Charleston, South Carolina has made a name for itself as one of the premier places to visit in the Southeastern United States. This city has it all – incredible food, beautiful beaches, historic architecture, and southern charm and culture. It is a great place to visit for a romantic getaway, a weekend with friends, or to explore with your family. Charleston is easily one of our favorite cities to visit because there is so much to see and do. Below are 10 beautiful things to do in Charleston, South Carolina.
Rainbow Row
Probably the most photographed area in all of Charleston is Rainbow Row. This is a row of pastel-colored Georgian row houses dating back to the 1740’s. The houses are located on East Bay Street right in the middle of the historic district. These houses used to have businesses on the bottom floor and the owners lived in private residences on the top floor. Now, these are all private houses. We actually talked to one of the owners for a while during our visit. She was super kind in talking with her experience living in such an iconic spot. For the record, she loves it.
No matter when you show up, there will be a ton of people taking pictures of these buildings. That isn’t a bad thing, just know it could be crowded. And it should be, these houses have beauty, history, and charm. This is definitely one of the most beautiful things to do in Charleston.
Tour the Edmondton-Alston House
Charleston is known for its massive antebellum mansions lining the Battery. It is crazy to walk for what seems like miles being surrounded by these gorgeous houses, they are a sight to see. They have so many fun details and many have beautiful gardens surrounding the homes. The houses are not museums, but people actually live in them! Most of them have been passed down from generation to generation. This is old money for sure.
Some of them though are actually museums. There are a couple of houses you can go in to tour. The Edmondton-Alston House is one of them. This house is located at 21 East Battery right on the waterfront. This house was constructed between 1820 and 1828, making it one of the oldest houses on the strand. What is great about this tour is over 90% of what you see in it is authentic. So, most of the furniture you walk by was used by the homeowners. It is a well taken care of museum.
You can do a self-guided or guided tour Tuesday – Saturday from 10 am to 4 pm and Monday from 1 pm to 4 pm. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for kids. You can’t take pictures in the house, but you can when you get out on the balcony. If you are into history and have always wanted to go into one of these mansions to see how the other side lived, this is a good chance.
The Battery
Much of what is on this list is in and around the Battery. The Battery is the seawall and promenade that borders the Charleston harbor at the southern point of Charleston. It was built to protect the city in the 1700’s and the rock structure still stands strong today. It is the perfect place for a leisurely walk. You can see Fort Sumter, Fort Moultrie, the USS Yorktown, and the Sullivan’s Island Lighthouse from the Battery. This is one of the biggest places for tourists to hang out because of the surrounding architecture and parks. Make sure you carve some time out to walk around White Point Garden. It is at the point of the peninsula and is a perfect spot to relax on a nice day. The park is full of statues that tell the history of Charleston, and kids will love the Civil War cannons that line the perimeter.
Charleston Waterfront Park
The Charleston Waterfront Park is one of the best city parks we have been to in our travels. The park sits on the Charleston Harbor and overlooks the Ravenel Bridge. The park runs along Concord St. between Cumberland St. and N. Adgers Wharf. In total, this park boasts 8 acres of open space. There are plenty of seats and swings, and they even have a public covered pier where you can relax.
This park is the ideal spot to take a stroll by the water while enjoying the beauty of Charleston. The tree lined walkways are so pretty and the other native landscaping puts you right in that Charleston mood. There are plenty of great places to eat surrounding the area. The park also has plenty of open space to throw a football around, lay a blanket out and get some sun or have a picnic. The Waterfront Park is a great place to people watch and just relax.
The highlight for us, and many others, are the different water features and fountains they have in the park. You are allowed to get in these on a hot day and cool off, and our boy took advantage of that. The most famous is the Pineapple Fountain. This is a super cool fountain that represents the hospitality that you will experience in Charleston. The Pineapple Fountain is a favorite for people to dip their toes in and get a picture with. There is another larger fountain that is more like a splash pad here as well, so bring a towel.
Sullivan’s Island
Right across the bridge from Charleston is the lovely town of Mt. Pleasant. Mt. Pleasant is an up and coming suburb that has a ton of great food and things to do, and just past that is the town of Sullivan’s Island. This is just a short drive from Charleston, but it is the most popular beach area for people traveling to the area. Here, you have 2.5 miles of pristine beach front which makes for a great place to spend the day or enjoy the sunset.
You need to get here early, because parking spots go fast, especially if you are near the restaurant parking. There are some great restaurants on the beach, The Obstinate Daughter, Home Team Barbecue, Poe’s Tavern and Longboard are all local favorites – and they come with extremely long waits. The food is worth it though. If you are looking for something sweet, check out BeardCats Sweet Shop or Republic Ice Cream.
If you don’t want to walk on the beach, you can take the trail through the maritime forest that connects Fort Moultrie to the historic lighthouse. Whether you are in the forest or on the beach, this is a great place to get away from the city and out into nature.
Historic Charleston City Market
The Charleston City Market is a historic market in the heart of downtown Charleston. Many people believe that this is the place where slaves were bought and sold, but that horrendous practice actually took place at the Old Slave Mart on Meeting St. The Charleston City Market began in 1790 as a place where beef farmers could sell their goods.
Today, the City Market is an awesome place for any visitor to stop by and pick out some Charleston souvenirs, grab a cup of coffee or an ice cold sweet tea. This is an awesome historic building with incredible architecture to enjoy. It is a beautiful building without even going inside. But inside, you really get a feel for the city as you walk through and appreciate all of the local arts and crafts from the region. This is a must stop as you explore downtown.
Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park
Wherever we travel in the United States we make sure we hit up all of the National Park units. National Parks units are not just the big National Parks that you think of like Yellowstone or Grand Canyon. They also include units like National Historical Parks. Charleston has one in the city, and one nearby in Mt. Pleasant (see Charles Pinckney below). Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park tells the story of two Civil War forts.
The main fort is Fort Sumter, which is where the first shots of the Civil War were fired. Fort Sumter has an incredible visitor’s center that does a great job of telling the story of the battle and the war in the area. There are a ton of great artifacts, perhaps the coolest thing is the flag that flew over the fort after the battle. The visitor center is located right next door to Charleston Aquarium, so it makes for a great morning/afternoon in Charleston.
Fort Sumter is out in the harbor, and in order to access it you need to take the ferry that departs from the visitor center. The ferry is not run by the parks service, so you can’t use your parks pass for it. You can only purchase tickets through Fort Sumter Tours. Ferries run from 9 am – 4:30 pm. We recommend taking the earliest ferry you can because of the morning flag ceremony on the island. On the island, you can explore the whole island and learn about the day to day life of the soldiers that were stationed there. They also have a little gift shop in the fort.
Angel Oak Tree
Many people believe that the Angel Oak Tree is the most beautiful tree in the world. We have seen some pretty sweet trees in our travels, and this one would rank very high on the list. This tree is massive, covering over 17,000 square feet of shaded space. The longest branch on the tree is over 185 feet long! It is estimated that the tree is between 400-500 years old. We love how the branches dip to the ground, run along the dirt, and then shoot back up making it look like a completely different tree. You can’t climb on the tree for obvious reasons, but it is great to go and marvel at this natural beauty. If you are lucky, you will even see the white squirrels that scurrying around in the area.
The Angel Oak Tree is located on John’s Island, about a 30 minute drive south of downtown Charleston. If you are going to Kiawah, you will pass right by it. It is an easy and relaxing drive. There is a small gift shop where you can pick up a pin or magnet on site. There is no admission fee, but they typically have people out there with the Save the Angel Oak Tree organization asking for donations.
Charleston Tea Garden
Megan is all about tea. She drinks it morning, afternoon, and evening. Whenever we go anywhere we always have to find something that has to do with tea. So, when we heard that just outside of Charleston was the only tea garden where tea was actually grown in North America, we had to check it out. The Charleston Tea Garden is located on Wadmalaw Island just south of Charleston. It makes for a great morning or afternoon excursion. If you are going when it is hot, we recommend going first thing in the morning and spending the afternoon going in and out of the buildings in Charleston proper.
At the Tea Garden, you can see thousands of actual tea plants where the Bigelow family grows their tea. There is no admission fee to tour the garden. There is a great gift shop with a ton of really fun items to purchase and plenty of free tea samples. You can take a trolley tour of the gardens for a small fee. In addition to all of that fun tea adventure, you can take a tour of their tea factory where you can see how the tea is harvested and prepared. It actually was pretty interesting. If you are a tea lover, this is your chance to see how it all works without flying to another continent.
Charles Pinckney National Historic Site
Now, we would not necessarily recommend this to everyone going to Charleston. However, if you are trying to hunt down all of the National Park Units for your passport book or you love history you have to swing down to Charles Pinckney National Historic Site. This spot is located about 21 miles north of the city center of Charleston in the Mt. Pleasant area. The home is open Friday – Sunday and the grounds are open Wednesday – Sunday. Admission is free.
Charles Pinckney is the ‘forgotten founder’ of America. He was the principal author and signer of the Constitution but you probably didn’t know about him (don’t worry, we hadn’t either until our visit). The park preserves Snee Farm, one of Pinckney’s many properties. It is a relaxing place to go back in time and see how people lived in Revolutionary times. There are a couple of really nice trails as well, making it a perfect place to pack a picnic lunch and to get some exercise.
How many of these beautiful things to do in Charleston have you been to? The fact is, there are many more places to see and visit in Charleston, we have done a lot more on our journeys to the city. Probably enough for another post soon. There are so many wonderful cities to visit in the U.S. as you are going the adventure way, check out our posts below of some of our favorites.
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