Best Things to Do in Charleston

Charleston blends three centuries of preserved coastal architecture and museum-grade gardens with barrier-island beaches and dolphin creeks. Here are the ten experiences that define a visit.

1. Walk from the Pineapple Fountain at Waterfront Park past Rainbow Row to The Battery. Follow the Cooper River pier swings south past 13 pastel Georgian row houses to the 1830s seawall and live oaks of White Point Garden.
2. Explore the 1804 Historic Charleston City Market & cobblestone Chalmers Street. Watch over 60 Gullah Geechee artisans sew sweetgrass baskets and stroll past the Pink House (1712) and Dock Street Theatre in the French Quarter.
3. Take the harbour ferry to Fort Sumter National Monument & board the USS Yorktown Aircraft Carrier. Stand on the island fortress where the first shots of the Civil War were fired on 12 April 1861, and tour 28 naval aircraft on the deck of the 'Fighting Lady' at Patriots Point.
4. Visit the International African American Museum (IAAM) at Gadsden's Wharf. Experience one of America's most important museums, elevated on pillars above the historic port of arrival of nearly half of all enslaved Africans in North America.

5. Tour the 1808 Nathaniel Russell House, 1820 Aiken-Rhett House & stroll King Street. See a three-storey free-flying spiral staircase and an untouched 1850s urban estate before browsing historic Lower King Street.
6. Stand beneath the 400-year-old Angel Oak Tree on Johns Island & visit the Charleston Tea Garden. Marvel at a sprawling live oak casting 1,580 square metres of shade (free entry) and ride a trolley through America's only commercial tea plantation.
7. Walk the 1741 terraced gardens of Middleton Place, Magnolia Plantation or Boone Hall. Explore America's oldest landscaped gardens and the 1743 Avenue of Oaks.
8. Paddle or dine with wild dolphins at Shem Creek & sail on the Schooner Pride. Walk the 650-metre wooden boardwalk over a shrimp-boat creek where bottlenose dolphins swim alongside kayakers.

9. Swim at Folly Beach (Morris Island Lighthouse Walk) or Sullivan's Island. Walk the graffiti-painted road to the Folly Lighthouse inlet or visit Edgar Allan Poe's Fort Moultrie.
10. Feast on She-Crab Soup, Local Creek Shrimp & Whole-Hog Carolina BBQ. Dine along East Bay and Upper King Streets.