The Best of Charleston, South Carolina
Updated: Aug 25, 2021
Tips on how to save money while visiting the Charleston area (like where to park for free, and Free or low budget activities), the best places to eat, which tours to book, and other sites to add to the list for your visit to the Palmetto State.
Charleston and the surrounding cities such as Summerville and Mount Pleasant are some of the lushest places I have ever been! While I still am a mountain girl at heart, South Carolina did convert me to the South Eastern Coast!
What to Do in the Charleston Area:
Magnolia Plantation and Gardens:
The Plantation is located in Summerville, which is about 30-40 minutes outside of Charleston. Magnolia was one of my personal favorites in the South. The plantation was originally 2,000 acres and still has 500 acres today which have been converted into beautiful gardens. They farmed rice here which was a unique cash crop to the area. There are multiple different tours to do here. You can personally walk through the gardens and the horticultural maze, which were lush and green. I had never seen as many trees until I visited South Carolina! There are guided tours for the original Big House, a Tram tour that explores the property, the Slavery to Freedom Tour that shows the slave quarters still standing today, and a boat tour that covers the canals they used to farm. I personally recommend doing the boat tour, the road to freedom tour, and walking the gardens. On foot is really the best way to experience all of the beautiful gardens, and the boat tour is the only way to see the rest of the area as it is all swamp. We saw around 5 or 6 alligators while on the boat tour! The Slave quarters are humbling to say the least. They have 4 different time periods of the slave quarters on the property. The history is somber, but an experience I recommend to everyone. There is also a petting zoo on the property which is great for kids.
Shem’s Creek:
Shem’s Creek is located about 20 minutes outside of the actual city of Charleston, in Mount Pleasant. The wharfs snake through the grass and water for miles with a stunning view that really captures South Carolina. There were hundreds of little crabs running around! This is also where a portion of The Outer Banks on Netflix was filmed. Along the water next to Shem’s creek are many seafood restaurants to eat at after your walk. We ate at the Crab house, which I'll talk more about in the where to eat section.
Isle of Palms Beach:
Also located in Mount Pleasant, is this popular beach, and it’s popular for a reason! I had never been in the Atlantic Ocean before visiting South Carolina, and it by far exceeded my expectations. The water is warm, which makes it pleasant to be in. There are also tide pools to let your little ones play in at lower tides. If you go on the weekend, this beach will most likely be packed shoulder to shoulder, but if you go on a weekday like we did, you will be one of the only people visiting. The Beach was clean, and the water was safe with no rocks or debris nearby. The waves were perfect for body surfing or boogie boarding! Admission on the weekend is $20 per car and on the weekdays $10 per car.
Tour downtown Charleston by Carriage:
There’s something about learning about history while being in the very spot it happened that I love. Charleston has so much personality to it! I recommend doing one of the Horse Carriage tours. We chose one through the information center which ended up getting us a discount. There is just SO MUCH history packed into every square inch. After all, Charleston was around during both the Revolutionary War and the Civil War. The tour guide offered insights to so many details that we would have missed on our own. Even the architecture is so interesting and filled with history about the how and why to the way it is today. This is the best way to see the ins and outs of the city. Also, not having to walk everywhere is great! A few areas I recommend specifically are Legare Street, Market Street, the United States custom house.
Ghost Tours:
With all of the old old history in this part of the country, it brings along some spooky ghost stories. To learn about the darker side of Charleston’s History while seeing around town, take a ghost tour. I recommend the Walks in History Tour with Geordie Buxton if you can. He’s a fabulous tour guide and the stories were creepy in the best way. Book ahead of time as the tours do sell out quick for weeks at a time. The tour covers many of the churches, cemetery's, and area's where fire's destroyed early Charleston. You can book the tour here!
Rainbow row:
Rainbow row is a street in the historic district of Charleston with pastel colored "single house" style homes. This style of pre-Victorian building is unique to the early settler's of Charleston and have piazza’s off the side with privacy doors you won't find anywhere else. The homes are green, pink, yellow and so on. Many of the early settler's first stopped on the Island of Barbados, and brought the pastel colored inspiration with them to America.
The Market:
The Charleston Market is partially an open air market, and partially indoors (with big ol fans to cool you down, thank goodness). Established in the 1790s, and located on Market street, the market stretches for four city blocks the local business owners and vendors set up shop here daily to sell their goods and merchandise. Even if you don’t plan to make a purchase, I recommend walking through to both see all of the hand crafted products available, and to get out of the southern heat for a spell.
The Pier & Pineapple Fountain at WaterFront Park:
The pier in downtown Charleston has great views of the ocean and a fun photo opportunity In front of the Pineapple fountain. The name is well, pretty self explanatory, it’s a fountain with a giant pineapple on top!
Edisto Island:
The island is one hour from the city of Charleston. There are gorgeous beaches to visit along the island such as Edisto Island State Park, Driftwood Beach, and Edingsville Beach. The Edisto Island Serpentarium s a great place to go with kids. If you want to see Gators, Snakes, Lizards and more up close, the Serpentarium is worth the money! You can buy your tickets Here.
Where to Eat:
Southern food just hits different. There’s nothing like it! I’m sure I came back 10 lbs heavier from this trip! Every Pound of Shrimp n Grits and Hush Puppies was worth it for sure though.
For southern BBQ:
Swig n Swine. Not to be dramatic, but this was the *BEST* bbq I have ever had in my entire life. Hands down, amazing all around. The brisket grilled cheese sandwich blew my mind. I will crave this sandwich everyday until the day I die. Their corn pudding was another southern classic that exceeded my expectations, as well as their coleslaw. You can explore their menu here.
For Seafood:
The crab house. With locations in Mount Pleasant along Shem’s creek, in downtown Charleston, and James Island. The Crab house had great seafood! If you’re wanting to go for some southern classics, their hush puppies, She Crab Soup, and shrimp 'n grits were amazing! If you get there early enough for brunch, their Hash is filling, warm, and delicious. Here is their menu and hours.
For a bit of it all:
Page’s Okra Grill. Also located in Mount Pleasant right down the street from Isle of Palms Beach. Their spin on chicken and waffles comes with a savory waffle stuffed with cheese, corn, sausage, and jalapeños. Topped with fried chicken and maple syrup it makes for a equally savory and sweet dinner. Their sweet potato casserole is different than any I’ve tried elsewhere, very creamy and subtly sweet. They also have wonderful southern BBQ and seafood. The service was great here! They also have a Food truck in Summerville that offer's a few of their most popular dishes.
How to Save money on your visit to the Palmetto State:
Free Activities:
Many of the options I highlighted above are free, but I'll round up a list for you here.
Walk the Pier and See the Pineapple Fountain
See The Battery at White Point Garden
Walk Shem's Creek
City Art Gallery at WaterFront Park (Near the Pineapple Fountain)
Free/Cheap Parking:
In the downtown historic district of Charleston, you can find free parking at The Battery at White Point Garden. This is the only free parking in the city as far as I am aware. Don’t call this battery park to the locals though, they will tell you that’s in New York ;) Parking on the streets of Charleston is free on Sundays and after 6 where posted as well.
There is also very affordable parking behind the U.S. Customs House near Market Street.
Visit the Information Center
The information/tourist center is something we actually make sure to stop at on every trip we take! A local most likely works there and this is how we’ve found out about some of the less touristy things to do. They also have given us discounts on local tours. In Charleston the information center gave us a discount on the carriage tour we took as well as the ghost tours.
Book Bundle Packages:
Many of the tourist attractions offered bundle packages at a discounted rate when you booked multiple tours/activities at once. Make sure to ask about this!
If doing a bus tour, choose the all day option for a free shuttle.
A few of the bus tours offered “all day tour passes”. This means that you are free to board the bus at anytime from any stop, not just during your scheduled tour. This acts as a free shuttle throughout the day which is convenient.
Negotiate Prices at the Market:
Many of the Vendors at the Market are willing to negotiate on prices with you. The worst they can say is no. Of course, do be respectful of the time and efforts of the vendors, but they do appreciate your business.
Download the Charleston City Paper:
The Online version of the City paper features events going on each week, many of which happen to be free, or offer discounts to local restaurants and attractions at times as well.
Walk instead of using Uber/Lyft:
The city is very walkable. You can get anywhere you need to be on foot in under 15 minutes. Uber and Lyft can add up quick, and traffic can get backed up on these narrow roads, so sometimes walking is just as quick as catching a ride.
Seasonal Travel:
We've found that in the off season of visiting tourist locations, prices are often reduced as demand is down for their services. Try to book in the off season where you can!
Links to things I loved having on this trip:
All items are linked both in the item title as well as at the end of the description.
These biker shorts were perfect for the plane ride, and walking around in the South Carolina heat all week! Very Versatile and comfortable, I dressed them up and down the entire time! Linked Here.
These leggings genuinely compete with Lululemon, and are only $25!! Absolutely Buttery Smooth. I wore them on the plane home as well as during the days we traveled a lot. I have them in 5 different colors and wear at least one pair almost every day whether to the gym or dress them up with a cute tee. Leggings linked here!!
These jeans are stretchy and lightweight, but also high quality! Perfect for eating all of those yummy southern dishes and not having your jeans fit too tight after if you know what I mean. These also weren't too hot even in the August heat. Jeans Linked Here.
I love this shirt if you are wanting to dress up your outfit a bit more, while not sacrificing comfort. (If you haven't caught on, comfort is huge to me lol). Linked here!
These sandals slip nicely into a backpack or suitcase. I loved them for our beach days! Also completes a cute outfit with the shirt and jeans linked above! Linked here.
I'm a big Fan of Cheetah, and These cheetah sandals also pair great with the outfit above. Cheetah Sandals linked here!
We used this tripod our entire vacation to capture pictures! The bluetooth remote is easy to use and this made getting memorable shots a breeze! Tripod Linked here.
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