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Activity Golden Isles, USA

Audio Driving Tour Around St. Simons Island

5.0 (2 reviews) 1 h 30 min – 2 hours Free cancellation Private tour
Photos: the activity supplier, via Viator

Audio Driving Tour Around St. Simons Island

About this activity

St. Simons Island is almost exactly the same size as Manhattan, but instead of skyscrapers, it has live oaks, and instead of eight million people, it has 6,000 years of layered history. On this audio driving tour, you'll trace the island's story from Indigenous shell rings to World War II submarine attacks. The tour starts at the Pier Village parking lot, beside the old fishing docks. From here, you'll drive past the St. Simons Lighthouse, built in 1872 on the footprint of an earlier light whose Confederate-hidden Fresnel lens has never been found, and along the coast where German U-boats torpedoed American oil tankers just offshore in 1942. Along the way, you'll hear the story of Igbo Landing on Dunbar Creek, where a group of West Africans chose defiance over enslavement in 1803. The tour ends back at Neptune Park by the pier, named for Neptune Small, a man born into slavery on Retreat Plantation whose name now marks the land he eventually owned.

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At a glance

Duration
1 h 30 min – 2 hours
Confirmation
Instant confirmation
Ticket
Mobile or paper ticket accepted
Group
Your group only
People per booking
1–15
Audio guide
English
Written guide
English
Operated by
VoiceMap Audio Tours

What is included

Included

  • Included: Lifetime access to this tour in English before your booking date and after it
  • Included: Offline access to audio, maps, and geodata
  • Included: Flexibility to explore at your own pace with a self-guided GPS tour
  • Included: App for Android and iOS
  • Included: Directions to the starting point so that when you’re in the right place, the tour will start

Not included

  • Not included: Smartphone and headphones
  • Not included: Transportation
  • Not included: Food and drink
  • Not included: Personal expenses for admission fees not included during the tour

Itinerary

  1. St. Simons Lighthouse Museum

    Passing by

    Gaze up at this elegant 1872 lighthouse rising 104 feet above the southern tip of the island, its white tower marking the spot where an earlier light was deliberately destroyed by Confederate forces retreating in 1862 — and where a Fresnel lens hidden somewhere on the island has never been recovered. Climb all 129 steps to the top for views stretching 22 miles out over the Atlantic, and look down at the coastline where German U-boats hunted American oil tankers close enough to shore that island residents could see the fires burning.

  2. Stop 2

    Passing by

    Stop at this beloved community gathering place named for Neptune Small, a man born into slavery on Retreat Plantation who lived to own land on the island that had once owned him. Enjoy the easy atmosphere of a park whose very name carries one of St. Simons' most quietly powerful stories of perseverance, freedom, and the long arc of a life well lived.

  3. World War II Home Front Museum

    Passing by

    See the handsome 1936 WPA-built Coast Guard Station, now home to a museum that brings the island's extraordinary wartime role sharply into focus. Discover how St. Simons residents watched German submarine attacks unfold just offshore, how the Coast Guard patrolled these beaches on horseback, and how a barrier island of a few thousand people found itself on the front line of the Battle of the Atlantic.

  4. Bloody Marsh

    Passing by

    Walk the edge of this quiet tidal marsh where, in July 1742, a small force of British rangers and Highland soldiers ambushed a vastly larger Spanish force in the long grass and changed the course of colonial history. Stand in a landscape that looks much as it did that morning and consider how a skirmish lasting less than an hour secured British control of Georgia and, arguably, the future shape of the American colonies.

  5. Fort Frederica National Monument

    Passing by

    Explore the evocative ruins of the town and fort General James Oglethorpe built in 1736 to anchor Britain's southernmost colonial frontier, its tabby walls and excavated foundations emerging from a landscape of live oaks and Spanish moss. Learn how this small garrison of soldiers and settlers held off a Spanish invasion fleet in 1742, in a victory that secured the Georgia colony and ended Spain's ambitions north of Florida.

  6. Stop 6

    Passing by

    Pause at one of Georgia's oldest and most beautiful churches, a whitewashed Gothic Revival building nestled beneath ancient oaks on the site where John and Charles Wesley preached to Oglethorpe's settlers in the 1730s. Wander the storied churchyard where the graves of soldiers, planters, and island families trace three centuries of St. Simons life in mossy epitaphs beneath the trees.

  7. Retreat Golf Course

    Passing by

    Drive the oak-canopied entrance avenue that Anna Page King planted at Retreat Plantation, its cathedral arch of live oaks forming one of the most photographed stretches of road in coastal Georgia. Reflect on the cotton plantation that once occupied these fairways, worked by hundreds of enslaved people whose labour built the wealth that planted these very trees.

  8. Stop 8

    Passing by

    Return to the lively heart of St. Simons Island, where the old fishing docks, waterfront restaurants, and weekend market carry the easy energy of a community that has always gathered by the water. Browse the stalls, watch the boats, and take in a scene that connects directly back to the steam ferry tourists in straw hats who first made St. Simons a destination more than a century ago.

  9. Massengale Park

    Passing by

    Finish at this breezy oceanfront park on the island's east shore, where a wide beach and a picnic grove of live oaks offer a natural full stop to a day of layered history. Kick off your shoes, walk down to the waterline, and look out over the same Atlantic that brought Indigenous settlers, colonial soldiers, enslaved Africans, and German submarines to this small but story-rich island.

Meeting point and pickup

Everyone meets at the meeting point.

Meeting point

  • This tour starts and ends in the Pier area parking lot at the end of Mallory Street. Before arrival, please install the mobile app and use the code provided on your confirmation ticket. Detailed starting point instructions are available after downloading.

End point

  • This tour starts and ends in the Pier area parking lot at the end of Mallory Street. Before arrival, please install the mobile app and use the code provided on your confirmation ticket. Detailed starting point instructions are available after downloading.

Using your ticket

VOICEMAP CODE

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Please check your email at the address you provided when you made this booking. You've been sent an eight character code you'll need to redeem your tour.

DOWNLOAD INSTRUCTIONS

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Once you've received your code, please follow these steps:

Install the VoiceMap Audio Tours mobile app

Create an account

Select Tour Codes from the menu, then select Enter Codes

Enter your code then select Download Now

PLEASE NOTE

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You can download the tour at any time, before or after your booking date. It’s best to download the tour before you set off for the starting point.

This tour follows a set route and includes turn-by-turn directions. It works best if you start it in the right place and follow the directions from one location to the next.

When the download completes, you’ll see a screen with a photo of the starting point and directions to it. The red start button will become active when you are at the starting point.

Remember to bring your own headphones, unless you have booked a driving tour.

SUPPORT

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For technical support and other queries, please email [email protected]

Cancellation

Free cancellation

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

If you cancel You get back
At least one day before 100%
Less than a day before 0%

Good to know

  • Service animals allowed

  • Public transportation options are available nearby

  • Suitable for all physical fitness levels

Traveller ratings

5.0 out of 5 · 2 reviews
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Activities, prices and reviews are from Viator. Booking and payment happen on Viator; Vacantier may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

Audio Driving Tour Around St. Simons Island

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