Charming Charleston

Whether you’re a history or architecture buff, food and beverage aficionado, beach bum, golfer, or shopper extraordinaire, Charleston has something for you! With such a long and complicated history, Charleston’s downtown area and the surrounding environs can be experienced through many lenses. Below are just a few things to do and see, and places to use as your home base while you explore.

What to Do

History: Tours, Tours and More Tours — Having been established in the 1600s, Charleston has seen a lot of history, from colonial times through slavery and the Civil War, as well as more modern events. The best-known tours are conducted by knowledgeable guides driving horse-drawn carriages. But there also are a slew of historic home and plantation tours, ghost tours, garden tours, literary tours, and architecture tours, among other choices. Another option for DIY-ers is to stop by the Charleston Visitor’s Center to pick up information and a map to conduct your own self-guided tour. There are QR codes on historical markers all around the city that allow you to get more information and narration about each marked site.

Lowcountry Literature: Follow in the steps of Edgar Allan Poe on Sullivan’s Island or search for his beloved Annabel Lee in the Unitarian Church graveyard, or visit the Citadel and other locations made famous by Pat Conroy. On our trip, I searched out the childhood home of abolitionists and women’s rights advocates Sarah and Angelina Grimke, whose story was introduced to a new generation in Sue Monk Kidd’s historical fiction novel The Invention of Wings. It was a great combination of literary and historical travel!

Food & Drink: Charleston has become quite the hub for a wide variety of food and beverage choices, from the traditional lowcountry boil, oyster roasts, biscuits and she-crab soup to the elevated farm-to-table and ethnic cuisines that have sprung up more recently. There are also a large number of rooftop bars with delicious craft cocktails and amazing views of the city. Check out this article from Conde Nast for a list of some of Charleston’s must-eat-and-drink locations.

Recreation: Combine your touring of Charleston with a bike or scooter rental, or cross one of the bridges to venture just outside of the city to the surrounding islands for beachcombing, surfing and great golf. The Shem Creek area of Mt. Pleasant, just over the Ravenel Bridge, has several places to rent kayaks and stand-up paddleboards. Dolphins are frequent visitors on these outings!

Where to Stay

In the City – From world-class 5-star hotels like The Charleston Place and Hotel Bennet to small boutique inns such as Zero George and Indigo Inn, you’d be hard-pressed to find a place that doesn’t reflect the heritage and feel of Charleston.

Outside the City/Resorts – Golf, beaches, family activities, restaurants, and many more activities await you at these resorts that are a world away from the city but close enough to make a downtown jaunt easily accessible.

For family fun, a girlfriends or guys getaway, a special occasion or romantic rendezvous, Charleston has it all! Contact us at Legacy Travel Designs to help you curate your perfect lowcountry adventure!