My Charleston Travel Guide

Charleston is my very favorite city. There is just something special about walking through the streets of downtown and admiring the beautiful history all around you. It’s pure magic.

We visited Charleston for the first time in November 2023. As soon as we got home, I couldn’t wait to plan our next trip back. We recently took another trip to Charleston for our 12th wedding anniversary and it was wonderful time! The weather was perfection, I highly recommend going in either March or November. Both times of year allow for walking comfortably around the city during the day and aren’t too chilly at night to walk to dinner or a fun spot on King Street.

Ryan & I are both huge history buffs, a city like Charleston is right up our alley.  There are so many attractions to see and tours to take!  It can be overwhelming if you don't plan ahead of time.  One thing I did in preparation for our first trip was to download the TripIt app.  It made it so much easier to plan out each day: where we wanted to eat along with our reservation details, what places we wanted to see and the tours we had booked. Basically, all things vacation related were gathered in a single place!  I also used the Google Maps app to pin all of the spots we planned to go to while in Charleston.

If this is your first trip to Charleston, I suggest going for at least 3 full days to get the most out of your time there!

Below is the list of our favorite spots: things to see, places to go & restaurants to check out.

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What to See

• Boone Hall Plantation & Gardens

  It is a little bit outside of Charleston in Mt. Pleasant, if you are staying downtown you would need to rent a car or Uber.

  

  Boone Hall

• Drayton Hall

  This is in North Charleston, closer to the airport. We went here as soon as we landed since it was so close by.

  

  Drayton Hall

• Magnolia Plantation & Gardens

  This is on the same road as Drayton Hall.

Magnolia Plantation & Gardens

• The Battery, Rainbow Row & the Pineapple Fountain (Downtown Charleston)

  
  
  

  

  

  

  

  

• Fort Sumter

  

  Fort Sumter

  
  

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Where to Eat & Drink

Breakfast & Brunch	Lunch & Casual Dinner	Dinner	Drinks & Dessert
Virginia's on King	Jack’s Tavern	Hall’s Chophouse	Church & Union
Callie's Hot Little Biscuit	Matador	Hank's Seafood	The Spectator Hotel
Iron Rose	Uptown Social	Poogan's Porch	Jeni's Ice Cream
Millers All Day	Home Team BBQ	Husk	Carmella's