Your guide to Savannah / Things to do in Savannah

Savannah is a charming coastal city in Georgia known for its antebellum architecture and manicured parks. When you visit this city, you'll enjoy historic sites, fascinating museums and plenty of delicious local cuisine. Discover the best attractions you should plan to check out during your next trip to Savannah.

East and West Jones Street

Bull Street marks the dividing line between East and West Jones Street. While you won't find many actual attractions on these streets, you will discover what many consider the prettiest streets in the city. Stroll up and down the sidewalks to view the mid-19th-century architecture and Greek Revival houses under the shade of large trees dripping with Spanish moss.

Since East and West Jones Street are situated near the historic district in Savannah, it's easy to walk to them from a variety of locations. If you're coming here just to enjoy a stroll, you can usually find metered parking directly on the street. However, if you can't find parking here, you can also look for free parking on Abercorn Street.

10 East Oglethorpe Ave

Juliette Gordon Low was born in Savannah and is most famous for founding the Girl Scouts of the USA. To commemorate this achievement, the city created the Juliette Gordon Low Historic District. It consists of three buildings: the Wayne-Gordon House, the Andrew Low House and the first Girl Scouts headquarters. The Wayne-Gordon House is the birthplace of Juliette Gordon Low. The Andrew Low House was her adult home, where she did most of her planning for the Girl Scouts, and the first Girl Scouts headquarters was situated in the carriage house at this property.

During your tour of the historic buildings, you'll learn more about Juliette Gordon Low and her inspiration for the Girl Scouts. You'll also have a chance to see original and period furnishings and unique architectural features of the houses.

100 Bull Street #200

Savannah has a reputation for being the most haunted city in the country. If you're interested in learning more about the creepy cemeteries and haunted buildings in the city, sign up for one of the ghost tours. There is a variety available, so consider going with Ghost City Tours, which offers four different options. You can take the Grave Tales Ghost Tour, which is good for all ages. During this 90-minute walking tour, you'll hear about the ghost stories and historic events that helped shape the city.

You can also choose to go on the Beyond Good and Evil Tour. This 90-minute walking tour will go to burial grounds and locations from "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil." Along the way, you'll hear true and macabre stories that are sure to give you a chill. For even more spooky fun, go for the Dead of Night Ghost Tour. This is one of the most popular late-night tours, and you'll enjoy 90 minutes of walking through the labyrinth of streets in Savannah's historic district.

Finally, for something different, consider the Ghost City Haunted Pub Crawl. This two-hour pub crawl will take you to four of the most haunted bars and pubs in the city. As you enjoy your drinks, you'll hear stories about the unique history of the buildings and the ghosts said to haunt them.

207 West York Street

If you enjoy contemporary art, you won't want to miss an opportunity to visit the Jepson Center for the Arts. The stunning white building has 7,500 square feet of gallery space to showcase both permanent and traveling exhibits. The highlight of the museum is the Kirk Varnedoe Collection, which is an impressive assemblage of work honoring the late Savannah native and curator Kirk Varnedoe.

This collection features works by several notable artists, including Roy Lichtenstein, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, Richard Avedon, Chuck Close, Jeff Koons and Frank Stella. The museum also showcases the original Bird Girl statue, which was made famous for being on the cover of the non-fiction bestseller "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil."

711 Sandtown Road

Oatland Island Wildlife Center of Savannah is a small preserve that showcases a variety of species housed in natural habitats. While you're here, tour the Predators of Georgia exhibits to view cougars, bobcats and red foxes. In Wolf Wilderness, you can see the gray wolf, gopher tortoise, Southern flying squirrel, nine-banded armadillo, broad-headed skink, Carolina anole, Mediterranean gecko and Eastern indigo snake. You can also go to the Birds of Prey exhibit to view the barn owl, Cooper's hawk, red-tailed hawk, bald eagle, Eastern screech owl, great horned owl, barred owl and red-shouldered hawk.

The wildlife center also offers special events throughout the year. Each March, you can stop by for the Spring Celebration and Sheep Shearing. You'll learn about the process of sheep shearing, watch Oatland staff shear sheep and enjoy games, hayrides, crafts and more. In May, you can take part in the Fairy and Gnome Festival. Dress up in costume, make a fairy house, mine for magic gems and take part in some enchanting games and crafts.

104 West Broughton Street

The flagship store of the Savannah Bee Company was opened by Ted Dennard on historic Broughton Street in 2009, offering honey and health and beauty items. It quickly grew in popularity, and it now has several other locations in Savannah and other parts of the country. Go to the honey tasting bar to sample the artisanal honey, everyday honey and raw honeycomb. Or check out the mead tasting bar to try a few of the honey-sweetened beverages. You can then shop for honey lotion, beeswax hand cream, beeswax lip balm and more.

13 East River Street

While River Street Sweets offers a nice selection of chocolates, bear claws, baked goods and glazed pecans, it's best known for its homemade pralines. In fact, River Street Sweets sells over $30 million a year in pralines, making it the leading supplier on the planet. At the original River Street location, you can watch candy makers as they use the 100-year-old saltwater taffy machine, stir the glazed pecans in copper kettles and dip pralines onto large slabs of marble. Try out a few free samples, and then purchase your own assorted gift box so you can enjoy all the sweet treats.

655 Louisville Road

Trains played a major role in the development of Savannah, and you can learn even more about their significance with a stop at the Georgia State Railroad Museum. The museum features a fully operational turntable and historic railcars. During your visit, you can explore the railcars, see how the handcar works and take a guided tour of the museum. While you're there, make sure you check the train ride schedule for the opportunity to head out for a ride on a train pulled by a diesel locomotive or historic steam locomotive.

212 East Broughton Street

Whether it's warm outside and you're looking for a delicious way to cool down, or you simply want to try some award-winning ice cream, you can't go wrong with a stop at Leopold's Ice Cream. Peter, George and Basil Leopold, three brothers from Greece, originally opened the ice cream parlor in 1919. Today, members of the Leopold family still own and operate the business.

The premium handmade ice cream comes in year-round flavors that include butter pecan, mint chocolate chip and peanut butter chippy. You'll also enjoy seasonal flavors available each month, such as thin mints and cream in March, habanero sugar in July and pumpkin spice in November. Even if you're not interested in ice cream, the soda fountain is a great place to grab a bite to eat. Here, you can enjoy fresh sandwiches, such as the cream cheese and olive sandwich, curried chicken salad sandwich and Leopold's club.

7601 Skidaway Road

When you reach Wormsloe State Historic Site and start down the picturesque 1.5-mile entrance, the stunning live oaks covered in Spanish moss will make you feel like you're stepping back in time. That feeling just continues as you come up to the grounds and see costumed interpreters showing what life was like during colonial times. You can also visit the museum to view artifacts unearthed around Wormsloe and check out the theater for a short film about the founding of Georgia and the historic site.

Or you can head out on the interpretive nature trail to go past the tabby ruins and through a dense maritime forest. The trail will also take you to the Colonial Life Area where you can see a replica wattle-and-daub building and watch the demonstrators exhibit the skills and tools of colonial Georgia.

No matter what type of history or activity interests you, you're sure to find it when you take some time to explore these top attractions and things to do in Savannah.