I have recently booked a trip to Myrtle Beach in July. We will be flying into Charleston and would like to spend a few days exploring in order to extend our vacation a little bit. How many nights should I look to spend there - 2, 3, 4?

I live here and still haven't done everything! What do you like to do? Touring in July will be hot so you'll need to plan for breaks from the heat. I always recommend first timers take a carriage ride to get to know the city. Have you looked to see what points interest you?

If you have a chance, search for previous postings because Charleston (what to do, where to eat, and how many days to spend there) are frequent questions here.

It would take me all night to type it all.

I haven't yet researched Charleston. I'm booking my trip on the fly. Given that it will be very hot (and I am pregnant and we are travelling with a 1 year old), are there enough things to do indoors for 3 days?

This is Fodor's info on Charleston in case there is anything helpful.

http://www.fodors.com/world/north-am...na/charleston/

I was able to see most everything I wanted to in Charleston, as well as the three surrounding Ashley River Road plantations, in 3 very full days.

I agree with bachslunch. In fact, we weren't interested in the plantations, so 2 days was fine. That's not saying anything bad about Charleston -- we LOVED it -- but it's a very small city (and I don't do things like Imax that I can do at home -- I only want to see what's unique about the city I'm visiting).

We've been to Charleston twice in the last 6 years, but not in the summer months. We love that city and could easily spend 4 nights there. But I'm stumped trying to remember anything we did indoors other than visit a historic home and have some fabulous dinners. It's really an outdoor mecca.

Anyway, check out TA's recommendations:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractio..._Carolina.html

Try Doubletree Suites in the market. You may can get a two room suite for the price of a hotel room. That might help with the one year old if he/she wants to take a nap and you want to watch TV.

The aquarium is good for the stroller set and cool.

There are indeed worthy indoor oriented activities in Charleston, including the aforementioned aquarium, all the historic houses, and a few museums (Gibbs Museum of Art, Charleston Museum). But yes, a significant portion of this city's charms are outdoors based (seeing the architecture in the Historic District and most especially in the Battery area, Ft. Sumter, campus of The Citadel, plantation grounds).

Can you take a baby/stroller into the historic houses?

No. And no high heels. Leave those Manolos at home

I'm with suewoo.. too much to list! People who do day trips to Charleston usually feel the need to come back to see more. This site breaks some of the high-points down so maybe you can narrow your itinerary using it:

http://www.things-to-do-in-charleston.com

Have fun!