Charleston, SC - tell me about it

[doobeedoo]

Planning a weekend in Charleston this fall with a friend (no kids, hooray!).  We would prefer to NOT rent a car and be able to walk or take taxis everywhere--is that reasonable?  With that in mind, where should we stay?  Do?  Eat?  TIA

[sfy]

If you stay downtown the entire time, you don't need a car, but I couldn't go there without making a trip to the one of the beaches. Those are all at least 20 minutes from downtown, so I'd rather have a car, but you could taxi or uber there and back. I think it's a good place to rent a house on one of the islands, but I've stayed at Belmond Place downtown. It was decent enough, but I really wanted to stay at Restoration on King, but they were booked at the time. I think Zero George looks amazing but it exceeds my budget for a domestic hotel.

For restaurants, Husk, Fig, Snob, The Ordinary, Hominy Grill for breakfast (preferably not on a weekend, because there will be a wait).

[sporky]

Fun! I love Charleston! You can definitely stay in the historic district and find plenty to do without renting a car, but if you were so inclined there are beaches, old plantation houses, the Hunley submarine, USS Yorktown, and Ft. Sumter all within driving distance (well you take a ferry to get to the fort, but you know what I mean.) Definitely spend some time just walking around the area and taking it in. The homes and buildings in the historic district are so beautiful.

Do a carriage tour while you're there. They are a great way to see the city. I'm also a big fan of ghost tours and they have some good ones, if you are in to that kind of thing. It's a cool way to see some of the city at night and hear some of its history. I really enjoyed visiting the Aiken-Rhett house, but it's a little more of a hike from the central HD. Walk through the Market area and visit some of the shops. Sit and enjoy the sights and sounds of the Battery and Waterfront Park. There are tons of churches to visit and some of them have really amazing graveyards to walk through, like the Scots Church one. The Nathaniel Russell house has a nice tour through it.

And the best thing about Charleston? The FOOD! Here are some of my favorites: SNOB (good for lunch or dinner), Circa 1886 (fancy dinner--- AMAZING), Blossom (dinner), Anson (dinner), Henry's House (lunch- sit up on the rooftop deck), Toast (breakfast), Sermet's (lunch or dinner), Hank's (dinner), Poogan's Porch (dinner).

We've stayed at three different hotels while visiting:
Harbourview Inn- great location, many rooms have a view, can be slightly more expensive but you can certainly find great deals
Anchorage Inn- just down the street from Harbourview so again a good location, included breakfast and evening wine hour, request one of the street front rooms with huge windows
Francis Marion- a little farther away from many of the main sites of the HD, but not that bad of a walk down King Street, much cheaper for the area but still lovely accommodations in a historic building

[anna7602]

I love it there! I went last year (2014) in February and did not rent a car. Everything was extremely walkable in the old part of town. I also went on a few very nice runs and for a good bike ride around town. I never made it to any beaches, but we made arrangements for a plantation tour and a bus picked us up at the hotel. It was with Charleston Tours and I think it was about $50 pp. 

We stayed at the Vendue Inn, which I would recommend. 

I second sfy's restaurant recos. My husband, a southerner, claims the best collard greens he has ever had were at HUSK. 

Other things we did:

- took a cooking class at Charleston Cooks!, a well-stocked cookware shop. 



- went to see a musical at the Dock Street Theater. Great cast.




- went to see 2 bluegrass bands play at the Charleston Music Hall. Nice venue with good acoustics.




- toured a few historic homes in Charleston proper.

[arch01]

Another vote for Poogan's Porch and a class at Charleston Cooks! We actually keep one of the meals we had at our cooking class in our regular rotation for dinner.

[spunkarella]

I love Charleston! You can walk to lots of things if you stay in the historic district. Last time, we stayed at Fulton Lane Inn and I would recommend it.

I second the recommendation for the carriage tour and the FOOD! I didn't see 82 Queen listed above, but I loved their BBQ shrimp and grits.

[UnderProtest]

Magnolia is another good restaurant downtown. And check out the fall home tour. The Preservation Society puts it on every year. You can tour about 8 different private homes per day and it is amazing to see the houses people actually live in.

Damn, I miss Charleston.

[scout8]

Thanks to the advice of mryrcn, I had the coconut cake at Peninsula Grill. It was so good. Don't miss it!

I really enjoyed both the walking tour and harbor tour that we did.

[ddi741]

We were there last weekend. We stayed in Patriot's Point this time. We walked over the Cooper River Bridge into downtown and spent the day wandering around downtown and then took the water taxi back. Other times we've stayed either in the historic district or at the Inn at Middleton Place (hands down my favorite place to stay)

If you find yourself in Shem Creek, I recommend the Shem Creek bar and grill. Fabulous food. Plus you can go over to the park and watch the dophins swimming.

I would definitely recommend either Magnolia or Middleton plantation but since you won't have a car, I'm not sure how much it would cost you via Uber/taxi.

You can do the carriage ride, a walking tour or trolley tour to get a really nice overview. As for food, I love Fleet landing. If you are looking for casual you can check out the Griffon, Bay Street Biergarten or the Blind Tiger. I also like High Cotton, Tommy Condons and Aw Shucks.

[tamarindy]

Here to add to the food list. There is so much awesome there as far as food and drink.

My H and I eat at Cypress everything Thanksgiving. We also love Glass Onion, McGradys, Halls, Fish and the Cocktail Club. Butcher and Bee is phenom as well. We always head to Folly Beach for a day, so if you could do that it'sawesome. But there is plenty to do in town.

[imojoebunny]

I am going there tomorrow for the 100th+ time. I don't have much to add, but we like the horse tour, the harbor tour, the fort Sumter tour, and we enjoy Fleet landing for a casual lunch. Vendue inn has a bar called the library on the top of the roof with fun views. You can also take a bus tour on the Grayline from the Visitors Center, if it's super hot or you are hung over that gives you the lay of the land, in air conditioned comfort.

We love going to the galleries, like Michael Mitchell's, which also has a lot of great restaurants nearby. (I think Michael calls his gallery Mitchell Hill now, but it is by the visitor center). There is a free shuttle from many up around the market to the visitor center. It looks like a Trolly.

Have a great time. It is the city I would live in, if we didn't have to make money.

[MrsE]

No advice (sorry), but in two weeks, I'm flying down with one of my besties to visit our other good friend. Will keep you posted on recommendations.

[orval]

If you like good beer, craftsmentaphouse.com/ They have great happy hour food specials and the food is delish!