Graziella5b

Hello ,we wish to visit a Plantation while visiting this month Charleston
Would you recommend zMagnolia or McLeod! ,.? I am interested in history .
More than in gardens.

DebitNM

We did:
www.middletonplace.org and loved it. We did the "Beyond the Fields" tour which was so moving... I was near tears by the end.

And then for a different experience, we did
www.draytonhall.org
Drayton is a preserved home, not redone.

Gretchen

We like Middleton best. The gardens are really momre for spring anyway.

MmePerdu

For the historical experience I found Drayton Hall by far the most interesting.
My blog:
http://www.travelgumbo.com/blog/char...drayton-hall-1

Kathie

I thought both Drayton Hall and Middleton were worthwhile, but they are different experiences. As I remember, we were able to do both on one day from Charleston.

DebitNM

We did both Drayton and Middleton on the same day.

MmePerdu

Yes, they're close together on Ashley River Rd and I also did them both in a leisurely way in 1 day.

Graziella5b

Thank you very much ,after doing some homework I agree that it is Middleton and Dayton what we really would like to visit.
We are renting a car downtown. Charleston near our hotel And then after visiting Middketon star our trip towards Asheville , any recommendation ? I guess. We shall be tired and look for a place to spend the night arriving next morning in Asheville.
Again thank you for opening my eyes.

Graziella5b

Actually we changed a little our plans , this is what we are planning to do,after staying in historic Charleston
we shall rent a car and spend the night at a Hampton Inn on route ,,17 and 526 ,spending the whole day visiting both Middleton and Dayton , leaving next morning early towards Asheville.on the 20 th we will return the car at the airport and then fly home.
This Hampton Inn, West Ashekey , Is the best place I could find West of Asheley River to facilitate our desire of visiting Middleton and Dayton.
Any suggestion of a better place to stay? rate is a consideration being Friday they charge an AAA rate of. 160 $ plus taxeswhich I feel is the top I would like to pay.

kathleen

I'm familiar with the convenient location of that Hampton Inn and it would facilitate an easy, quick exit onto the 526 to 26 Interstates in the morning. It's easy to reach after visiting the plantations. Most Hampton Inns are somewhat similar and are of reasonably good quality. For those reasons I think it's a very good choice.

bachslunch

I liked all of Drayton, Middleton, and Magnolia, though the best house of the three in my experience was at Drayton. If gardens aren't of interest, I'd go there.

Graziella5b

Thank you again, you all haVe help me a lot.I have noticed the easy acces to I 26.

i agree that the Hampton Inns are reasonably good for a moderate rate.We use them often.
WE aré taking in November a long trip to Brasil,Argentina (several cities )and Uruguay and inevitably it is going to cost us quite a bit mainly because of the air tickets
and I wish to play it on the conservative side in this. ocassion .

Teacher91

We too visited both Middleton and Drayton Hall in one day. We thought both were very interesting and nicely presented.

Graziella5b

PLEASE Katheleen , can you help me a bit more,?..I was thinking that instead of renting a car in Charleston to go to Asheville ( Biltmore) we might take instead
Some kind of an excursion avoiding driving.
Or may be changing completely and spend a couple more days in Charleston visiting nearby sites.....
I imagine the hotel can sell us a trip for one or two days to Biltmore, however my question is do you have any suggestion?
I thought may be is not such a good idea to drive up and down ....

Gretchen

The hotel or the downtown visitors center in Charleston probably can give you an excursion, but I would bet it will cost more than renting a car and doing it yourself. It is not a difficult drive although not the most interesting.
If it were a one day tour trip (you mentioned one or two) it might not be so costly, of course.

kathleen

If you stay in Charleston for 7 days, you would want at least two days to get out of the city to visit the plantations and/or historic sites that are within an hour of Charleston. As Gretchen said, the visitors’ center will have a list of tours to different places and help you book them and that would be a start. If you rented a car for those two days, you would be able to set your own pace and probably see more sites. For example, if you go east across the Cooper River you could combine visits to Fort Moultrie, Charles Pinckney Historic Site, Boone Hall. If you go west across the Ashley River you could combine visits to Middleton, Drayton, Magnolia, and McLeod Plantations. Best would be two days for the west of the Ashley places.

You would need at least three or four days for downtown Charleston. You said you’ve visited years ago, so I don’t know what you’ve seen. But here are my recommendations: a) visit a few of the historic mansions and tour the interiors and gardens, b) visit the visitors’ center, the Charleston Museum across the street, and the Gibbes Art Museum, c) take a couple of good walking tours—I already suggested a person whom I think is a great tour guide for this, d) take the Gullah tour, e) take a culinary tour, I like the Upper King Street Tour that the Charleston Culinary Tours group gives. They combine a tour describing the current changes of the Upper King area and at the selected newest restaurants you taste so many samples that you feel you’ve had a meal. f) take the boat out to Fort Sumter. Also, I would google Charleston tours for more options.

Hope this helps!

bachslunch

I actually saw most of what I wanted in Charleston in three days, including a day for the three Ashley River Road plantations. They were full days, for sure. You could fruitfully divert two days out of your seven for Savannah if desired.

MmePerdu

One more thing, unusual and not far out of Charleston by car, the Charleston Tea Plantation. I enjoyed it very much: http://www.charlestonteaplantation.com/

Gretchen

I think Charleston can be done VERY nicely in 3-4 days including some side trips like to the Plantations and maybe even a shrimp trawler!!

Graziella5b

Thank you ALL very much , great suggestions, I am looking forward to this New visit to Charleston.