Top Ten Touristy Things to do in Charleston
It’s impossible to experience everything the “All American City” has to offer. So, whether you’re visiting for business or pleasure, for a weekend or a week, here’s a quick must-see-and-do list that will make your stay unforgettable.
1. Climb into a horse-drawn carriage for a tour of historical Charleston. Okay, so it sounds like something those fanny-pack wearing, camera-touting tourists do, but take my word for it, it is one of the best ways to experience the city. Leaving daily from the Market, you ride past stately homes with bountiful gardens, and learn little-known tidbits about the city and its former residents.
2. You haven’t seen a garden until you’ve visited Middleton Place, a 65-acre, historical plantation with the oldest landscape gardens in the country. Wander through the magnificent grounds filled with magnolia trees, camellias, and reflecting pools. The main house is a museum, and the guesthouse is a restaurant where you have to try the Lowcounty favorite, she-crab soup.
3. Lace up your tennis shoes, grab your camera, and explore the city up close and personal. Walk the Battery and take in the pink, orange, green, and yellow homes along the famous Rainbow Row. Stroll through the bustling downtown, open-air Market, where artists and craftspeople display their work.
4. Boutiques, antique shops, and galleries line King Street. Yes, the shopping district has it all, from Sax Fifth Avenue to Moo Roo, a boutique which carries handbags designed by Charlestonian Mary Norton.
5. Spend a day at one or more of the beaches around Charleston. Folly Beach is great for surfing and is more active than beaches on the Isle of Palms and Sullivan’s Island.
6. While there are plenty of places in Charleston that serve good ole Southern comfort food, the Hominy Grill takes the cake (or should I say the biscuit).
7. Step out of the humidity and heat, and spend an afternoon learning about South Carolina’s many ecosystems at the South Carolina Aquarium. You’re guaranteed to see everything from river otters to sharks.
8. No trip to Charleston is complete without a visit to Fort Sumter, where the first shots of the Civil War were fired. Only accessible by boat, ferry tours leave from the Fort’s museum on the Fountain Walk along the Charleston Harbor, and from Patriots Point in Mount Pleasant. The ferry ride to and from the Fort provides a unique panoramic view of the Battery and Rainbow Row.
9. Dine on Fried Green Tomato & Goat Cheese Towers and Shellfish Over Grits at Magnolias, an elegant, upscale restaurant offering authentic Southern cuisine located in the heart of the historic district.
10. In 2002, American Style Magazine named Charleston one of the “Top 10 Art Destinations” in the country. Along with dozens of fine art and photography galleries, Charleston is also home to the Gibbes Museum of Art, a century-old museum housing American fine art that reflects a Charleston perspective.
