Tuesday), one grocery, and a handful of houses; this is the correct level of development for an island that has been owned by the same small group of families for generations
• Charleston Rainbow Row — East Bay Street between Tradd and Elliott has 13 pastel-painted Georgian row houses (1700s); the most photographed streetscape in Charleston and the most recognizable image of the city; best photographed from across the street early morning before the cruise ship crowds arrive
• The Battery — the seawall promenade at the southern tip of the Charleston peninsula; antebellum mansions directly face the water on Murray Boulevard; Fort Sumter is visible across the harbor; White Point Garden has a small Civil War artillery display
• King Street — Charleston's main shopping and dining corridor; North King (Upper King) has the better independent restaurants; South King has the boutique shopping; Husk restaurant on Queen Street (half a block off King) is the appropriate final dinner if budget allows