So I'll be honest, I tried to book another highly rated tour guide and he was not doing tours this past Veteran's Day weekend. Savannah Rambles was my second choice. I don't know about the other guide that was not touring, but Dirk was top notch, excellent. It was just my wife and I so we got some great personal interaction. I love old structures and their construction history. I love history and I love architecture. Dirk touts his tours as architectural. It's not his only focus. He is very much a historian of the area and pieces together the important events that shaped the history of Savannah. Dirk also gave us some very worthy recommendations for historical home tours which we heeded and were not disappointed. Thanks Dirk. We had a great time and are still talking about your tour. read more

In March of 2021, my boyfriend and I took a tour with Dirk. Not only was it incredibly historically in depth, but it was entertaining, active, and honest. Savannah is a beautiful city worth visiting. Dirk was an AWESOME tour guide, and we would HIGHLY recommend this tour for anyone who wants a non-touristy, super interesting historical, geographical, and architectural experience in Savannah. read more

This was an outstanding architectural tour. Dirk is an excellent source of information. He provided plenty of historical facts and diagrams to help us understand how Savannah got to where it is today. Included with each site was its history, current status, and role in history of the U.S., if significant. We walked past every noted historic home in the historic district, all the squares, churches, and even past an excellent example of the back houses along the alleys, and ,of course, the history of those buildings helped us to understand how all the nationalities came to coexist. I loved learning about all the different architects, who commissioned them to build their homes over the years, and even the little quirks about the homes: like why some of the chimneys have rounded tops over them, and why and what building materials were used. Our tour lasted 2 and a half hours, instead of just 2 hours, and ended at beautiful Forsyth Park. I would highly recommend this architectural tour. read more

Great Experience! Both my husband and I are great travelers, but not such good tourists. I say this because we have been to many countries and generally don't take tours. We prefer finding our own way around. We only had two days in Savannah and we wanted to do more then just wonder around the city. There was so much to learn. After a lot of research, Dirk seemed like he would be the right guide for us. Many people remarked that he didn't have a gimmick or fancy dress like many of the other guides. He was extremely knowledgeable. After reading about him, we were impressed by his credentials and we felt confident that he would help us learn about this amazing city. He was definitely a great choice. We were lucky enough to have him to ourselves as we were the only two people on the tour.....a bonus! read more

My wife and I come to Savannah a couple of times per year and have taken historical and ghost tours as well as talked with and gotten to know several of the residents and still learned so much from doing this. This tour is so much more informative and enriching. As a resident and having worked with several architectural and historical preservation organizations, Dirk has unique insight into the buildings, history and culture of Savannah. His knowledge, insights and passion for the city make his tour an important part of learning about Savannah. read more

I went on an architectural ramble with Savannah Rambles on a cold Wednesday morning before Thanksgiving. My 12 and 14-year-old children were with me. It was chilly, but we were completely sucked in by the history and the stories. We learned so much and enjoyed it thoroughly. I highly recommend this tour. Dirk, our guide, was friendly and happy to answer off script questions. He has a very deep knowledge of Savannah and the local architecture. With respect to accessibility: there is some walking but not over a great distance. There is more standing. The tour is two hours long, so you want comfortable shoes. My kids happen to love tours and history, the information was dense though. I don't think children younger than 12 would necessarily appreciate it unless they particularly like tours in history. It wouldn't be great for a five-year-old at all. read more

We did a three hour architectural tour. Our guide was very knowledgeable and we enjoyed the tour a lot. I would highly recommend this tour.

First rate historical and architecture walking tour. Walk Savannah with a local guide knowledgeable about architecture, history and culture of Davannah. Walking pace enables awareness of details at all scales, from downspout to high rise. Hear ghost stories, history, community quirks over a few hours. The guide thanked my group with "Thankyou for engaging with me." At the End. The guide had a passion and pride for Davannah that is rare with tourist Guides. This tour was in sharp contrast to the kitschy, fabricated stories we got from the trolley guides. I have never encountered a better tour anywhere else in the World. This is highly worth your time. The walking pace was a stroll, And sensitive to my gimping along on old, much abused knees. read more

Dirk's close ties and background with preservation and history of the community, gives him the ability to tell story after story as we gained understanding of the very interesting and unique history of Savannah. We had just 4 people on the tour which allowed for conversation and questions and I was thankful as other tours that went by were much larger. We went over the initial time, which was fine by all of us, as he asked if it was ok. I totally recommend his tour, and like others, did some research before choosing. If you really want to learn and gain an understanding of Savannah, start your visit with Dirk. At his recommendation after grabbing some lunch, we walked down Bull Street down to Jones and to Forsyth Park and came up through other squares. We were able to appreciate so much more of what we were looking at after a very interesting morning of learning. I would agree that this is best for adults or interested teens who want to learn,nothing hokey about it. Thanks Dirk for bringing Savannah to life for us! https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g60814-d1580168-r479128945-Savannah_Rambles-Savannah_Georgia.html# read more

I can only back up the other Yelpers here. Dirk is extremely knowledgeable about the architectural history of Savannah. He was able to answer any questions we had (I was with a trained architect) but never came across as a 'know-it-all'. He obviously has a passion for his city and it was an absolute pleasure to be shown Savannah by him. Highly recommended. read more

Dirk knows his stuff. His knowledge of Savannah's architecture and historic preservation run deep. We learned a lot and really enjoyed our time with Dirk. Recommend a Savannah Ramble for all! read more

This is absolutely the best walking tour I ever done. Dirk is extremely knowledgeable and his love for the city is apparent. I highly recommend this tour, you will not regret it. read more

I highly recommend this tour if you're serious about learning about Savannah and its fascinating, unique, progressive beginnings. I learned so much from Dirk, not just about the city but about American history and architecture in general. I went on a Tuesday morning and I was the only one, so I got a private tour! read more

I picked Savannah Rambles based on the positive reviews Dirk received on Yelp. I am happy to say that my fellow yelpers did not let me down. My husband and I took the Savannah Rambles tour on 4/8/15. It was the perfect introduction to Savannah, GA (and helped us get a better sense of how Savannah, GA is laid out). I was a little worried when I saw the tour labeled as an architectural tour. I didn't want to spend the afternoon reviewing the history of architecture. Dirk does a good job of infusing history and why a building or a cemetery looks the way it does. In the end I didn't mind learning about the architectural portion at all. I also think Dirk's background working for the historical society makes him an ideal walking tour guide. Although there a lot of tours (some less expensive than Savannah Rambles) available I don't think you can go wrong with Savannah Rambles. read more

I was so happy to have taken this tour of Savannah. There are so many options but this tour was unique. Dirk, the tour guide, was so knowledgeable about the city and particular architectural details and had so many interesting stories about each place. The group was small (About 7 people), everyone really friendly and we got to ask questions that were always answered with some wonderful extra tidbit of history and local flavor. The walk was so pleasant and Dirk made sure to give us a nice quaint stop for a quick rest. I would highly recommend this tour. Also- make sure you book online first. read more

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Having recently moved to Savannah..upon my son visitiing for the first time from CA.. we thought the walking tour would be a great way to familiarize ourselves with Savannah and a little of its history. We took the 6:30 walk and it was all that we expected and more. Dirk Hardison made the walking and presentation interesting. I do have a new respect for the city, its architechture, its richness of cultural influx...thanks to a knowledgeable guide who loves the details.. I can now point out a few sites and facts to my own visitors when they come.. Well worth the time.. .Sandi read more

We loved this walk! Dirk is a wealth of fascinating information about the history of Savannah - including how different the histories of Charleston and Savannah were. I think we could have set him down on any block and he would have had something interesting to say about the architecture and the history of the building. We probably could have spent our entire time on one square and not been bored. This is not one of the silly ghost tours or fluffy trolley tours. It is for aficionados of real learning. I wanted to find out so much more about Oglethorpe and Samuel Nunes. (Amazingly, I went on one of Dirk's walks about eight years ago and very little of the information was repeated.) read more

What a joke! Made reservations, prepaid, left messages that were never responded to and showed up at address listed on trip advisor at designated time. Just so happens it listed his home address, answered door with total disgust and informed us we were the first people to ever show up at his home address in 7 years, give me a break. Then he informed us that he was sick and not doing any tours that day. Don't waste your time with Dirk, get on the Old Savannah trolley tour instead. read more

Dirk does a fantastic job of describing the history, the people and architecture of Savannah. He is very knowledgeable without loading you down with dates, just the facts. We would definitely recommend his architectural ramble to anyone coming to Savannah! read more

Our guide, Dirk, was very knowledgeable about Savannah architecture and it's history. Because our group was small, all of our questions were answered fully. read more

We thoroughly enjoyed our architectural walking tour with Dirk. He was very knowledgeable and didn't mind answering our many questions. Before we knew it, we had gone past the allotted time! Savannah is such an historical city full of beautiful architecture. We would not have fully appreciated it without Dirk sharing his knowledge with us. Great tour! read more

We visited Savannah for a birthday celebration and used a Groupon to purchase 2 tickets for this walking tour. What a great experience! Dick Hardison provided an interesting, clear, and personal overview of the history of the city. The walk was thorough and we were thankful for our walking shoes, but so much more interesting and intimate than a trolly tour. So glad we had this experience and definitely recommend to others! read more

Dirk was a great tour guide! My mom, sister, and I arrived to the square about 30 minutes early. Dirk arrived shortly thereafter. He walked right up to us and introduced himself. Since we were his only reservation for the day, we got started about 10:15am. He was very knowledgeable and happy to share that information with us! Throughout the ramble, we got to see 7 squares and it lasted the full 2 hours. I wish we would have taken the tour on Thursday afternoon when we first arrived, but I didn't want to jam pack our first day. You truly learn a lot without it feeling like a boring history lesson. read more

My wife and I spent a delightful couple of hours on Dirk's Savannah Ramble this evening. DIrk is an architect and a preservationist who has done a great deal of independent research about Savannah and boy does it shine through on his tours. He stages the tour so that the sites and buildings are presented chronologically which really gives terrific insight into the way the city was founded, established and built up over the years. There were several times when he would tell us what the "ordinary tour guides" would tell you about a site or a piece of history, but then he would tell you how his own research as a preservationist has revealed new insights and explanations. Very fascinating and comprehensive architectural tour. Avoid the schlocky bus/trolley tours and walk the city with Dirk--you won't regret it. read more

This tour was chosen by a friend with whom I was traveling and so I was not necessarily excited for the architecture aspect of the tour. However, I was very grateful to her later because the tour is extremely interesting and you really get to see beautiful parts of Savannah. Dirk Hardison, the guide, is extremely knowledgeable and passionate about Savannah and historical preservation and it really comes through. The other people on the tour all had groupons, but I felt the tour was well worth the full price we paid. read more

Thoroughly enjoyed our tour with Savannah Rambles. My college age granddaughter wanted to learn about the history along with architecture and was completely satisfied. Great tour! read more

Dirk was extremely knowledgable and taught us a lot of interesting facts about Savannah. He covered a lot of ground without feeling rushed. We had our one year old daughter and he was very accommodating. Highly recommended! read more

Great job by Dirk. He is informative and can speak thoughtfully and intelligently to any question. Wonderful, interesting tour that doesn't overlap with the content of other Savannah tours. Highly recommended. read more

This is a belated review for a tour we took in November 2012 . My husband and I really enjoyed our tour with Dirk - we found it to be fascinating and entertaining as well as informative. There was a good mix of history so its not just for architecture buffs. If you're visiting from out of town, I highly recommend as an overview/introduction to the city. read more

LOVED our tour! Exactly what we hoped for when we were looking for an architectural walking tour! Highly recommend Dirk! His tremendous insight and genuine interest made the difference and sets his tour apart from the rest. read more

This was a great tour! Dirk is knowledgeable and well researched. He doesn't repeat the legends of Savannah but gives solid history. We have taken several tours of Savannah since moving here and this was by far the best. If you want ghost stories and fables of Savannah and don't want to walk then take a trolley tour. If you want the real history of Savannah I recommend this one. read more

Dirk,the guide was great .extremely knowledgable,clear and concise.Used groupon.Took us all around and we learned a tremendous amount about aechitechture and history of Savannah.we did this first day and aided greatly in future enjoyment and understanding of city and its layout.Outstanding,highly recommended. read more

The Savannah Rambles tour was great, and Dirk provided an excellent explanation of the various historical and architectural points. I took the tour during Savannah's off-season, and despite being the only one, Dirk didn't try to cancel the tour or cut it short. read more

We greatly enjoyed Dirk's telling of Savannah's history and architecture. Dirk has a knack for presenting architecture and history in a balanced manner. As an architect, I appreciated hearing about Savannah's beginning, development, and preservation as the basis for his presentation of its architecture and history. A suggestion to travelers: take Dirk's tour as early during your stay in Savannah as possible! read more