Thought I would start all over again from scratch as I think Myrtle Beach may be too commercial and crowded for us. We will be flying over from England for the first two weeks in June and do not know whether to fly to North or South Carolina or Savannah
Would it be a good idea to fly to Savannah and do Beaufort and Charleston and then go inwards to the mountains or fly to Charlotte do the mountains etc and then make our way down to Charleston, Beaufort and Savannah. We will have 14 days and only plan to book accommodation for the first two nights thereafter stopping where we think we might like to stay.

USAIRWAYS has a direct flight from London to Charlotte. My guess is the best fares will be to the Charlotte airport. Savannah and Charleston are both much smaller airports.

I would recommend you go with your second option. Have a wonderful time, your city choices are wonderful. I just returned from a weekend in Beaufort and enjoyed it very much.

I would limit the number of flights by flying non-stop to Charlotte, renting a car, and fly home non-stop from Charlotte. The distances you're talking about are not really worth dealing with extra flights. It's 2 hours to the mtns from CLT and about 3.5 hours to Charleston from CLT.

I'd probably do the mountains first since it's a shorter drive after a long flight.

I agree w/both the prior posts, CLT is the easiest to get in & out of, + it would be direct. Also, depending on what type of places to stay your are seeking, the going 'sans reservations' (particularly in the beach areas) may be difficult, as many places will require weekly rentals at that time of year. I also think you'll get a much better feel for the beach, or the Mts., by renting a cottage or cabin, in lieu of a hotel.

Ditto with Charlotte and US Airways.

I have two good friends that are English and fly back and forth between England and the Carolinas quite often. Your other option is Raleigh/Durham Airport (RDU) but customs there is a beast. They have given up on RDU and only will fly to CLT.

From Charlotte you can drive to Asheville for a couple of days then take the interstate I-26 directly to Charleston and their beaches, then drive Highway 17 South to Savannah and their beaches.

Hey, I'm very late on this, and it's sounds like you've made up your mind, but...the commercial aspect of Myrtle Beach is all inland away from the beach along the Rte 17 strip. The beach itself, which is gorgeous, is a mix of high rise hotels at the south and north ends and a quiet residential area in the middle with public beach access every block. When you're on the beach itself, none of the commercialism is around you except by the boardwalk, and I've never been there when the beach itself was excessively crowded.

Just thought I'd clarify that, becuase when people talk about it as commercial, touristy, tacky, etc, that's not really on the beach. It's mostly inland and easily avoided.

weimarer - You forgot to mention the 5M. people that are also on the beach w/you at any given time + you don't/can't really escape the commercialism. I've never been on the beach (in the Summer) when it wasn't crowded. Easily avoided, you can walk faster than you can drive on 17, how can you possibly avoid that ?! Do you work for the MB tourist bureau or something ?

By the way, I just looked at the other thread, and I have NO IDEA what these people are talking about. Not soft sand? They're out of their minds! The sand on the SC beaches is soft as can be. At MB, you can walk out a ways into the waves and not step on a shell or anything. They are beautiful. Anyway, not trying to push MB on you (my father lives there and I love the beach there), but the descriptions you are getting are not really accurate. For spending time at the beach itself and swimming, it's great-you'd have no reason to be driving along the Rte 17 strip where all the traffic and commercialism is anyway unless you wanted to go to some of those things. And believe me, an oceanfront room with a balcony can't be beat-balcony open at night listening to the waves crash and catching the breeze. Schools of dolfin cruising up and down the shore to watch. You'll be hard pressed to get anything like that down near Savannah and Charleston. It's mostly beach houses, all set away from and behind the beach itself unless you pay big $$. And the water temp is fine in early June-mid to upper 70's F. (25-26 C).

Anyway, I've been all over the mountains of NC and early June is the best time. One place you should try to get to is Roan Mountain, right along the NC-TN border (google it) The purple/pink Rhododendrum bloom in early-mid June and it's spectacular. More of it all over the mountains, but here it is concentrated. It's called Roan Mountain Gardens (not a planted garden, growing wild) and then there's also a stretch of the App Trail here that climbs over open grassy balds at 6000 feet that are clustered with it as well, along with some orange flame azalea.

If you like waterfalls, NC can't be beat. Here's a great site on them

http://www.ncwaterfalls.com/

Another thing not to miss out there is a scenic drive called the Cherohala Skyway (also google that). It's as good or better than the Blue Ridge Parkway. There is literally almost no sign of civilization for the whole length of it.

SanParis2, I'm not sure why you keep refering to Rte 17. It's not on the beach, it's inland and is easily avoided. No, I don't work for MB tourist bureau, but my father lives there and I've been there many times in the summer. The last time I've even been on the Rte 17 commercial strip was years ago, which proves you don't even have to go on it if you're at the beach. They have a bypass now, Rte 30, so you just take that and then turn east and drive over to the beach, bypassing everything you people keep talking about as if it were on the beach itself.

Crowds? Ever been up to the northen section or the residential area in the middle with public access and parking every single block? That's commercial? Not at all. Or is a beachfront hotel with a balcony overlooking the ocean too horrible to contemplate? I've never set up on a spot on the beach there in summer where the nearest group was close enough that they'd even notice you yelling at them. In June it would be even sparser. No idea what 5 million people on the beach at the same time you're talking about. That's ridiculous.

Here's central Myrtle Beach-where exactly is all that commercialism. It's inland along Rte 17.

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl

This is more what it looks like once you get away from the downtown/boardwalk/pier area in summer. That's where it gets crowded. And June isn't even summer anyway and it's never crowded there in early June-thers's too much beach for it to get crowded.

http://www.destination360.com/north-...a/myrtle-beach

http://www.myrtlebeachcondominiums.c...rtle-beach.jpg

Here's one of some family titled Myrtle Beach June. See any crowds?

http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/med...rtle-beach.jpg

Anyway, the poster is not going there anyay, but I'm just pointing out that what people keep describing may be in the city limits of MB, but that's not what the beach itself is like.

Sorry, for the lengthy post, Sofie. But you're just not getting accurate information. Tybee Island near Savannah or Folly Beach near Charleston would be good, but they won't be less crowded than MB. They're much smaller stretches of beach and everyone from both cities goes there. If anything, it might even be more crowded. And more difficult to just show up without planning ahead as it's mostly beach house rentals-weekly only probably. In fact, Folly Beach has only one hotel.

The Outer Banks of NC would be the place to go to avoid crowds. There's about 100 miles of beach and dunes there, much of it completely undeveloped and untouched by man.

I live outside Charleston and I beg to differ. Dolphins live in the ocean here too.

What our beaches lack that MB has are high rises.

I agree with the itineraries our Carolina brethren have suggested, coming through Charlotte.
For the OP, I would also suggest Charleston as the sort of central part of the coast, and maybe even coming north up to Georgetown--a lovely Revolutionary War town, and then spend some time on the beach around Litchfield. For an uncrowded beach, it cannot be beat. Look at the Litchfield Beach and Golf Resort site for information. PLUS you will not find better eating or restaurants anywhere on the coast!!
As for MB, you still have to go through tacky to get to it. It is total gridlock.

Oh, add on--you will enjoy the plantations around Charleston and then there is Brookgreen Gardens in Litchfield.
One other possibility for the beach around Litchifield might be to stay at LItchfield Plantation--the original plantation house. It is a B&B, not on the beach, but then they have a beach club on Pawley's Island for guests. Now THAT is an uncrowded beach!! It is also the beach (has an historic district) where the rice planters from Charleston came in the summer to escape the malarial mosquitoes. It is an absolutely wonderful, unspoiled beach--no commercial property.