Genteel & Bard Savannah Ghost & History Tours

03/09/2024

Don’t have a “whoops” moment - September & October tours are booking up (especially the ghost 👻 tours.) If you’re planning a trip to Savannah this fall (which, is sure to be amazing 🎃) don’t put off your Genteel & Bard touring reservations! And that goes for popular restaurant reservations or activity reservations as well! 🥂 We look forward to walking with you!

27/08/2024

Consider this a nudge from the universe - what could be better than a trip to Savannah in your life? A little Southern magic. A stroll down Jones Street with a mimosa in your hand. ✨ Go ahead, book that Autumn trip to The Hostess City 🎃👻✨ - you know you want to 😉

24/08/2024

The FOMO is real 👻 Don’t miss out like Dave - book your Genteel & Bard Savannah Dark History & Ghost Encounter Tour at the link in our bio. 👀 We’ll see you there.

19/08/2024

I mean - we’re just thinking out loud 🤣😎🎀
Who did we miss? What does your perfect day in Savannah include?

16/08/2024

Hello, friends, and welcome!

Genteel & Bard is a well-known brand in Savannah, Georgia, specializing in offering guided tours of the historic city. We are particularly famous for our ghost tours, which blend expert storytelling, history, and the supernatural to create an engaging and memorable experience. Here’s an overview of all that we offer:

Genteel & Bard’s Savannah Ghost Encounter: This is our signature ghost tour, which takes guests by many of Savannah’s most haunted locations. The tour is a mix of ghost stories, history, and personal accounts of paranormal experiences. Our hosts are known for their superlative storytelling skills and deep knowledge of the city’s history. Genteel & Bard's Savannah Dark History & Ghost Encounter Tour was named one of the world's spookiest ghost tours by AFAR Magazine.

Savannah History Tours: Genteel & Bard offers history-focused tours, where guests can explore Savannah’s rich past. These tours often cover the city’s architecture, famous residents, and key historical events. Genteel & Bard's Savannah History Tour is proud to be ranked in the TOP 1% of TripAdvisor's Cultural & Historic Experiences in the U.S..

Unique Features:

- Personal Audio Devices: One of the unique aspects of Genteel & Bard tours is the use of personal audio devices. Each guest receives a high-quality audio device, allowing them to hear the mic’d guide clearly, even from a distance or in noisy environments.
- Small Group Sizes: The tours typically maintain small group sizes to ensure a more intimate and personalized experience.
- Evening Experiences: Many of our tours, especially the ghost tours, are offered in the evening, adding to the ambiance and setting the mood for exploring Savannah’s haunted sites.

Tour Guides (Hosts):
- Knowledgeable and Charismatic: Our guides (we like to call them hosts) at Genteel & Bard are known for their deep knowledge of Savannah’s history and their ability to bring stories to life with engaging narratives.

Booking and Popularity:
- Tours can easily be booked online through our website. Genteel & Bard Tours are quite popular, especially during peak tourist seasons. It’s recommended to book in advance.

Over the years, Genteel & Bard has garnered a strong reputation for providing high-quality, immersive tours that appeal to both history enthusiasts and those intrigued by the supernatural. If you're planning a visit to Savannah, our tours offer an unparalleled way to experience our city’s charm and mystery.

Book your tour now at www.genteelandbard.com
We look forward to walking with you!

16/08/2024

Savannah is always a good idea 😉🌸🎀

11/07/2024

We are beyond proud of our Genteel & Bard family! Our Savannah Daytime History Tour is ranked #21 in the entire United States for “Best of the Best Things To Do” in the Cultural & Historic category on TripAdvisor.

“Out of our 8 million listings, fewer than 1% achieve this milestone.” - TripAdvisor

This was earned with the passion and care of our tremendous public historians through the years. Come to Savannah and walk with us through our beautiful city. - T.C. & Brenna

Tripadvisor - Travelers' Choice Awards. Find out what the best travel experiences in the United States are as awarded by millions of real travelers.

13/10/2023

- Julia’s face was gaunt. Her spine ramrod straight.

And beneath the sole of Julia’s shoe, as if intentionally highlighted, was a large, golf ball-sized stone. I looked closer.

Not a stone.
A diamond.

I flipped the photo over, and there, written in small dancing script, were four little words.

“You are asleep, Penelope.”

(For the best Fall read, grab your copy of “The Memory of Glass” set in our enchanting home of Savannah. It’s a story you’ll want to visit often.)

-brennalaurenbooks.com

09/10/2023

Thank you to these four incredibly talented musicians for creating a tremendous experience and beautiful memory.

08/10/2023

Enjoying a Halloween themed candlelight quartet concert tonight at the Desoto Hotel.

06/10/2023

Monday, October 9th, marks the 244th anniversay of the 1779 Siege of Savannah. It’s been marked as the bloodiest hour of the Revolutionary War, and the first one of it’s kind. Colonists lined up with soldiers from France, Haiti, Ireland, Scotland, Germany, and Poland…allies for freedom. Sadly, language barriers, different fighting styles, disorganization, and the power of the British denied them victory that morning. Many men died for the cause of freedom and hard lessons learned in war. If you’ve never been, I invite you to visit us in Savannah, and immerse yourself in her captivating history. - genteelandbard.com

20/09/2022

The controversial corset originated in Europe during the 15th century and was worn by women from the start of puberty through marriage. The typical corset, made of delicate whale-boning, featured 50 stays. When they reached peak popularity during the Victorian Era, manufacturers took over the craft of corsetmaking, trading in whale bones for steel. A Victorian corset held much value to the wearer, distinguishing her figure from the cylindrical shape of a hoop skirt, as well as shaping and supporting the breasts, tightening the midriff, and improving posture to the rigidity of high society. It was during the Victorian era that corsets became a fashion statement. Younger women and debutantes would “tightlace” their corsets, causing their waists to appear unnaturally slender and accentuating their breasts. However, tightlacing, over time, is extremely detrimental to one’s health. Poor digestion and faintness, along with chronic back pain and fatigue are some of the more tame liabilities of long-term tightlacing, but there is sufficient evidence to support the likelihood of more severe complications, such as muscular atrophy, deformed or collapsed ribs, and even cardiac arrest. All of which went to making corseting one of the more macabre fashion trends of recent history.
Which makes us wonder, what modern fashion trend do you think future generations will look back on in amazement?

12/09/2022

Colonial Caffeine: A Historic Love Affair:
Tea, originating in China, became especially popular in England. Prior to consumption by all social classes, tea became a status symbol for English gentry. In fact, a new type of portrait painting called “the conversation piece” emerged in eighteenth century England. Conversation pieces depicted wealthy families or friend groups engaging in everyday activities, most popularly teatime. Similarly, tea was enjoyed in the thirteen colonies by those who could afford it. Tea parties presented a rare opportunity for women to socialize alongside men. Women, however, were not the only ones to gain a sense of liberation through tea. In 1773, a group of colonists protested the burdensome tea tax imposed on them by the indebted crown, in what famously became known as the Boston Tea Party. Around the same time, southern colonists were cultivating tea plants to decrease reliance on imports.

But it wasn’t just tea setting everyone abuzz - coffee and chocolate were hot on the scene too. Continue reading on our blog - link in bio 🤍


‘An English Family at Tea’, Joseph Van Aiken, c. 1720

31/08/2022

“To describe our growing up in the low country of South Carolina, I would have to take you to the marsh on a spring day, flush the great blue heron from its silent occupation, scatter marsh hens as we sink to our knees in mud, open you an oyster with a pocketknife and feed it to you from the shell and say, 'There." - Pat Conroy

20/07/2022

Oftentimes big history is hidden right in front of our eyes. Earthen mounds that might look to some like unassuming hills, can be symbols of thriving civilizations past. And the American South is home to many such mounds. Around 800 CE, the Mississippian peoples’ history began within the mountains and valleys we now know as the Appalachians. They were a well-developed people, with governing chiefdoms, trade, and towns spattering the mountain range. They were talented horticulturalists, and much of their gardening strategies are still practiced today.⁣
Perhaps the most iconic aspect of Mississippian culture is the practice of mound building. Many of these mounds can still be seen today, most famously the Etowah mounds of Bartow County, Georgia. These mounds were made from locally quarried soil, and often reached over 100 feet tall. A single mound would be built in stages, and could take a full century to complete. Mounds were built to be rectangular or oval in shape, with a flattened top. This is because most mounds were used by chiefs as a platform for their homes and a place to bury their ancestors. The mounds were also used as stages for ceremonies and social activities.The Mississippian peoples’ knack for craftsmanship didn't stop with the epic mounds. Anthropologists have uncovered thousands of beautiful, intricately made art pieces. Using beads made from marine shells, stonework, pottery, and even metalwork; the Mississippians created intricate cups, pendants, blades, pipes, effigy celts, and gorgets - which were decorative collar pieces. Many creations of the Mississippians were ritualistic pieces, to be buried with ancestors or used in ceremony.The Mississippian people’s culture, though still surviving today, was nearly wiped out during European colonization. Foreign disease, malicious European trade practices, and native enslavement caused these beautiful villages and cultures to break up and divide into dwindling numbers. Luckily, a piece of them still lives on today in the cultures of their direct descendants in the Creek, Cherokee, and Seminole Nations.

20/07/2022

Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it. - Proverbs 22:6⁣
There's something about the relationship between southern daddies and their kiddos. We were discussing home training earlier this afternoon, the graces and etiquette that signify a thoughtful upbringing. One of the things we hear very often from our guests visiting the South, is just how kind and polite everyone down here tends to be. No place is perfect, of course, but what a lovely quality to be known for. ⁣
🖤

19/07/2022

While you'd never know it by looking at the peaceful battlefield today, The Battle of Allatoona Pass has gone down in history as one of the most notorious battles of the entire American Civil War. It was fought on October 5, 1864, shortly after the burning of Atlanta. Threatened by the Union’s bold advances on the Confederacy, Lieutenant General John Bell Hood ordered the Confederate Army of Tennessee northward to threaten Major General William T. Sherman’s supply chain on the Western and Atlantic Railroad.Under General Hood’s suggestion, General Samuel G. French’s division to lead an attack on a supply base called Star Fort in the Allatoona Pass. French and his men approached the garrison in the early morning hours of October 5. At 7:00 am, they launched an attack on the Union fortifications, using eleven Confederate-manufactured Napoleon guns.After two hours of fire, General French sent word across Union lines, requesting the fort’s commander, Brigadier General John M. Corse, to surrender. French’s message was recorded as follows:“I have placed the forces under my command in such positions that you are surrounded, and to avoid a needless effusion of blood I call on you to surrender your forces at once, and unconditionally. Five minutes shall be allowed you to decide. Should you accede to this, you will be treated in the most honorable manner as prisoners of war.”General Corse responded back immediately: “Your communication demanding surrender of my command I acknowledge receipt of, and respectfully reply that we are ready for the “needless effusion of blood” whenever it is agreeable to you.”French launched a second attack on the fortifications. Just as Union surrender seemed inevitable, Union support approached from Acworth, Georgia.French called a ceasefire, withdrawing his forces from the Allatoona Pass before the Union support arrived on the scene. In total, the Union suffered 706 casualties, while the Confederacy had 897. General Corse sustained an injury during the battle. He sent word to General Sherman the next day, saying “I am short a cheekbone and one ear, but am able to whip all hell yet.”

14/07/2022

Taphophobia is the fear of being buried alive. If you were to speak about having this fear today, you might get some strange looks! However, this was a common phobia during the Victorian Era, and not without merit. So many people were buried alive that doctors struggled to ensure patients headed for burial were actually dead! During the Yellow Fever outbreaks throughout the 1800s, many doctors were afraid to touch their patients to feel for a pulse or breath. Today we know that the last phase of Yellow Fever is coma, but back then doctors would simply see a pale, unresponsive person and assume they were dead. In Savannah or Charleston, if you came from a wealthy family, it was likely you’d have a family crypt. Crypts look like little houses half-buried in the cemetery. They go into the ground about eight feet on average, with shelves lining the inner walls. When someone died, they’d be wrapped in a burial shroud and placed on a shelf inside. Eventually, their bones would be placed in a large chest alongside the bones of other relatives. During Yellow Fever, however, people died faster than bodies in the crypt could deteriorate. This meant that the person burying their family members would have to enter the crypt during the most gut-twisting parts of decay. Imagine this person’s surprise when they enter the crypt to find their deceased loved one strewn out inside the crypt at the door. Their burial shroud is left behind on the shelf, and the skin on their fingers has worn down to the bone. Crypt doors only opened from the outside. It was a disturbingly common occurrence. Society panicked, and taphophobia wreaked as much havoc on the population as the epidemic. In 1857, the “safety coffin” emerged, featuring a window on the lid and a tube on the side. If someone was placed inside while still alive, the window would fog up from their breath before burial. However, in case the foggy window went unnoticed, a rope was tied around the wrist of the deceased. The rope fed up through a tube and was tied to a bell on the surface of the burial plot. If the deceased suddenly came to life underground, they could ring the bell and hope someone was around to hear them.