Bonaventure and Wormsloe tour review: the only one that drives you in
My verdict: this is the tour to book if you want Wormsloe without a rental car, and it is the only bookable tour from Savannah that turns in at the gate. It runs most of a day, pairs the oak avenue and the tabby ruins with Bonaventure Cemetery, and includes the driving — which, on a hot Georgia afternoon, is a bigger part of the value than the brochure suggests. The reviews are warm about the guides by name and blunt about the bus. The one thing it cannot give you is the thing many people book it for: there is no mansion at the end of the avenue to walk through, and the house page explains why. Book it for the storytelling and the not-driving.
What the day actually is
Roughly six hours, two places, one vehicle. You are collected in Savannah, driven out to Bonaventure Cemetery on the Wilmington River, and then to Wormsloe on the Isle of Hope, about 8 miles southeast of downtown on Skidaway Road — a drive of fifteen or twenty minutes in light traffic and a good deal longer at rush hour, as the getting-there page sets out. A lunch stop features in the reviews; barb names the Driftwood Cafe. What you get at Wormsloe is the 1.5-mile avenue of live oaks, the tabby ruins of Noble Jones’s fortified house, the museum and the colonial life area, in the order what to see walks through. Six hours for two sites is not a rushed itinerary; it is a Savannah day, and it is the shape most of a visitor’s one free day takes — see the Savannah day page for how the rest of it fits around this.
The line every visitor should read before booking
James, who liked his day: “We enjoyed the cemetery tour very much, our guide Albert was very knowledgeable and also made the trip fun. I would have liked to be able to tour the house and grounds though.” Read that last sentence twice. He was happy. He praised his guide. And he still left expecting a house tour he was never going to get, because Wormsloe House is private property, lived in by descendants of Noble Jones and closed to visitors, while the structure you can walk up to is a tabby ruin standing a few feet high. No operator can fix that, and no tour includes it. I walked school groups down that avenue for years and fielded the same question most weeks. If James’s expectation is your expectation, read is there a house first, then decide — the tour is excellent at what it is, and disappointing to anyone who booked it for a mansion.
What the reviewers wrote
The guides carry this listing, and reviewers name them without prompting. Ruth: “Dennis was fabulous. You can tell he really enjoys giving this tour and keeps you engaged. Definitely recommend!” Pam, on the same guide: “Dennis was our guide and along with being very knowledgeable about the places we visited, he also made it very fun!” Claudia: “Dennis was amazing. Loved his stories and knowledge of the sites.” Tammie got a different one: “We had Albert as our guide and driver and he provided us with a very safe and enjoyable experience. It was a very nice day.” And a grandmother posting as barb, lowercase in the source: “I had an excellent experience and my 2 granddaughters and I learned alot, enjoyed both locations and lunch at Driftwood Cafe. The guide, Joyce, was amazing.” Four guides, four different days, the same shape of praise.
Then Tom, who is complimentary and specific in the same breath: “Ashley is amazing! So many facts, historical and fun, catering to each of us on the tour. The bus could use some work, it doesn’t like bumps in the road.” I am keeping that second sentence because it is the most useful line on the listing. The roads out to the Isle of Hope and through the cemetery are not motorway-smooth, the vehicle is a working bus rather than a limousine, and if you have a bad back you should know that before you sit down on it for six hours. It has not stopped the tour holding 4.8 across 285 reviews, and it should not stop you booking — it should just stop you being surprised.
Usually included
- Transport from Savannah to both sites and back
- Entry to Wormsloe as part of the tour — the avenue, ruins and museum
- A guided visit to Bonaventure Cemetery
- A guide who tells you the history rather than handing you a leaflet
Not included
- Any tour of Wormsloe House — it is a private residence and always closed
- A quick in-and-out photo stop; this is most of a day
- Trail time to yourself — the trails are covered at what to see
- Control over the hour you arrive, which matters — see best time to visit
What works
- The only bookable tour that drives through the Wormsloe gate
- Guides — Dennis, Albert, Joyce, Ashley per their reviewers — are praised by name over and over
- No car, no parking, no navigating Skidaway Road in traffic
- Two genuinely different places in one day, with a lunch stop
Worth knowing
- The bus takes bumps badly, by its own reviewers’ account
- About six hours — long for small children
- You arrive when the tour arrives, not at 9 a.m. when the avenue is empty
- There is still no house to tour, and some reviewers expected one
If the photograph is what you actually want — the empty tunnel of oaks, nobody in frame — this tour is the wrong instrument, because it arrives when it arrives. One careful Yelp account describes the site being quiet at 10 a.m. on a Saturday and packed by 12:30 p.m. Drive yourself early for the picture, or take the tour for the story, and know which one you came for.
Who it is for
Visitors without a car, visitors who would rather listen than drive, and anyone who wants the Isle of Hope and the cemetery in a single arrangement. It is a poor fit for photographers chasing an empty avenue, for families with a two-hour attention span, and for anyone still hoping to walk through an antebellum house. If you have a car and want the site on your own clock, driving in yourself costs the gate ticket and an hour or two; the arithmetic against a guided day is at tour prices, and the blunt verdict on the whole trip is at is it worth it.
Frequently asked questions
Does this tour really go inside Wormsloe?
Yes — it is the only bookable tour from Savannah that does, which is why it is the flagship on this site. It pairs Wormsloe with Bonaventure Cemetery over about six hours and includes the transport. Every other tour listed at Wormsloe tours stays in town, and none of them stops at the gate.
Can I tour the house at Wormsloe on this tour?
No, and neither can anyone else. Wormsloe House is a private residence occupied by descendants of Noble Jones and it has never been open to visitors; one reviewer quoted on this page left wishing he could tour it. What you walk up to is the tabby ruin of the original fortified house — is there a house explains the difference before you book.
What is the bus like?
A working tour bus, and one reviewer notes it “doesn’t like bumps in the road”. The roads out to the Isle of Hope and inside the cemetery are not smooth, so factor that in if you have a bad back or travel with someone who does. It has not dented the tour’s 4.8 from 285 reviews, and the same reviewer called his guide amazing in the sentence before.
Is $59 good value against driving myself?
It depends what you are buying. Georgia State Parks lists adult admission at $12 at the time of writing, so a self-drive is far cheaper on paper — you are paying the difference for six hours of guiding, the cemetery, and not driving. Confirm the current gate price at gastateparks.org, and see tour prices for the full comparison.