Best things to do in Charleston, South Carolina!
I cannot say enough good things about my most recent trip to Charleston, SC. Charleston is a charming town that is busting with history in the US and was founded in 1670.
Some history: Although it's a beautiful city, it's important to also note the extensive role of slavery here; as it was one of the biggest areas of domestic slave trade. When we talk about this city, we can't forget it's more unpleasant history and I feel like visiting here, it's only morally right to understand the terrible truth of what this city once was, while we also are allowed to take in it's beauty. Originally called, Charles town, named after Charles II, it was known to be a busy seaport, where 200 ships a day would come in carrying and exporting goods. The British also invaded and occupied Charleston for 2 years during the Revolutionary War. (Little facts I learned at the Provost Dungeon museum that I'll mention later.)
With all that being said, this city with it's charming cobblestone streets, horse drawn carriages, antebellum mansions and semi-tropic climate is a must see. The food here is absolutely delectable; many of the destinations being featured on the food network. And I honestly can't say I had one bad or even average meal. Everything was delicious. This is actually one of my favorite US cities/towns I have visited, and it's a lot more progressive than I thought, which makes me happy. There is so much to do and see so I wanted to share it with all of you!
What to do in Charleston
Horse-drawn Carriage Tour (Palmetto Carriage Works)
There are multiple carriage tours, but this is the one we did and also the one I saw the most high rated reviews for and it did not disappoint. I highly recommend one of these tours to learn more about the history of Charleston and to see the downtown city in a very convenient way. Because Charleston is a pretty big city, there are, I believe, 4 options of areas where the carriage can take you. Our tour guide was very informative and funny, they also tell you how they take care of the horses in the beginning which is so nice to hear.
Charleston City Market
Another must-see, in my opinion, because I absolutely love markets. This is partly indoors with air conditioning which is a blessing when it's hot as heck outside. You can get some really unique souvenirs here or some hand crafted items. I got a really pretty sterling silver ring and a Charleston Christmas ornament (something I like to try to get when I go somewhere new).
Walk around the French Quarter and explore
The first two places I listed are both in the French Quarter but there is so much to explore here. Great shops (including more high-end stores, because Charleston is pretty boujee), food, attractions, and beautiful historical buildings. The architecture is amazing to see and many restaurants here have been featured on the food network, with no surprise because the food is prime.
Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon
An important landmark in Charleston built in 1771, this is now a museum where you can learn about more of it's history and explore the Dungeon area (used as an old military prison) underneath. They have a talking tour in the Dungeon daily, every 30 minutes, which we did and it was very interesting. The admission fee for this museum is only $12 for adults. There are several floors where you can explore and read the history about this building in more detail. This building was also used as a post office, commercial exchange, a meeting place for Patriots (George Washington visited here and had lavish dinners and concerts), an area where auctions were held for slaves, and more - including where the US Constitution was debated and approved.
Magnolia Plantations & Gardens
An absolutely stunning plantation founded in 1676 by the Drayton family. There are multiple plantations you can visit around the Charleston area, but this is the one we choose and I would definitely recommend it. It had miles of gardens that were incredibly well kept. There were Magnolia trees everywhere, beautiful flowers, tranquil lakes with bridges and massive trees with sweeping moss - it's almost like I could imagine fairies living here. It's a $29 admission fee. We paid $10 extra for a tour of the historic house. Our tour guide was very informed and kept our interest as we entered through different old rooms of the house. They had a few other things to see including a 45 minute presentation called "The Slavery to Freedom Tour". They show you four cabins where slaves and their families lived on the plantation, an important part of it's history. There is also a gift shop here and an area with food. I got a delicious chicken salad sandwich and sweet tea. Oh! And I can't forget to mention the mini-horses, donkey, and peacocks that live here. Two peacocks were just chilling with us as we ate our sandwiches, looking for scraps. Just a really beautiful experience in general. We spent almost our whole day here so there's a lot to see. I would say we got there at 11am and stayed until about 3:30pm.
The Battery
If you're interested in seeing the massive, majestic antebellum mansions of Charleston then definitely take a stroll down "The Battery" area. It's about 2 miles and has a trail for those walking and biking next to the ocean.
Ghost Tours
They have many ghost tours around Charleston, so if you're into spooky things, this is something fun to do at nighttime. We did the "Bulldog Tours" which came highly rated and I definitely recommend. Our tour guide was great. There are multiple different walking tours to do - we did the graveyard tour. I have done one other ghost tour, which was in St Augustine, and I have to say I liked that one better, but this was still decent. It only takes you two different graveyards, where the other tour I did years ago went to a prison, hospital, graveyard, and somewhere else. If I were to choose again, I would try out the USS Yorktown ghost tour which takes place inside an old WWII aircraft carrier. (It looks super cool.)
Old Slave Mart Museum
I didn't have time to visit this but I heard many great things about the history provided and the details they give at this museum. I've heard it is very graphic as it does show the horrific abuse of African Americans living as slaves but I feel it needs to be graphic to get the point across because it's real events that happened. This is also only $8 admission.
Folly Beach
About a 20 min drive from downtown Charleston, this is a beautiful beach to see! It is very clean and well kept. The waves are bigger than what I'm used to on this side of the ocean, compared to my home area of Clearwater/St Pete beach, although the water isn't as clear. There is plenty of parking and the pier has food, shops and more. There are also more shops around the area. I did get some cute souvenirs here as well.
Rainbow Row
Okay so this is probably the most "instagrammable" place there is to see here in Charleston and I have to say I was not very impressed. They were many more places in Charleston that were more beautiful. These homes/buildings stand out because of the multiple pastel colors that they are painted. But there are honestly buildings like this every turn you take in Charleston. Even the pictures I took here... didn't come out as good as I saw on Instagram! People must edit them because the lightning was not it, lol. If you have to skip this, it wouldn't be the end of the world. We did end up walking across the street from here near the water and walked along it near a dock, which was very pretty.
The Pineapple Fountain/Waterfront Park
Definitely a must-see. This park is absolutely beautiful. You can even take off your shoes and take a little dip into the fountain to cool off. It's really just deep enough to put your feet/calves into (unless you're a child, which I basically am because I needed to stick my feet in). Stroll around and take in the beauty of this park right on the water's edge. Fun fact: pineapples are popular in Charleston and represent hospitality.
Secret Alleyways in Charleston
There are many "secret" alleyways in Charleston that are known for having duels back in the day to settle arguments in a violent way with pistols .Philadelphia Alley and Price's Alley are a couple popular ones to look for. "Low county walking tours" have a special tour just for the secret alleys and passage ways of Charleston if you are interested.
Fort Sumter National Monument
Take a tour to Fort Sumter by boat and see where the first shots of the Civil War were fired! It's about a one hour visit were you can explore the ruins of the fort and learn it's history.
Historic Home Tours - (Nathaniel Russell house/Heyward Washington house/Aiken-Rhett house/Edmondston-Alston house)
There are multiple historic homes you can take tours of. The Nathaniel Russel house has a free-flying staircase and neoclassical dwellings that make this house unique. The Aiken-Rhett house was owned by someone so wealthy it encompasses almost an entire city block. It's $15 admission for one house tour, and $24 if you would like to tour both.
Walk around King Street
King Street is another popular area in downtown historic Charleston. It may be about 30 minute walk away from the French Quarter, depending on where you are at. Our airBNB was actually located a few blocks away from King Street, so we were able to walk to King Street without a problem, but had to take an uber to get to the French Quarter. King Street has incredible food and shopping. Just take some time to explore.
Places to eat
There are so many places to eat and drink here in Charleston, so I will only speak of the ones I have been to - which were all amazing.
Prohibition - 547 King St
Probably the best drinks I've ever had. I had a Spicy Blood Orange Margarita with red chili flakes and my friend had a Bacon-infused Old Fashioned. I ate their street corn as an appetizer and Shrimp and Grits with a curry sauce which were both phenomenal.
Indaco - 526 King St
This modern, rustic Italian restaurant was recommended by multiple people and did not disappoint. Their pasta menu changes every so often and they have really unique dishes. I had to actually look up multiple types of pastas and dishes because I was unsure what they were (and I'm Italian so I should know). We got Focaccia bread as an appetizer and were told they make it fresh every day - you can definitely tell. I ate my entire bowl of pasta and I honestly never finish my plates, if that tells you how good it was.
Poogans Smokehouse - 188 E Bay St
An open and casual industrial restaurant that, of course, offers BBQ. Not much to say about this because I feel like you either like BBQ or you don't, but the BBQ was definitely superb. Any BBQ restaurant in Charleston would probably be good, this just happened to be the one we stopped at.
Get Oysters
So I don't have a specific place for this because we ended up not having time to stop off and get some, but if you like Oysters, Charleston is known for them and there are multiple places. Definitely check one out when you come here!
Carmella's Cafe and Dessert Bar - 198 E Bay St #100
This has been featured on the food network, travel channel and HGTV and their desserts are amazing! They have this small shareable cakes like cannoli cake, birthday cake, carrot cake and more. They also serve gelato, coffees/expressos/lattes, sorbet, sandwiches and even slices of Sicilian pizza. We actually stopped here late at night when we were hungry after our ghost tour and restaurants were starting to close down. If you want a cheap dinner, grab a couple slices of pizza here and dessert. It IS very busy here, at least the time we went which was probably around 10pm. It's a very popular place and for a good reason. It's not super big inside so try to have someone in your party snatch a table if you plan on sitting inside to eat.
Henry's on the Market Rooftop Bar and Jazz Club - 54 N Market St
This place was really cool. We only had a few drinks on the rooftop bar so I can't speak for the food, but the atmosphere was great. They had different rooms and floors, including an area with a jazz club. This place was poppin too later at night but I think they normally would have a table.
Holey City Bagels - 43 Cannon St
Hands down the best Lox bagel I've ever had - (not counting NYC/New Jersey). If you don't know what a Lox Bagel is, it's smoked salmon, capers, red onions and cream cheese on a bagel. I choose asiago cheese and it was the crispest, fluffiest, best tasting thing ever. I'm still thinking about it. They also have coffee here which is very good - although I just got an orange juice this day. If you're around King St for breakfast definitely hit this place up.
Toast All Day - 155 Meeting St
A cute breakfast/brunch restaurant we stopped inside one morning that had wonderful food - especially Southern breakfast. I had to get some biscuits and gravy. It was fairly cheap since it's breakfast and their orange juice is freshly squeezed. Highly recommend getting the orange juice!
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I definitely recommend getting "Southern Comfort food" here because it's what they are known for, as well as their seafood and BBQ.
A couple other places I've heard are amazing, but unfortunately did not have time to visit are: FIG, Magnolias, Frannie and the Fox, Hyman's Seafood, 167 Raw Oyster Bar, Le Farfalle, and Halls Chophouse.
That's all I have for you guys, I hope it helped if you were planning on going to Charleston or if you are now adding it on your list, you can use my post hopefully as a resource. Happy adventuring!
- Sam
