14 Tips for Your First Trip to Charleston, SC

If you’re planning your first trip to Charleston, South Carolina, I’ve some tips for you! The Holy City is a fun place full of Southern Charm, and these Charleston tips will help you make the most of your vacation.

To help you get ready for your first visit to Charleston, I’ve compiled a list of tips to help you get the most out of your time here. Let’s get right to it!

Charleston Tips for First-Timers

1. Spring and Fall are the best times to visit Charleston.

Since Charleston is close to the beach, it’s a hot-spot during the summer. This means prices are more expensive in the summer, both for hotels and for getting flights. Plus it’s crowded, hot, and humid. But during spring and fall, the weather is more comfortable, there are fewer crowds, and prices aren’t outrageously high.

2. Downtown Charleston has free bus routes.

The Downtown Area Shuttle (DASH) has three free bus routes that take you all around the peninsula, from the Aquarium to the Citadel to Broad Street and Waterfront park. They’re part of CARTA (Charleston Area Regional Transportation Authority). This is a great way to get around Downtown Charleston! The buses can get crowded, because who doesn’t want free transportation, but it’s such a nice option to have if you’re faced with a long walk or a rainy day. If you want more budget travel tips, check out these free things to do in Charleston!

3. Parking in Downtown is relatively inexpensive.

Almost all the parking garages downtown are owned and managed by the city, and they’re inexpensive compared other cities’ downtown parking (I’m looking at you, Atlanta). In fact, the garages we saw were maxed out at $18 per day, which was cheaper than an rideshare from our hotel into Downtown.

4. The roads in historic Downtown are narrow.

When Charleston was settled, they created a nice orderly grid of streets. But these streets were designed in 1680 and were not made for cars. If you get stressed out driving on tight, narrow streets, I’d recommend utilizing DASH or a rideshare.

5. Charleston is a major city and has the same traffic issues as every other city.

You see these idyllic pictures of Charleston with horse-drawn carriages and cobblestone streets, and you get this idea that Charleston is in its own little world of quaint historic-ness. But it’s not really. Buses break down and block the narrow streets, the carriages can be a nuisance to cars, and you’ve got rush hour traffic of people trying to get to work. When you get off the peninsula, you’ll want to have a look at which way the commuter traffic is going so you don’t get stuck in that commuter traffic. Speaking of getting off the peninsula…

6. There’s even more of Charleston to discover off the peninsula.

Downtown Charleston has a ton of stuff to do, so it’s great for a weekend visit. But if you’re staying longer, or if this isn’t your first visit, then you should definitely head over the bridges and see what Charleston has to offer of the peninsula. Getting around will be harder if you don’t have a car, but you can easily rent a car to explore the area.

In Mount Pleasant you’ll find Boone Hall Plantation and Gardens and the USS Yorktown. On Sullivan’s Island you’ll find Fort Moultrie. In the Ashley River Historic District you’ll find Middleton Place, Drayton Hall, and Magnolia Plantation and Gardens. You should also head out to Folly Beach or to James Island to see the iconic Angel Oak Tree. Check out all the best things to do in Charleston here.

7. Visiting Charleston’s plantations are at least a half-day, and sometimes a full-day, affair.

If you’re on a time crunch, just know that visiting a plantation will take up a lot of your day, and plan accordingly. You’ll first have to spend time getting out there (a 30 minute drive both ways to most plantations), then you’ll want to explore everything each site has to offer (plantations like Magnolia and Boone Hall recommend 3-4 hours to explore). That doesn’t leave a lot of time to explore other places.

Similarly, visiting Fort Sumter will take up your entire morning, but it’s much easier to fit in Downtown sights in the afternoon. The USS Yorktown can also take up a lot of time, especially if you’re traveling with someone who loves ships.

8. Fort Sumter is 10 degrees cooler than the mainland.

The boat ride out to Fort Sumter can be chilly, and the fort itself is usually about 10 degrees cooler than it is on the mainland. Be sure to dress accordingly.

9. Take a guided tour to get the lay of the land and learn a ton about Charleston.

Did you know that certified tour guides in Downtown Charleston must pass a written exam given by the city? So these aren’t just amateurs out here. A carriage tour is a classic way to get a tour of the city, and it just feels oh-so-Charleston. But there are also walking tours, ghost tours, sightseeing bus tours, and food tours that will help you get familiar with the layout of the city and what sights are most important to visit. I recommend taking a guided tour on your first day in the city so that you’ll be more prepared for the rest of your trip.

If you want to see my picks for the top Charleston tours, click here.

10. Plantations are doing better at acknowledging slavery.

Charleston’s plantations have made efforts to address the history of slavery more thoroughly in recent years. The plantations include guided tours, exhibits, and educational programs designed to present a more complete and honest portrayal of slavery. And it’s not just plantations — the historic homes and mansion in Downtown also highlight the lives of enslaved people in town. Certain sites do a better job than others in addressing the complexities and impacts of slavery, so there is still improvement to be made, but it no longer feels like plantations ignore the subject of slavery altogether. McLeod Plantation is often regarded as having the most comprehensive and respectful approach in addressing the history of slavery in the area.

11. Hotel prices are cheaper just across the bridge.

Hotels in Downtown Charleston are often very expensive. But if you go just across the bridge to Mount Pleasant or West Ashley, you can find significantly cheaper accommodations, and you’re still very close to Downtown. I highly recommend the Holiday Inn Charleston-Riverview just across the Ashley River, which has a free shuttle to Downtown that runs daily. You get a cheaper stay, and you don’t have to pay for parking or a rideshare — it’s a win-win!

You can find even more top hotels in Charleston here.

12. Expect to be charged a credit card fee at restaurants.

It’s a trend I’m noticing a lot in tourist towns. Restaurants are passing on the credit card fee to the customers. You should find a notice alerting you to the surcharge in the restaurant’s menu. Also look for the cash price vs the credit card price on the bill. Don’t want to pay more? Be sure to bring along cash.

13. There’s not a lot to do in Charleston after 5 p.m.

The entire city seems to shut down at 5 p.m. And that’s fine in the winter when the sun also sets around then. But I visited during the summer when there was still plenty of daylight left, but no museums were open after 5. It kind of leaves you in a weird spot where it’s too early for dinner, you don’t really want to go back to the hotel since you’re already out and about, so what do you do?

You could go get a drink (but what if you don’t drink?), you could save sights like Rainbow Row and the Pineapple Fountain for this downtime. And then after dinner, your options are pretty much get a drink or do a ghost tour, because there also aren’t really a lot of night tours that aren’t ghost-centric.

I did a lot of research, and I managed to find some pretty interesting things to do after dark in Charleston (but yes, a lot of them are ghost tours).

14. Charleston is hot and humid.

Can’t have a post on a Southern destination without mentioning — it gets hot and humid here, especially during the summer. You can expect temperatures in the summer to be in the 80s and 90s Fahrenheit, and the humidity only makes it feel hotter. Be sure to pack light, breathable clothing, wear plenty of sunscreen, and drink lots of water during your visit.

More Charleston Tips

Check out the posts below to continue planning your Charleston vacation:

• 13 Best Charleston Ghost Tours For a Scary-Good Time
• 14 Romantic Things to Do in Charleston for Couples
• 50+ Fun Things to Do in Charleston at Night
• 10 Amazing Hotels in Charleston, SC
• 10 Best Tours in Charleston, SC
• 16 Best Restaurants in Charleston, SC
• 11 Best Bars in Charleston, SC
• Your Perfect Charleston Bachelorette Party Itinerary
• 9 Free Things to Do in Charleston, SC
• 37 Best Things to Do in Charleston, SC
• 7 Days in Charleston: Perfect 1 Week Charleston Itinerary
• 14 Best Summer Vacation Spots in the South
• The Best Winter Vacations in the South

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Ready to visit Charleston, South Carolina? Plan your trip with these tips.

• Book your flight: Find the cheapest flights using Skyscanner, my favorite flight search engine.
• Find accommodation: You can find top hotels in Charleston using Booking.com or vacation rentals near Charleston using VRBO.
• Get packing: Make sure you’ve packed everything you need with my packing list resources.
• Save on Attractions: Save big on admission to Charleston’s top attractions using the Charleston TourPass.

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Cheers!

Paige

What tips for visiting Charleston do you have? Share them in the comments!