Preface: My perspective is from someone in their 20s with a g/f, no kids, and on a bit of a budget. Also we just showed up and were like, sure why the hell not. We were there for the town and not much else.
If you love history, Savannah has shitpots of it laying around everywhere.
There is a trolley (aka, buses dressed like trollies) that runs all over the damn place. Most of the "old houses" you'd like to see are actually there in town and on the trolley line. We got a trolley ticket and then tickets to see like, 2 or 3 houses. It was pretty cool. Also we did the "ghost tour" which was a touch campy but actually super fun. Family friendly. You ride around in a decorated trolley and a crazy old woman tells you ghost stories. Have a few brews before you go for added effect. Then go to a rando place and they show you all the creepy old shit they dredged up from the river.
The old houses are awesome as they tell all about the history and the first settlements. They love all that 1600s and 1700s crap. And they do it well.
https://www.trolleytours.com/savannah
For the trolley tours, the concierge at the hotel cut us a deal for the trolley, 2-3 houses, and the ghost tour.
Also the trolley tour "main terminal" (or whatever) is a museum I can't remember the name of. Its pretty legit. We did it on our way out of the city and I regret that as we were rushed to get up the road. Its pretty awesome.
The city is broken up by "parks" and "squares". If you love The Photography, they got it for you.
Fuck Paula Dean's restaurant. Its always elbow to ass and you can waste all day waiting in line. Literally all the restaurants there are good. If you see a restaurant with a line, keep walking.
Try to get a hotel as close to East River St as possible. That is where all the good shit is. Basically you park your car and walk/trolley everywhere. Also that trolley is actually decent overall transportation around the city. E River st is the main drag there with all the everything. Its great. Can get busy but we never had trouble getting a table or getting fucked with.
We did stay once at the Mariott Savannah Riverfront. Actually kinda far away from everything but a great hotel. Cool to sit there and watch the big ships come on. There is a "water taxi" but its kinda useless and janky AF.
I think the further away you go from E River st, the less safe it gets but everything in the historic district is pretty safe. We drunk walked around all through there, no problem. We did see a decent police presence on E river st. They know where their paycheck comes from. LOL
Side quest: Fort Pulaski outside the city. Cool historical fort, if you like historical forts
Beaches: Nearest is Tybee Island and they can go fuck themselves. They know they are the closest beach and they know they can fuck you. Parking sucks balls and they have full time dedicated parking nazis to get you. Paid parking lasts like, 90 minutes. If you do want to go to the beach there, download whatever parking app they have beforehand and get setup. And just plan on remote paying. Also the food sucks and is overpriced.
SCAD is nearby and you'd see some students wasting dad's money. But they were never a problem. Your main problem are going to be shitheads from Atlanta coming down to let loose. Savannah is a bit of a party town so getting about 8pm at night is when the shit show starts. Either retire or saddle up. We did both and had fun at the bars and whatnot.
