we are taking our 16 and 20 year old to Charleston for vacation over New Years and wanted to know if anyone could recommend fun places to vist, good restaurants etc.

If you will search the threads for Charleston, you will find a wealth of information on this board. Charleston is one of my favorite cities and off the top of my head, here are some of the places I've enjoyed the most:

Sights/activities:
Fort Sumter-the fort is interesting and it is neat to get out on the water and see Charleston from the harbor.

Plantation tours-my personal favorite is Drayton Hall, but Middleton Place is great, too.

Downtown house tours-Over the past three years, I've been in almost every downtown house, but my favorites are the Nathaniel Russell House, the Edmonston-Alston House, and the Aiken-Rhett House.

Shopping-I love strolling King Street and poking in all the different shops. I also enjoy going through all the touristy memoribilia and souvenirs in the Market St. area shops.

Walking-I love to walk down Meeting St. all the way to White Point Gardens and the Battery, peering into the secluded gardens and admiring the beautiful homes. I work my way back up East Bay, stopping to admire the view out to sea and Ft. Sumter. I continue on up East Bay, detouring off at Vendue Range and the park,where I like to walk down and gaze across the Cooper River at the Yorktown.

Restaurants: Charleston is full of great places to eat. My favorites include:
Peninsula Grill
Hominy Grill
SNOB
39 Rue de Jean
Boulevard Diner (Mt. Pleasant)
Poe's Tavern (Sullivan's Island)
Coast
I know I'm leaving places out, but that should get you started!

Quick question - is it necessary / advisable to have a car in Charleston for a short weekend getaway? I'm a Newyorker and don't like to rent if I don't have to...Thank you!

Try the search engine here on Fodor's for GoTravel's (she is a resident of that area) "trip report" that she wrote here on Fodor's after spending a weekend playing tourist. She gave a wealth of information.

Regarding a rental car, a Fodorite friend and I drove from Atlanta to Charleston. We had the hotel in Charleston park out car and we never used it once while we were there. So I would think sjk if you are planning to spend your time in Charleston proper (meaning the historical district which is so wonderful) you wouldn't need a car but I am sure other Fodorite's that know more about Charleston than I do will be able to advise you. Charleston..a beautiful city with wonderful restaurants and lovely residents and fantastic architect.

We did a girlfriend trip to Charleston - stayed at a cute B&B called the Barksdale House Inn. Our favorite restaurant was Magnolia's. Also really enjoyed touring all the plantations like Drayton Hall. We went canoeing in a black cypress swamp - it was full of gators - my friends loved it, but I thought it was creepy. There's also a tea plantation you can tour. Hyman's is a popular spot for getting seafood. We thought the whole town was charming.

Don't mean to hijack your thread, but a quick question to SJK (or anyone else): What is your method of transportation to Charleston from NY? If you're flying, do you fly directly into Charleston? Do you go to Myrtle Beach and then drive?

We're thinking of taking a trip there, and I'm finding the rates are very high! I'm also seeing very small planes, which makes me a little (OK, a lot!) nervous. Thanks.

Myrtle Beach is a much bigger and busier airport than Charleston and Spirit Airlines, Continental, and US Airways (Saturday only) fly direct. By car is is about 90 minutes to downtown Charleston.

Charleston is very balmy in the winter. With the exception of some freak cold snap, expect daytime highs to be in the mid 60 to mid 70 range.

Thanks, GoTravel. That's very helpful. Now I have to go check that out.

Of course that raises a secondary question--If I fly into Myrtle Beach, then I have to rent a car (which I hadn't originally planned to do) as well as pay to park it the whole time while in Charleston. Hmmmm, I'll have to do a little figuring out to see how this works out cost-wise. It's always a give & take, I guess.

Where are you staying in Charleston? Some hotels have free parking.

The Indigo Inn, Days Inn, and King Charles Best Western (very nice hotel) all have free parking.

If you fly to CHS, chances it will be on Delta which means you'll have to switch planes in ATL. I hate flying through ATL.