Walking the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge ('Wonders' Way') & Paddling Blackwater Cypress Gardens

Seeing Charleston Harbor from 57 metres in the air for free, and then paddling a flat-bottomed rowboat through a mirror-black cypress swamp that looks like a painting, are two of the Lowcountry's best outdoor experiences.

1. Walk or Cycle Across the 'Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge' (Wonders' Way, Free)

Opened in 2005 with two soaring 175-metre-tall diamond-shaped cable-stayed towers, the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge spans the Cooper River between Downtown Charleston and Mount Pleasant, and built along its southern edge facing the harbour is Wonders' Way, a 3.6-metre-wide protected pedestrian and bicycle path:

• The Easiest Way to Walk to the Peak (3.2 km Round-Trip, 40 Mins): instead of walking the entire 4-kilometre span from end to end, park for free at the Mount Pleasant Memorial Waterfront Park (underneath the eastern foot of the bridge at 99 Harry M. Hallman Jr. Blvd, which also has a 380-metre wooden fishing pier, playground and cafe). Walk 1.6 kilometres up the gentle incline to the 57-metre-high centre peak between the diamond towers, looking straight down onto the flight deck of the USS Yorktown, container ships passing beneath your shoes, and the church-steepled skyline of Charleston at sunset.

2. Row a Boat Through 'Cypress Gardens' (In Moncks Corner, 35 Mins North)

Created in 1750 as the freshwater reservoir for Dean Hall Rice Plantation and opened as a botanical garden in 1931, 80-acre Cypress Gardens (3030 Cypress Gardens Rd, Moncks Corner, 35 minutes north via I-26 and US-52) is where the white-swan rowboat scene in The Notebook (as well as The Patriot) was filmed.

• Self-Guided Swamp Rowboats Included With Admission: check the official park website for general admission rates, which include use of the swamp boats at no extra cost. Pick up paddles and life jackets at the wooden dock and step into a stable flat-bottomed johnboat. Following numbered buoy markers, you row silently for 45 to 60 minutes through towering 100-year-old bald cypress and tupelo gum trees rising out of the mirror-still black water, spotting turtles, wood ducks, owls and basking alligators, before walking the swamp footpaths and Butterfly House.