As a city famous for being haunted, Savannah has more than its share of ghost tours. I heard my favorite spooky story from our guide at the Davenport House (one of the mansion museums we toured) who related — with obvious and amusing reluctance — the nonterrifying legend of a ghost cat that people have reported feeling brush past their legs.

Tempted though I was to seek out additional reports of feline spirits, instead, I booked us three specter-free tours of Savannah and its vicinity. These contrasting itineraries each deepened our understanding of the city, its history and its culture. Most important, they were great fun. Our Travel Office can help make arrangements for any of the excursions below.

Architectural Savannah

“Let’s come over here and geek out about bricks for a minute,” guide Jonathan Stalcup encouraged us. A graduate of SCAD, the Savannah College of Art and Design, Stalcup had an infectious enthusiasm for the architecture of the city. In addition to learning how to distinguish a building with load-bearing brick walls from one with brick facing, we discussed centuries of design styles and a broad swath of Savannah history, all within the space of a few blocks. Stalcup kept our group of 14 engaged and handled nonstop comments and questions from a blowhard — there seems to be one in every group — with grace and charm. A manager at the Hamilton-Turner Inn described this 90-minute walk as “the best architectural tour in Savannah,” and I believe it.