My fiance and I are planning our honeymoon to Charleston May 29-June 2. We are huge history buffs, and have never been there, so we are hoping to see the Civil War sights, as well as tour a plantation or two, and I'd really love to get out to the beach one day. I keep reading on the boards here that there is no need for a car in Charleston, but how will we get to the plantations / beach without one? Just curious if we really CAN forget the car, and save a little money or not.

You'll need a car to get to the beach and to the plantations. Why not rent one at your hotel or in town for the day?

That depends on the place where you stay, distance from the hotel etc. Tour the historical sites on a horse drawn carriage. It's exciting. There are several operators in the fray! Hit the Market Street. Strictly on first-cum-first basis. Book early duing the high season, else browse the shops while waiting for your carriage. If you're in the peninsula, you can do the historical sights on FOOT.

But the plantations are not within a walking distance. If you're doing teh plantations, CAR is a MUST!!

Happy Vacation!!

You can book tours that will take you from downtown out to all the plantations if you don't want to rent a car.

Otherwise you don't need a car in Charleston.

Where are you staying?

Fantastic luck, you'll be in town for Spoleto!

http://www.spoletousa.org/

and

http://www.piccolospoleto.com/

It is a citywide arts event that brings talent from all over the world.

keep in mind that the cost of taxis and tours will go a long way towards paying for car rental.

You can get tours out to the Plantations like Middleton and Magnolia, but it's much nicer to go and come at your own pace.

I think that we are going to stay at Governor's House for 2 nights, and then the Elliott House for 2. We would of course prefer to stay in one place the whole time, but we really liked the looks of the Governor's House, and they only have availability for 2 nights.

We were actually planning to go to Italy for our honeymoon, but plans fell through, so this is sort of last-minute planning going on right now. We haven't booked our hotels yet (but just checked on availability), as we are waiting to be sure we get our flights (using airline miles). Hopefully that will happen this afternoon.