🏙️ Things to Do · Charleston, SC
Things to Do in Charleston, SC
66 real, verified attractions across every category — historic sites, plantations, beaches, harbor cruises, golf, and more — so you can plan around what you actually want to do instead of scrolling a generic list.
🏆 12 Categories
✅ Verified Direct Sources
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🌳 Plantations
🏖️ Beaches
⛵ Boat Tours
🏆 Food Tours
🛒 Shopping
🎭 Arts & Culture
🌳 Parks
⛳ Golf
👻 Tours
🐟 Family Fun
🍻 Nightlife
Tips
FAQ
Charleston’s historic peninsula packs an extraordinary concentration of house museums, forts, and churches into a few walkable square miles, with Rainbow Row’s pastel facades, the King Street shopping corridor, and Waterfront Park’s Pineapple Fountain among the free sights worth building a walk around even though they don’t have a dedicated ticket or tour to link to. Beyond downtown, plantations line the Ashley River, barrier-island beaches ring the harbor, and Kiawah’s Ocean Course draws golfers from around the world. We checked each attraction and operator directly against its own official site rather than a generic aggregator list.
Houses, Forts & Landmarks
The Battery & White Point Garden
Public park and seawall promenade at the tip of the peninsula with Civil War-era cannons and monuments.
Fort Sumter National Monument
Civil War fort in Charleston Harbor where the first shots of the war were fired, accessible only by boat.
Fort Moultrie
Revolutionary War-era coastal defense fort on Sullivan’s Island, part of the same National Park unit as Fort Sumter.
Nathaniel Russell House Museum
1808 Federal-style townhouse with a free-flying spiral staircase, operated by Historic Charleston Foundation.
Aiken-Rhett House Museum
Preserved 19th-century townhouse complex shown in unrestored, as-found condition.
Heyward-Washington House
1772 Georgian house museum where George Washington stayed in 1791.
Joseph Manigault House
1803 Federal-style house museum operated by The Charleston Museum.
Edmondston-Alston House
1825 Battery mansion with a rooftop piazza used by Confederate officers to watch the bombardment of Fort Sumter.
Old Exchange & Provost Dungeon
1771 customs building and Revolutionary War-era prison, operated by the Daughters of the American Revolution.
The Powder Magazine
1713 building, the oldest public building in South Carolina, once used to store gunpowder.
Old Slave Mart Museum
City-operated museum on the site of a former slave auction facility, telling the history of Charleston’s domestic slave trade.
The Charleston Museum
Founded in 1773, the first museum in America, with Lowcountry natural and cultural history collections.
Gibbes Museum of Art
Fine arts museum focused on the art of Charleston and the American South.
H.L. Hunley Submarine
The first submarine to sink an enemy warship (1864), on display for tours at the Warren Lasch Conservation Center.
St. Philip’s Church
Historic Anglican/Episcopal church whose graveyard holds John C. Calhoun and DuBose Heyward.
Circular Congregational Church
One of America’s oldest congregations (1681) with a distinctive round sanctuary and historic graveyard.
Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum
Museum aircraft carrier (USS Yorktown) and naval history complex in Mount Pleasant across the harbor.
Dock Street Theatre
Restored 1809 theater on the site of the first theater built in America (1736), home of Charleston Stage.
Ashley River Road & Beyond
Magnolia Plantation and Gardens
Historic rice plantation on the Ashley River with America’s oldest public gardens, opened 1870.
Middleton Place
18th-century plantation with the oldest landscaped gardens in America, a National Historic Landmark.
Boone Hall Plantation & Gardens
Working plantation dating to 1681, known for its Avenue of Oaks and original slave cabins.
Drayton Hall
1738 Palladian plantation house, the oldest preserved plantation house in America open to the public, left unrestored and unfurnished by design.
McLeod Plantation Historic Site
Former Sea Island cotton plantation on James Island focused on the enslaved experience and Reconstruction history.
Cypress Gardens
Former plantation reserve with a blackwater cypress swamp, boat rides, and a butterfly house.
Charleston Tea Garden
Working tea plantation on Wadmalaw Island, the only large-scale tea garden in North America.
Barrier Islands
Folly Beach
Popular barrier-island beach town known as “The Edge of America,” known for surfing and a fishing pier.
Isle of Palms Beach
Family beach town northeast of Charleston with a long sandy beach.
Sullivan’s Island Beach
Quieter residential-island beach near Fort Moultrie.
Kiawah Beachwalker Park
Charleston County-operated public beach access park on Kiawah Island with 300+ acres of oceanfront.
Folly Beach County Park
County-operated beach park at the west end of Folly Beach.
See Charleston From the Water
Fort Sumter Tours
The official NPS ferry concessionaire running boat service to Fort Sumter from Liberty Square and Patriots Point.
SpiritLine Cruises
Charleston Harbor sightseeing, dinner, and sunset cruises.
Charleston Harbor Tours (Schooner Pride)
Tall-ship sailing tours of Charleston Harbor aboard an 84-foot schooner.
Charleston Pirate Tours
Family-oriented pirate-themed adventure cruises on the harbor.
Coastal Expeditions
Eco-tour and ferry operator running trips to Bulls Island and Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge.
Tastings, Walks & Distilleries
Charleston Culinary Tours
Guided food-and-history walking tours through downtown Charleston restaurants and markets.
Bulldog Tours – Food Tours
Walking food tours sampling Lowcountry cuisine from Charleston’s largest tour operator.
High Wire Distilling Co.
Craft distillery producing Lowcountry-sourced spirits, with tours and tastings.
Firefly Distillery
Distillery producing Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka, on Wadmalaw Island near Charleston Tea Garden.
City Market
Charleston City Market
Historic 1804 open-air market shed spanning four blocks with local vendors, crafts, and an evening Night Market.
Festivals, Theater & Music
Spoleto Festival USA
Internationally renowned 17-day performing arts festival — opera, dance, theater, and music — held each spring.
Piccolo Spoleto Festival
The City of Charleston’s companion arts festival running concurrently with Spoleto, showcasing regional artists.
Charleston Gaillard Center
Performing arts center and concert hall hosting symphony, ballet, and touring performances.
Charleston Stage
Resident professional theater company performing in the historic Dock Street Theatre.
Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art
Contemporary art gallery at the College of Charleston featuring rotating exhibitions.
County Parks & National Forest
James Island County Park
643-acre county park with bike trails, a dog park, a climbing wall, and a seasonal water park.
Angel Oak Park
Park on Johns Island home to a Southern live oak estimated at 400-500+ years old, one of the oldest living things east of the Mississippi.
Palmetto Islands County Park
Marsh-front county park near Mount Pleasant with boardwalks, an observation tower, and a splash zone.
Francis Marion National Forest
250,000-acre national forest north of Charleston with hiking, biking, and paddling trails.
Championship & Public Courses
The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort
Pete Dye-designed oceanfront championship course, host of multiple PGA Championships and the Ryder Cup.
Wild Dunes Resort Golf
Two Tom Fazio-designed courses (Links and Harbor) on Isle of Palms.
Charleston Municipal Golf Course
City-owned public golf course on James Island.
Patriots Point Links
Public golf course on Charleston Harbor near Patriots Point with Ravenel Bridge views.
Charleston National Golf Club
Rees Jones-designed public course in Mount Pleasant.
Historic District on Foot or by Carriage
Bulldog Tours – Ghost & History Tours
Downtown ghost, dungeon, and history walking tours.
Old South Carriage Company
Horse-drawn carriage tours of the historic district.
Palmetto Carriage Works
Horse-drawn carriage tours departing from the historic “Big Red Barn.”
Tour Charleston – Ghosts of Charleston
Walking ghost and history tour company.
Original Ghost Walk
Self-described first ghost tour company in Charleston, offering walking tours of haunted sites.
Aquarium, Museums & Sports
South Carolina Aquarium
Waterfront aquarium featuring Lowcountry and Atlantic marine ecosystems and a sea turtle rehabilitation program.
Children’s Museum of the Lowcountry
Interactive hands-on museum for young children in downtown Charleston.
Charleston RiverDogs
Minor League Baseball team (New York Yankees affiliate) playing at Joseph P. Riley Jr. Park downtown.
Charleston Battery
Professional USL Championship soccer club playing home matches at Patriots Point.
Rooftops, Live Music & Breweries
The Rooftop at The Vendue
Rooftop bar atop The Vendue hotel with panoramic harbor and skyline views.
Charleston Pour House
Live-music venue on James Island featuring local and touring bands, with an outdoor Sunday brewery market.
Edmund’s Oast Brewing Co.
Local craft brewery and taproom with a full restaurant.
Planning Tips for This Area
- Fort Sumter requires a boat. You can only reach it via the official concessionaire ferry from Liberty Square downtown or Patriots Point in Mount Pleasant — book the ferry, not just a general admission ticket.
- Plantations are a half-day commitment each. Magnolia, Middleton Place, Boone Hall, and Drayton Hall are all along the Ashley River corridor but each takes 2-4 hours — pick one or two rather than trying to see all four in a day.
- Spoleto season (late May-early June) changes everything. The historic district gets significantly busier and hotel rates rise; book tours and dinner reservations well ahead if visiting then.
- Hours and tour schedules change without notice. Every detail above was pulled from the operator’s own site, but call ahead or check online before you go, especially for seasonal attractions.
Which plantation should I visit if I only have time for one?
Magnolia Plantation has the most extensive gardens and the widest range of tour options (house, gardens, nature train, boat tour). Drayton Hall is the choice if you want an unrestored, architecturally significant house rather than a garden-focused visit.
Do I need a car to see Charleston’s historic downtown sites?
No — most of the historic house museums, churches, and Rainbow Row are within walking distance of each other on the peninsula. You’ll want a car (or a tour) for the plantations, beaches, and Kiawah/Seabrook.
Is Rainbow Row worth visiting even though it’s just a street?
Yes — it’s a row of privately-owned historic homes, not a museum, so there’s no ticket or tour, but it’s a short, free walk along East Bay Street and one of the most photographed blocks in Charleston.
How does NME choose which attractions to feature?
We verify each attraction or operator directly against its own official site rather than relying on aggregator lists, and we exclude anything we can’t confirm firsthand. Read more on our methodology page.
Know an Attraction We Missed?
If you know a great Charleston-area attraction, tour, or activity we’re missing, email us and we’ll take a look.
Heading to Charleston?
See the full trip guide — where to stay and where to eat, organized the same way, by category.
