River Street Savannah

A row of 19th-century cotton warehouses along the Savannah River, now shops, restaurants and bars, plus the free Belles Ferry landings, the riverboat dock at 9 East River Street, a visitor center with restrooms at 1 West River Street, the Plant Riverside District in a converted 1912 power plant at the west end, and Morrell Park with the Waving Girl statue at the east end. Container ships pass close enough to read the names.

Walking it is free, and so is the Savannah Belles Ferry across the river, which runs every ten minutes from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. The riverboat cruises, the restaurants and the parking cost money.

Florence Martus, the sister of the lighthouse keeper on Elba Island, who waved a handkerchief by day and a lantern by night to every ship entering or leaving the port from 1887 to 1931. The bronze of her and her collie in Morrell Park is by Felix de Weldon, the sculptor of the Iwo Jima Memorial, was donated by the Altrusa Club, and is, in the city's words, the first monument to a Georgia woman in any city park.

By the historic stone steps and cobbled ramps from Bay Street, or by two public elevators: one at Bull and Bay streets by City Hall and one near the Alida Hotel in Plant Riverside at the west end. Descend once, walk the waterfront in one direction, and ride the other elevator back up.

In a city garage above the bluff, near the end of Bay Street where you plan to finish. The Bryan Street garage at 100 East Bryan Street is two blocks from the riverboat dock, which is why the riverboat operator recommends it. Every garage charges $25 on event days. River Street is one way and driving along it is not a way to find a space; the parking guide has the rates, free hours and fines.

It is free. Chatham Area Transit runs it every ten minutes from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week, except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day, between the City Hall landing on River Street, the Waving Girl landing in Morrell Park and the convention center landing on Hutchinson Island. The boats take bikes, luggage and dogs on a leash or in a carrier. The City Hall landing was closed for repairs at this check, so board at the Waving Girl landing until CAT reopens it.

From the dock at 9 East River Street, behind City Hall, for the sightseeing, sunset and meal cruises alike. The cruises generally run in rain and are cancelled only when the captain judges conditions severe, there is no dress code, and the two boats differ in restroom and elevator access for wheelchair users, so confirm the vessel, the main-deck route and the restroom access before booking.

Yes, and watching them costs nothing. The Port of Savannah's Garden City Terminal upriver covers 1,345 acres, and 5.67 million container units crossed the port's docks in the fiscal year to June 2026; every one of those ships passes the street. The US 17 bridge to Hutchinson Island, built in 1991, gives 185 feet of clearance, and as of May 2021 the largest ship to pass under it carried about 16,000 twenty-foot containers.

The bluff-side offices of the cotton factors, the brokers who set the price of cotton and other exports when Savannah was, by the mid-1800s, the leading cotton exporter in the world. It sits between Bay Street and River Street, a set of iron and concrete walkways connecting the warehouse buildings to the bluff. The first commercial house below the bluff opened in 1744, wharf lots were laid out from 1798, and stone construction was required from 1846.

The city's former power plant at 400 West River Street, at the west end of the street, turned into a hotel, restaurant and shopping district. The plant opened in 1912 and shut down in 2005; the $270 million redevelopment broke ground in December 2016 and opened across four and a half acres in summer 2020. The west public elevator is here, near the Alida Hotel, and the district has a public garage of nearly 500 spaces.

On Independence Day at 9:30 p.m., free, over the river. Savannah's Waterfront calls July 4 its largest annual event and lists viewing from Rousakis Riverfront Plaza, Plant Riverside District, Eastern Wharf and the Savannah Convention Center across the water. The association's calendar carries the rest of the year's events.

At the River Street Visitor Information Center, 1 West River Street, at the foot of the Bull Street ramp behind City Hall and beside the Hyatt Regency. It posts hours of 10 to 6 daily, weather permitting. It is the one public restroom stop listed on the street, so use it when you arrive.