Charleston/Savanna

Charleston: get a fresh praline at the store on N Market St between Meeting and Bay Streets.

Savannah: Pie Society @ 19 Jefferson St. Get there early. They make British pastries.

If you want to see one of Charleston plantations, I would do Magnolia. It is on the same side of the peninsula as the tea plantation. (tea plantation is south of US 17 on Wadlawmaw Island; Magnolia is north of 17 on Highway 61/Ashley River Road). Be warned, the two of those will probably take a full day.

Charleston:
Don't worry about Mt. Pleasant. It's a nice area, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who is visiting Charleston for the first time and only has 1.5 days there. Spend most of your time in the historic district. Walking around the area South of Broad and looking at the homes is neat (Battery Park is also in that area). Don't get sucked into the touristy restaurants like Hyman's. There's plenty of great restaurants to choose from.

Savannah:
Similar to Mt. Pleasant, if you only have 1.5 days, I wouldn't worry about Tybee. It's pretty much your typical beach town-type area. Nothing particularly special. I'd only recommend it if you are actually planning on spending some time at the beach. There's plenty to do in 1.5 days in the city.

Eat at the Old Pink House. My favorite Savannah restaurant. I actually prefer sitting in the bar/cellar area than the actual "house." Cooler ambiance IMO.

Charleston

Do magnolia or Middleton instead of Boone Hall - don’t go to Mt Pleasant unless you’re passing through on way to Sullivan’s Island
If you’re at the tea plantation check out Firefly distillery if you like that kind of stuff
Fort Sumter is cool but it takes a while

Savannah
Grey Market has a fantastic burger. Do a drink at Grey bar and eat at the Grey Market
River St is very touristy liken it to a very lame Bourbon St

Just a few suggestions obviously there’s a lot to do since I lived there 4 years and visited Savannah a bunch

Someone recommended Vinnie Van Go-Gos (Pizza) in Savannah City Market to us and we were not disappointed. Cash only.

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Stop and walk downtown Beaufort, SC if you get a chance. Love it there.

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Good call. It's a little bit of a detour, but it's between Charleston and Savannah. If you have time, I'd check it out. Would be a good place to stop in for lunch and walk around the downtown area for an hour or two.

Halls Chop House is delicious, but pricey. One of the best steaks I've ever had.

Fleet Landing is on the water, has great seafood, and a cool atmosphere - used to be an old Navy building.

Check out the Gin Joint for a before/after dinner drink. Really neat, unique place.

Although it's easy enough to get around on foot, consider renting bikes from Holy Spokes by downloading the SoBi App. It was only $12 a day and my wife and I really enjoyed it last day we were there a few weeks ago.

Just got back from a trip that included both. Stayed 2 nights in Savannah and 4 in Charleston.

Savannah: Crystal Beer Parlor. My second trip to Savannah since May. This place is spot on every time. Rated the best burger in Savannah on trip advisor. Had the Bleu burger this trip. Had the Bowl O Soul first trip. Both were excellent. Lady with me likes cupcakes. Found a cupcake shop called Mables. Really good, and I don’t really care for cupcakes.

Charleston:

Tours: We did carriage, boat, and plantation at Boone Hall. Carriage was very enjoyable. I would assume that just depends on your guide, but we had an excellent girl and was very informative. Learned quite a bit and saw quite a bit that would take a while just walking. Well worth the ticket. Boat I would probably not do again, though it was raining when we went which made it suck a bit more. Seeing Fort Sumnter though made it worth the trip. Boone Hall tour, for me was excellent. There may be other plantation tours that are better, but from a person who has never been on a plantation tour, it was awesome. Seeing the slave homes, the oaks on the drive, the home, and learning of the history that took place where you actually were was great. I’m a weirdo for history, so anything like that I enjoy.

Food: You cannot go wrong with Hall’s. It was great. I would advise getting reservations now. I am a bit of a foodie and like to get away from tourist traps, so I’ll venture out. There’s a place in North Charleston that was the best meal we had. Nigel’s...amazing. It’s 20 minutes from downtown, but well worth it. Also ate at Fleet Landing...my opinion, it was our worst meal. I didn’t care for it. Seems more like a tourist trap. Stuffed hush puppies were overrated in my opinion. They could hit those out of the park if they would stuff them with the texture of the crab cake mixture instead of whole small shrimp and lump lobster. Then it’s just a gravy sauce poured in that’s really bland. Entree’s were not great either. If going back, Fleet Landing will get a hard pass from me. The first night we ate at Minero. It was legit. Great margaritas and awesome tacos. The 3 salsa appetizer was great as well. Table service was excellent.

Hope that helps you some. Lots of history there. 1.5 days isn’t much time to get much in, so good luck.

the ordinary in charleston

charles towne fermentory has great beers