If summer brings to mind picnics, you’re in luck. Savannah has incredible spots for picnicking, with many green spaces, including 22 carefully designed and laid-out squares in its Historic District.
Lafayette Square on Abercorn Street between Charlton and Harris streets offers plenty of shade, Insta-worthy views, and filled with that Savannah charm. Lafayette Square makes a great spot with several benches to take a load off while shopping and strolling the streets.
Greene Square is a beautiful and quiet spot, with plenty of open space and not many commercial buildings surrounding it. Located at Houston and President streets, Greene Square also has oak trees for shade.
Whitfield, Wright, Chippewa (famous for its “Forrest Gump” park bench scene), and Reynolds squares are other top picks, but you can’t go wrong picnicking in any of the city’s squares.
Savannah offers other places where you can kick your picnic game up a notch.
Forsyth Park is perhaps the most famous of Savannah’s public spaces, with its iconic fountain designed to resemble the grand fountain at the Place de la Concorde in Paris. Enjoy your lunch at a shaded spot in this 30-acre park bordered by Gaston Street and Park Avenue.
Morrell Park offers a stretch of soft grass and a gorgeous view of the Savannah River. Its “Waving Girl” statue honors Florence Martus, who is said to have welcomed ships into Savannah’s port from 1887 to 1931.
The 10-acre Savannah Botanical Gardens creates an oasis in midtown with fragrant roses, a children’s garden, camellias, and azaleas. There’s even a designated picnic area. Admission is free.
If you dig a more Gothic setting for a picnic, pack a lunch and head to Bonaventure Cemetery. Sit at one of the benches overlooking the river. It’s a lovely sight filled with history.
Book a stay in a Savannah carriage house for proximity to the Historic District’s squares and parks.
