A city built around live oaks, ghost stories, and 22 downtown squares - plus the writers, cooks and storytellers who call it home.
We're just going to say it: Savannah is the kind of city that makes you rethink your whole life plan. You arrive for a long weekend and somewhere around square number four — with the Spanish moss doing its thing overhead and the smell of something buttery drifting out of a doorway — you catch yourself quietly googling real estate.
You wouldn't be the first. One of our longtime friends, a born-and-bred New Yorker, fell for Savannah hard enough to move here permanently. Her take on her adopted hometown? All the cultural richness of a big city, nestled inside the natural beauty and easy warmth of the Deep South. Colorful, quirky, with pockets of old-world gentility you didn't know you were craving until you stumbled into one.
Savannah calls itself the Hostess City, and it earns that title fast. Locals wave from porches. Cobblestone streets wind past pastel-colored homes and spill into one of 22 leafy public squares — this city feels like it was designed by someone who genuinely wanted you to slow down. Jazz drifts out of open doorways. A Gullah lilt colors the conversations around you. Shrimp and grits show up on menus the way pancakes show up at a diner.
This is an old city, but there is nothing stuffy about its soul — and you need to feel that for yourself to believe it.
NextTribe Members receive $100 off this and any other trip.
We're going in early March, when Savannah hits its sweet spot — warm enough to wander, cool enough to linger, and the azaleas are just getting started. Trust us on the timing.
Coming from Charleston? Even better. Our Charleston Girlfriend Getaway ends the day this one begins — back-to-back Southern magic with transportation between the cities included. Bundle them and save $250. All the details here.
~ Small groups—women 45+ ~ Solo travelers welcome
~ Led by a woman our age ~ Aging boldly since 2017
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As seen in Conde Nast Traveler, Forbes, MSNBC, Parade Magazine and Kiplingers.
I’m coming by myself — is that normal here? Extremely. Solo travelers make up a huge share of every NextTribe group, and Savannah, with its front-porch friendliness, might be the easiest place in the South to do it.
How fast will I actually feel like part of the group? Somewhere between the trolley tour and that first rooftop drink on Day 1. Savannah moves at a pace that makes it hard to stay a stranger for long.
Do I have to be “on” the whole trip? No. Afternoons on Days 2 and 3 are wide open — wander a square, find a bookstore, take a nap. Nobody’s tracking your whereabouts.
What if I don’t want to share a room? Totally your call. We can pair you with another solo traveler to split a room, or book you a single for a supplement.
1. Get in the Southern Gothic Mood We’ll dig into Savannah’s storied past — its ghosts, its legends — and gather for spellbinding storytelling at the hauntingly beautiful Bonaventure Cemetery, made famous on the cover of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.
2. Put Some South in Your Mouth We’re eating our way through Savannah’s best tables, in a city where Southern cooking and coastal cuisine share the same plate.
3. Escape to Wild Beauty Trade the historic district for a morning in the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge — tidal marshes, alligators, and a fuller sense of the wild land this whole region was built on.
4. Connect with Creative Spirits An exclusive authors’ lunch in a gorgeous downtown home puts you across the table from women writers who’ve found their muse here. Savannah has been pulling in artists for generations — spend an afternoon and you’ll understand why.
5. The Women Beside You Ask any NextTribe traveler what they remember most, and it’s rarely the specifics of the itinerary — it’s usually who they shared it with. Savannah has a way of turning strangers into your new favorite people by the second glass of sweet tea.
These are real women. Real trips. Real friendships that started exactly like this.
“It was great to meet congenial women and share a variety of activities with them. The history of Savannah was fascinating. Timing of the trip was great, with azaleas blooming.”
— Barbara D.
“I always meet wonderful people on my NextTribe trips and the trip leaders are very good; personable, fun, helpful and accommodating. Love the authors and artists we often get to meet on all the trips.”
— Karen B.
“This was my first trip to Savannah. I enjoyed learning about this southern city so enthralled with St. Patrick’s Day. I felt a good sense of the city going on the NextTribe trip. I highly recommend this trip.”
— Midge K.
Is this trip physically demanding? There’s walking on cobblestones and uneven ground, plus a bit of standing during the trolley and cemetery tours. If you can comfortably walk a couple of miles across a day with breaks, you’re set.
The Davenport House history sounds heavy. How is that handled? Directly and honestly. We don’t skip past the fact that the house was built by enslaved craftsmen, and the tour addresses the lives of everyone who lived and worked there — not just the family whose name is on it.
Will the Bonaventure Cemetery visit feel morbid? It’s atmospheric more than somber — think storytelling and striking funerary art, not a somber memorial visit. Comfortable shoes are a good idea; it’s a lot of ground to cover.
What about the alligators at the wildlife refuge? You’ll see them from a safe distance during our driving and walking tour — no getting up close and personal required.
Can I really get $250 off if I do both trips? Yes — book the Charleston trip, which runs directly before this one, and we’ll apply the $250 combined-trip discount.
Do you really offer interest-free payment plans? We do. Ask us and we’ll walk you through the options so you can spread out the cost.
What if I need to cancel? You’ll get a full refund up to 60 days before the trip, minus your deposit, which rolls over toward a future NextTribe trip. We recommend travel protection insurance for anything closer to departure — we’re happy to point you to good options.
Do I need a car? No. Savannah’s historic district is entirely walkable, and we’ve got you covered for everything on the group itinerary, including the drive out to the wildlife refuge.
Need to know more? Click here to schedule a discovery phone call with Jeannie Edmunds, our NextTribe COO.
Ellesor is a South Carolina native with a serious appetite for adventure — she’s biked across Bali, worked in Australia, hiked the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu with a NextTribe group, and marked her 60th birthday by jumping out of a plane. When she’s not leading trips, she’s chasing her own — ski weeks out west, tropical escapes to the Florida Keys — usually with her husband and daughter in tow. Her love for exploration extends right back to her own coastline, which makes her exactly the person you want introducing you to Savannah.
Those coming from the Charleston trip will meet up with new arrivals who are here just for the Savannah adventure.
We’ll start with a trolley tour to get our bearings in what’s known as America’s First Planned City. General James Oglethorpe laid out Savannah in 1733 around a grid of public squares — a plan that still gives the city a sense of order beneath all that moody, gorgeous oak-and-moss canopy. Our guide fills us in on 19th-century life, the architecture, the drama, and yes, the ghost stories that never seem to go away here.
As the sun drops, we’ll head up to one of Savannah’s rooftop bars for a drink with a view over the historic district.
Dinner tonight is at the classic Olde Pink House, the city’s only 18th century mansion and, according to legend, the site of famous guests such as Sherman’s Generals.
Included: Dinner
We start at the historic Davenport House, built in 1820 by master builder Isaiah Davenport with the skilled labor of Ned and Davey, two enslaved craftsmen. We’ll walk through the house’s architecture, archaeology, and ongoing preservation, and learn about everyone who lived and worked there — free and enslaved alike. From there, we’ll try our hand at a traditional Southern craft — indigo dyeing, broom making, or something in that vein — a hands-on way into the culture behind the history.
After a quick lunch, we head to Bonaventure Cemetery, where a master storyteller spins tales of the notable residents, the striking funerary art, and the legends that turned this “Garden of Good and Evil” into a worldwide fascination.
Afternoon is free.
Dinner is at The Grey — a beautifully restored 1938 Art Deco Greyhound bus terminal turned into one of Savannah’s top restaurants.
Included: Breakfast, dinner
This morning we head out to the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge for a driving and walking tour through tidal, freshwater marshland where human history and natural history overlap. Keep your eyes open — alligators are a real possibility. (Though our guide will keep us perfectly safe.)
For lunch, we’re guests in the home of one of Savannah’s accomplished authors, where a handful of local writers will talk about what makes this city such fertile ground for creative work.
The rest of the afternoon is yours.
Our farewell dinner is at Chive Seafood House.
Included: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Spend your free morning revisiting a favorite shop or square, then join us for a casual goodbye lunch at a spot that lives up to its own tagline: where the historic district meets coastal cuisine.
Included: Breakfast, Lunch
Arrival: Savannah/Hilton Head Intl. Airport (SAV)
Arrive by 1:30 PM so you can enjoy the full itinerary.
Unless you are combining this trip with our Charleston trip immediately before this. In that case arrival airport is CHS.
Airport transfers are not included but we can advise you. Once you get to the hotel you won't need a vehicle.
Departure: Monday, March 15th
Savannah/Hilton Head Intl. Airport (SAV)
Depart after 2:00 PM so you can enjoy the full itinerary.
Cancellation: The last day to cancel this trip and receive a refund is Janurary 12th, 2027. Your deposit is non-refundable but can be applied to another NextTribe trip booked within one year.
Insurance: NextTribe recommends travel insurance for our dometic trips. We strongly encourage you to add trip protection as well, just in case! Scroll down for more details about insurance.
Legal Stuff: For complete terms of service, see below
Inclusions:
3 Nights Lodging
3 Dinners
2 Lunches
3 Breakfasts
All Ground Transportation
All Activities Noted on the Itinerary
A specially curated Enrichment Guide to help you prepare for the trip.
A NextTribe host with you the whole way to welcome you into the fold.
Transportation from Charleston, if you are combining the Charleston and Savannah trips.
Exclusions:
Airfare
Airport Transfers
Alcoholic Beverages
Personal expenses such as laundry etc.
Travel insurance
Tips to drivers, maids and hotel staff - NextTribe covers most other tips and we will provide more details closer to the trip.
Final note
We reserve the right to change the itinerary due to weather or other unforeseen conditions.
Travel insurance is highly recommended for our domestic trips. It can be a helpful and valuable resource to pack! It can protect the investment of your trip and you while traveling.
We partner with Wanderwell, a Certified B Corporation travel insurance provider that makes it as simple as possible by not overwhelming you with options.
They offer just a few modern, benefit-packed trip protection plans that can cover the most common travel perils related to trip cancellation, trip interruption, trip delay, travel Medical Expenses, baggage & personal effects, Emergency Medical Evacuation, and more.
Click Here to create quotes and purchase a plan through Wanderwell from our partner page.
If you prefer to talk to someone, please email support@gowanderwell.com. They will set up a phone call with you and can answer your questions.
For most of history, women past child-bearing years were basically put out to pasture. This was happening even in our mothers’ time. We call bullshit on that. We believe we are at a peak in so many ways and are devoted to helping women our age live the richest, most kick-ass lives possible.
We do that by informing, promoting and connecting women–through our magazine, through our member community and through the transformative experiences of travel.
So many travel choices…so little time. You could spend days and days trying to put together just the right combination of destination, activities, and price.
Or you could stop shopping and start traveling with us for something that feels like the greatest girlfriend trip ever–even if you come solo. We specialize in experiences that deeply connect you to other women–travelers and locals–and create life-lasting memories. Experiences you can’t get on your own. And do it all with flexible payment options.
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