ejkonz

We will be leaving for Orlando ... going to nourish my inner child ... and will be stopping in Charleston along the way. I know that this is a lovely city but this will be a "quickie" visit. We will likely arrive about noon and leave early the next morning. We want to get a sense of the flavor of the city. Most of the tours seem to start earlier in the day so may be working on our own. Any suggestions as to what to see and even more important ... where to eat?

xkenx

Stay in the historic district and walk around the area unless you can find a guided tour to do that. You might try a "ghost walk" tour after dinner. A great restaurant is 82 Queen St. Indoor and patio dining.

GoTravel

Take a carriage ride.

The depart about every 15 minutes.

What is your budget for dinner?

My choices would be:

Hanks
SNOB
Penninsula Grill

BetsyinKY

With such a short amount of time, my suggestion is to park your car as quickly as you can and get out and walk. This is the best way to get a feel for the flavor of Charleston. I would start off walking down Meeting St. toward the Battery. If you have time, you might tour the Nathaniel Russell House, which is on Meeting St. Otherwise, enjoy all the beautiful homes and the gardens tucked behind fences. When you reach the Battery, bear left and head toward East Bay St. Take a few minutes to gaze out at the Charleston Harbor and Ft. Sumter off in the distance. Continue up East Bay St. past "Rainbow Row". Turn right onto Vendue Range and walk down to the waterfront park. Take some time to enjoy the lovely view of the new Ravenal bridge. When you've had your fill of the park, head back to East Bay and turn left onto Church St. Follow this curving street past St. Phillips Episcopal church. When you reach Market St. spend some time prowling the stalls and looking at the sweetgrass baskets. Market St. is also where you can get a horse drawn buggy tour. The tour companies all seem to line up on N. Market. If you aren't in the mood for the horses, or decide to come back later, then continue up Market St. and across Meeting St. to King St....shopping mecca! King St. is lined with wonderful shops of all sorts and you can easily spend an afternoon prowling through them.

As far as food, if you avoid the typical tourist traps (Bubba Gumps, etc), it's pretty hard not to have a good meal in Charleston. Some of my favorites include:
S.N.O.B
Hank's
Hominy Grill
39 Rue de Jean
Poogan's Porch
G&M Fast and French
Peninsula Grill
Magnolia's

cd

Betsy
I'm not the OP but want to ask where to park your car in order to do this walking tour? This helps us as we will have the same amount of time in Charleston and knowing where to park would also help the OP. Thanks.

volcanogirl

We really enjoyed touring the old plantations. Middleton Place stands out as one we enjoyed. They do tours until 4:30 in the afternoon and also have a restaurant on-site where we ate some low-country specialties.

For dinner, Magnolia's was our favorite spot - really good! If you have time, throw in a carriage ride and walk around the waterfront.

GoTravel

We always park at the Bank of America parking garage right off Meeting Street but there are parking garages all over town.

The easiest is probably parking at the visitors center.

dmlove

Although I'm sure the plantations tour is wonderful, I don't know that I would spend my time doing that with only 1/2 a day and one evening. When we were there last year, for a full day and a half, we "wandered". Shopping on King Street, walking and admiring the entire Battery and the historic buildings/homes on the way back to downtown, dinner at Magnolia's , etc. I think that will easily occupy your day. Have a nice dinner and do something nice at night to feel like you got "more in" - ghost tour, or a drink at one of the rooftop bars (or both). We spent the second morning on a tour to Ft. Sumter, which I would recommend if you had more time, but not with only a half day.

cd

Thanks GoT

BetsyinKY

I was going to say that we park in the Bank of America garage off of Meeting St. or in the BB&T garage off of Meeting St. on Horlbeck Alley. The Visitor's Center is easy parking, but it is a long walk from the Battery, especially if you decide to do any shopping on King St. and have packages to drag around. Of course, if you are staying downtown, you can always leave the car at your hotel!

maryanne1

Going to Charleston on Mon. for only the day to introduce a friend to Charleston. Isn't there parking down by the Battery? I was wondering also about the parking. I know about some of the parking garages. The Visitor's Center would be too far for us.
My favorite places to eat are Magnolias and the Peninsula Grill for dinner.

I've enjoyed lunch at Poogan's Porch.
Walking as suggested is the best and a carriage ride gives you a unique experience.

kathleen

There is parking at the battery and the parking is free. This is where we always park when we're in town for the day. It's safe, convenient to that end of town, and after a day of showing people the historic sites, it's an easy walk back. You can make a loop tour out of it, ending with a walk along Battery street on the bay side. You get good house views as well as a breeze off the water. Just park anywhere along the streets that surround the park itself. Sometimes you get a spot with shade. If you go to the Preservation society building on Meeting St. you can pick up a walking tour booklet ($5. approx) It describes several good walking tours of various lengths.

http://www.preservationsociety.org/tour_map.asp

kathleen

Oops. Meant to say Bay Street, not Battery Street for the walk back to the car.

cd

Thanks everyone for the parking info!

GoTravel

kathleen, you mean East Bay Street? No such animal as Bay Street. East Bay turns into East Battery Street.

kathleen

Yes I did mean East Bay Street, then East Battery Street to the Battery.