Charleston’s History & Beauty

One of the oldest cities in the country, Charleston is famed for its history and architecture, its great weather, and its lowcountry cusine, with dozens of major festivals and events providing an additional draw for the millions of visitors who travel to the city each year.

In Charleston’s Historic District you will find palmetto-lined streets of 18th- and 19th-century homes and buildings, the city and its culture a unique blend of British, French and West African influences.

Around Charleston’s French Quarter are the city’s oldest buildings, with cobbled streets and narrow alleys. Along the Battery and in the adjacent South of Broad district are White Point Garden and the mansions of Charleston’s past and present elite. King Street and Meeting Street provide dozens of shops, galleries and museums.

→ More about Charleston’s Historic District

Things To Do In Charleston

Within Charleston’s historic peninsula alone there are dozens of tourist attractions and things to do. Museums, large and small, many of them located inside significant historic buildings, document the history of the city and state. Historic mansions allow an insight into the former lives of Charleston’s elite and the people they enslaved. There is also a vibrant cultural scene, with art galleries and museums, theaters, concerts and other performances.

There is plenty to do beyond Charleston too. On a small island in the harbor sits Fort Sumter, famous for its role in the Civil War. The bay and its surrounding islands are easily explored by boat trip, either straight out of Charleston or from nearby marinas. Further afield are several surviving examples of the forced-labor plantations that made Charleston one of the wealthiest antebellum cities in the United States.

The Charleston Harbor too is an attraction in its own right, with sightseeing boat tours and sunset cruises of the harbor and its key points of interest.

Kayak trips into the marshes at Shem Creek, opposite the Charleston peninsula in Mount Pleasant, offer a fun nature experience only minutes from downtown Charleston, or for a less active (and free) alternative, you can stroll along the boardwalk at Shem Creek Park.

Not far from Shem Creek is one of Charleston’s best museums, the Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum, most of which is set aboard the huge decommissioned aircraft carrier USS Yorktown, visible from downtown Charleston.

Charleston also offers a wide array of festivals and annual events. The Spoleto and Piccolo Spoleto festivals are an early summer highlight, with many other large events centered around music, food and wine, and the performing arts.

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→ See also Charleston’s events by month: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, or December.

South Carolina’s Lowcountry & Coast

Charleston is ideally positioned within day trip distance of the historic cities of Beaufort and Georgetown; the sea islands, beaches and nature sites of the Carolina coast; and dozens of points of historic interest.

Several beaches are within only a few minutes of downtown Charleston, with the beaches of Folly Island to the south of the city, and those of Sullivan’s Island and Isle of Palms to its east. The undeveloped and more secluded Capers and Bulls Islands, accessible only by boat or kayak, also make for great day trips out of Charleston.

→ Things to do near Charleston

Several of the barrier islands further north and south of Charleston are popular vacation destinations, offering a mix of public beach communities and private resorts. Hilton Head Island and Myrtle Beach are also both within 2 hours of the city, and the beautiful and historic city of Savannah, Georgia is likewise only around 2 hours or so away.

If you have access to a car, getting around the lowcountry and coastal region is easy. Even if you are reliant on walking and public transport, it is possible to experience the salt marshes and tidal creeks of the lowcountry on nature-focused boat tours out of the city.

→ More about South Carolina’s lowcountry and coast