Charleston, South Carolina, constantly ranks on “better of” lists, together with TPG’s personal 18 finest locations to journey in 2023, and for good motive. It is dwelling to historic websites and landmarks, quite a lot of eclectic artwork galleries, and different purchasing alternatives.
Foodies flock to Charleston for its recent from-the-dock seafood, soulful Gullah-inspired Lowcountry delicacies, eating places helmed by James Beard Award-winning cooks and a thriving cocktail scene.
Moreover, it is a great pre- or post-cruise trip. Carnival Cruise Line’s Carnival Sunshine dwelling ports in Charleston, with different itineraries to the Bahamas, and American Cruise Strains provides Intracoastal Waterway cruises to Florida.
Though Charleston is South Carolina’s largest metropolis, its historic downtown is simple to discover on foot. Procuring, eating and sights are inside shut proximity, so you’ll be able to discover quite a bit in a brief period of time.
Listed below are a couple of methods to spend your weekend on this charming Southern metropolis.
Getting there and round
Charleston Worldwide Airport (CHS) is round quarter-hour from the downtown historic district. There are a number of every day nonstop flights from numerous U.S. cities like Atlanta, Charlotte, New York Metropolis, Chicago, Baltimore, Dallas and Seattle.
Town can also be a preferred road-trip vacation spot for guests from Charlotte; Atlanta; Knoxville, Tennessee; Savannah, Georgia; and Jacksonville, Florida.
Day 1
Hero Doughnuts & Buns
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Gasoline up for a day of purchasing and sightseeing at this in style spot on Calhoun Avenue. It began as a pop-up in Homewood, Alabama, and the recent brioche-style yeast doughnuts and buns shortly captured followers and style buds. The primary brick-and-mortar store opened in 2017, and right now you may discover a number of outposts in Alabama and others in Nashville, Atlanta and Charleston.
The menu additionally expanded to incorporate breakfast sandwiches, salads and lunch buns. Craving a burger for breakfast? No downside right here. They’re obtainable beginning at 7 a.m.
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Normal doughnut favorites like “The OG” vanilla glazed, chocolate glazed, vanilla cream and sprinkles can be found day by day. Different flavors rotate however could embrace maple sea salt, raspberry jam and cereal milk (topped with crushed Fruity Pebbles cereal).
Procuring alongside King Avenue
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You will discover a good mixture of upscale chain shops and specialty boutique retailers alongside King Avenue.
Replenish on the newest must-haves at City Outfitters, Anthropologie, Free Individuals, Gretchen Scott and Kate Spade. Regionally owned retailers function a various array of clothes, dwelling decor gadgets and souvenirs.
Children on King shares the cutest outfits for infants and children — smocked rompers and attire, whimsical sleepwear and swimsuits, and a wide selection of holiday-themed clothes. There’s additionally a wide selection of toys, puzzles and studying video games.
The colourful lanterns within the entrance window will probably draw you into 7 Hills Residing. Its vibrant rugs, dishes, lamps, clothes and jewellery will maintain you searching for a while.
Fulfill all of your Barbie Dream Closet goals at LoveShackFancy. Dripping with pink, lace, ruffles and floral pastels, this store is a wonderland of eye sweet.
Charleston Metropolis Market
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A Nationwide Historic Landmark, the market is on the intersection of Market and Assembly streets and stretches 4 blocks. A lot of the buildings had been constructed between 1804 and the 1830s and served as town’s marketplace for most of that point.
At this time, the open-air venue showcases greater than 100 artists and distributors promoting crafts, prints, jewellery, spices and different merchandise. Watch native artisans weaving the enduring coiled sweetgrass baskets (which you should purchase). The ability was handed down via generations from their African ancestors.
The Metropolis Market is open every day from 9:30 a.m. to five:30 p.m. In the event you go to throughout a summer season weekend, keep away from the warmth of the day and store through the Evening Market. It is open Friday and Saturday from 6:30 to 10:30 p.m.
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Head upstairs to The Museum at Market Corridor for an in depth glimpse of Charleston’s previous. The museum options a powerful assortment of Civil Struggle-era artifacts, portraits, images, paperwork and clothes. Gadgets embrace authentic wool uniforms, a drum utilized in each the Revolutionary and Civil wars and a rifle cannon that was made in Charleston in 1861. There’s even a lock of Gen. Robert E. Lee’s hair that his barber minimize whereas getting ready Lee’s physique for burial.
The museum is open Thursday via Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is $7 for adults and $3 for guests ages 6 to 12. Lively navy members, veterans and kids age 5 and below enter without spending a dime.
Rainbow Row
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On East Bay Avenue, this part of 13 pastel-painted historic properties might be probably the most photographed elements of Charleston. You will additionally spy these iconic properties on work, postcards and different souvenirs all through town.
Lunch at Circe’s Grotto
This native favourite on Wentworth Avenue is a superb place for made-to-order paninis, sandwiches, wraps and salads.
Lunch gadgets begin from $12 (for the mozzarella panini or grilled cheese). Cool off with one of many fresh-squeezed lemonades ($5 and price each penny). Add a taste (strawberry, blood orange, peach, mango and others) for simply 75 cents.
Seating is proscribed inside, however the restaurant has a pleasant shaded patio for purchasers.
Afternoon on the Charleston Tea Backyard
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Exterior of downtown Charleston on Wadmalaw Island, the Charleston Tea Backyard makes for an attention-grabbing aspect journey. It is the one tea backyard in North America the place friends can tour the 127-acre grounds. At the moment, over 320 sorts of black and inexperienced teas are produced at this facility.
Inside, guests can take pleasure in limitless free scorching or iced tea (and take it with them as they tour). Sip your tea Southern fashion whereas enjoyable in one in all a number of porch rockers.
There is not any admission payment for a primary tour. Nonetheless, friends can take a trolley tour via the tea discipline and to the greenhouse for $15.
Cocktails and bites at Little Palm
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The Ryder Resort made our record of finest inns in Charleston, however you do not have to be a visitor to benefit from the gem that’s Little Palm. The breezy poolside restaurant and cocktail bar offers superb retro South Seashore vibes.
In the event you aren’t tremendous hungry, shareable plates just like the peel-and-eat shrimp with jalapeno cocktail sauce ($16) and the crab hushpuppies with pepperoncini aioli ($14) are excellent (and engaging). Go for the fish po’ boy or the two-patty smash burger if you happen to want one thing extra substantial.
Comfortable hour is Monday via Thursday from 4 to six p.m. with $12 cocktails, $8 beers and $8 home wine (select from crimson mix or sauvignon blanc). The inventive no-alcohol cocktails ($10), just like the Faculty Evening (nonalcoholic dry riesling, citrus cordial, mulled hibiscus water), are scrumptious, too.
Day 2
Bitty & Beau’s Espresso
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If a fast shot of caffeine and constructive vibes are all you want to get going for the day, you may get it in spades at Bitty & Beau’s.
Founders Amy and Ben Wright opened the primary Bitty & Beau’s in 2016 in Wilmington, North Carolina, with the objective of using principally individuals with mental and developmental disabilities. The espresso store is the namesake of their two youngest youngsters, who each have Down syndrome.
They’ve a card-only coverage, and after ordering, clients obtain a enjoying card as a substitute of a quantity, making the transaction simpler for the staff. The Charleston outpost at 159 Church Avenue is one in all 24 in 12 states and Washington, D.C. At the moment, Bitty & Beau’s espresso retailers make use of greater than 400 individuals with disabilities.
When you sip in your freshly ready espresso, take a look at their branded gadgets — mugs, shirts, tumblers, hats and different merchandise.
Worldwide African American Museum
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Twenty years within the making, the 150,000-square-foot museum lastly opened in June on Gadsden’s Wharf. Its location is important — from 1772-1808, the wharf was the nation’s largest slave public sale website. In truth, historians imagine that round 90% of African People can hint one ancestor again to Charleston.
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The museum is specified by a sequence of 9 galleries that showcase interactive displays and greater than 150 artifacts, and practically 50 movies and interactive digital experiences that share compelling tales of survival and resilience. A number of smaller galleries function topic-specific installations and art work. Some displays will rotate all year long.
One explicit gallery is dedicated to the West African-born Gullah Geechee tradition of South Carolina. Company sit on wood pews inside the “reward home” for a shifting movie in regards to the significance of the sanctuary and the music that flowed from it.
The museum additionally homes a family tree analysis middle to assist guests hint their ancestors’ journey from their arrival on land.
Normal admission tickets on a timed-entry foundation are $19.95. Tickets for youth (age 6-16), seniors (62-plus) and veterans and energetic navy members are $9.95. We advocate buying your tickets previous to your go to to safe a spot.
Gibbes Museum of Artwork
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Constructed in 1905, the Gibbes is the South’s oldest museum facility. The constructing itself is a murals.
The three-story museum homes over 10,000 artworks. There is not any price to peruse the primary flooring or the well-curated reward store; the second- and third-floor galleries require a ticket. Everlasting galleries stuffed with work, images, sculptures and furnishings present a powerful introduction to artwork from the American South. The Gibbes additionally includes a handful of particular exhibitions every year.
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Tickets are $12 for these 18 and older; $10 for faculty college students, seniors and members of the navy; and $6 for youngsters age 4-17. Patrons below 3 are free.
Dinner at Frannie & The Fox
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Located inside Emeline, downtown’s beautiful boutique lodge on Church Avenue, this buzzy wood-fired eatery in some way manages each a homey and posh ambiance. (Emeline additionally made our record of finest inns in Charleston.)
Menu elements are sourced regionally, and the menu mirrors the seasons to make sure the freshest doable dishes. Select from hand-tossed pizzas, salads and hearty mains of steak, recent seafood and decadent pastas. The Margherita pizza ($18) and Caesar salad ($13) acquired excessive marks from our desk.
Pair your meal with an expertly crafted cocktail. We advocate the Violet Beauregarde ($16) made with Past Distilling tropical gin, blueberry liqueur, pasubio amaro and lemon.
Cocktails at Citrus Membership
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The Dewberry Charleston’s rooftop cocktail bar is extraordinarily in style with locals and vacationers — the 21-and-over set, that’s. It is a great spot to wind down after a day of exploring and take in sweeping views of Charleston’s steeple-filled skyline.
Tuck right into a plate of Calypso chips and dips — plantain, taro and candy potato chips served with a dip trio of mango tomatillo salsa, spicy avocado and Peruvian black bean ($16). Really feel like sharing? Savor the fresh-made heat blue crab dip with butter crackers ($32).
For cocktails ($20), the Purple Rain (gin, lavender syrup, lemon and glowing water) and the Lengthy-Time Listener (tequila, dry Curacao, lemon syrup, St. Germain and bitters) are strong selections.
The place to remain
Charleston brims with lodging choices — from upscale stays to points-friendly inns. Listed below are a couple of value trying out.
Associated: The 17 finest inns in Charleston, from historic inns to trendy stays
The Dewberry Charleston
Midcentury trendy followers will ogle over John Dewberry’s tackle hospitality on this Southern metropolis. The luxurious boutique lodge contains 154 visitor rooms and suites that boast tall home windows showcasing views of downtown Charleston and Marion Sq..
Company could make use of perks like a well-stocked health studio (with Peloton bikes), loaner bikes and a fleet of luxurious Volvo home vehicles.
Charges at The Dewberry Charleston begin from $378 per evening.
Grand Bohemian Resort Charleston
Opulent, art-forward and daring — this upscale lodge is a implausible spot for Marriott loyalists to earn and burn factors.
Spacious and colourful visitor rooms function commodious marble bogs. Do not miss Eleve, the lodge’s rooftop bar and restaurant, with a powerful coastal menu and much more spectacular Charleston views.
Charges at Grand Bohemian Resort Charleston begin from $391 or 71,500 Marriott Bonvoy factors per evening.
Hyatt Home Charleston/Historic District
Located on King Avenue, the lodge is handy to purchasing, galleries and a bevy of native historic sights. E-book a room or suite and luxuriate in free Wi-Fi, spacious bogs and flat-screen TVs. Some lodging embrace a totally outfitted kitchen — excellent for budget-minded guests desirous to shave a bit off their meals spending. An on-site indoor pool is successful with households.
Charges begin from $204 or 12,000 World of Hyatt factors per evening.
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