Bluffton, SC to Savannah, GA

From Old Town Bluffton it is about 24 miles to downtown Savannah, and about 25 to Forsyth Park at the south end of the historic district. A driving estimate puts the trip at 35 to 40 minutes without heavy traffic. Add time on a Friday afternoon and at summer-weekend rush hours. Savannah to Bluffton, SC is the same drive in reverse, so the same estimate holds for the trip home.

The direct route leaves Bluffton on SC 170 and heads west, joins US 17 and runs into Savannah on the surface roads. It is the shortest way, with traffic lights and a few slow stretches through the towns on the way. The other way is to take SC 46 west to I-95, south across the state line, then follow the signs into Savannah: the interstate is the choice if you would rather avoid traffic lights. Hardeeville is the last South Carolina town before the Georgia line, so Hardeeville, SC to Savannah, GA is the last stretch of either drive.

Parking in downtown Savannah is paid: metered curb spaces and public garages, with the garages the easier choice when you plan to spend the day walking the squares. Park once and walk; the historic district is flat and compact, and the squares are a block or two apart. Read the posted hours and rates at whichever space you choose.

The reason to go is the squares. General Oglethorpe laid out Savannah in 1733 around a grid of small public squares, 24 at the plan’s peak, and 22 of the historic squares in Savannah, GA survive today. Each is a shaded garden of live oaks and benches with a monument at the center, and Johnson Square, the first, is on Bull Street. Walk Bull Street from square to square, then finish at Forsyth Park. It makes a full day from Bluffton, and it makes a good change from a day on the May River.

Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport, SAV, is about 28 miles from Old Town Bluffton, a drive of roughly 45 minutes in light traffic, and the airport most visitors to Bluffton and Hilton Head use. The closer Hilton Head Island Airport is on the island itself. For a first look at the town you are driving to, read our Bluffton guide, or the Bluffton facts page for the distances.