My Charleston 2026 Review Series 1 of 20 plus:…read more Explore Charleston! The Charleston Visitors Center is the ideal spot for first time visitors to become acquainted with the City of Charleston. It will serve as the perfect introduction to my 2026 Charleston Vacation Review series. The Visitor's Center introduced my family and I to the City's history and charm. It occupies the historic railroad building that was established in 1856. In 1991 it became the Visitor's Center. This is a linear building incorporated into the historical city grid that is parallel to a transit way which once served as a railroad. Although it is close to a mile from the heart of the city at Market Street, it is surrounded by historic buildings including the Charleston Museum across Meeting Street and the historic Embassy Suites a block south on Meeting Street where we stayed. From the perspective of a transit hub, the Visitor Center introduced us to Charleston. On our leading visit, we boarded the Gray Line City Tour bus in the transit way parallel to the building. On follow up visits we'd catch the free Charleston shuttle (D.A.S.H.) and the Boone Plantation Shuttle. The free Charleston shuttle stops are along John Street. I did take note that it also serves city buses. From serving as a place to board the vehicles that gave us tours of the City, I got to spend time here. First off it served as an air conditioned refuge while waiting for the tours or taking a breather from the summer weather. What I saw inside was a linear building featuring a gift shop, rest rooms, travel center, and mini museum (also called exhibition hall). The Visitor Center that I spent time in provides walls of brochures, maps, human travel guidance and more. The reality for me is that the Internet served as my Charleston tour guide. I passed over looking at the walls of brochures. However, I do admit that it would be nice to take a breather from my phone. Additionally the Visitor Center serves as a miniature museum. While waiting for the tour shuttle, I saw continuous video loops on Charleston with exhibits showcasing the City's history and culture. This includes a sweetgrass basket exhibit. Downbuilding from the Visitor Center is the gift shop. This includes a coffee kiosk that was always closed. The inventory includes Charleston books and bottled water. This is a premier spot for bottled water. At $2, the bottled water is a solid deal. Especially when we were on a walk in the northern reaches of the Historic District or waiting for transportation. The gift shop associates were the only people we associated with at the Visitor Center. Where the Visitor Center is a premier spot for water, it is not one for using a restroom. Previously I mentioned that the Visitor Center is incorporated into the historic railroad building. I get the impression that this historic preservation has created the challenge of accommodating restrooms. As a consequence there is a unisex restroom where men and women share a restroom. This is my first time experiencing a unisex restroom. I can write with confidence that I am not the only one that felt awkward. In conclusion the Charleston Visitor Center was the ideal establishment for us to get acquainted with Charleston, South Carolina. It was advantageous being one block north of our hotel. This is the ideal establishment to commence "My Charleston 2026 Vacation 20-plus Review Series."

Walked here on my first day here. Got a ton of brochures and pamphlets, booked a tour, bought some…read moreitems. Very informative!

Off season walking tour booked for Old Towne Charleston SC & waterfront area. Inquiries placed…read morebefore hand by telephone communication was excellent. Arranged & payed for on line. Met our most excellent guide, Benjamin, at the waterfront & our group enjoyed a spirited & vigorous walk about with great history lessons thru-out the tour. We recommend this tour group. Be prepared for a vigorous workout if taking the walking tour.

Very thorough and enjoyable tour. Our guide, Ron Smith, provided so much insight into the area. You…read morecould tell he really enjoys what he does. Great way to start a stay in the area as many points of interest are shown. Highly recommend!

Great options, friendly staff and coupon code if you can find a tour book…read more Our guide, Wendy, was very knowledgeable and gentle and respectful to our horse guide, Duke. Duke was great!

I'm happy to say I'm bumping my review up from three stars to four after giving Old South Carriage…read moreCompany another chance. During my first visit to Charleston a few years ago, I took one of their daytime carriage tours and left feeling... underwhelmed. I didn't learn all that much, the tour wasn't especially memorable, and I wrote that I'd rather have explored the city on foot. Fast forward to my most recent visit when one of my friends wanted to do the Haunted Carriage Tour. Since it was something different, I happily went along and I'm glad I did. Our horse, Ron, was a 2,000 pound French Percheron and wow.... talk about a workhorse! From what I observed, the horses seemed well cared for despite the small stable. It was fun learning a little about Ron before we set off. Our guide, Matt, was informative, engaging, and did a great job mixing Charleston history with the haunted stories. While I'm not really into ghost tours, I still learned quite a bit. In fact, my favorite takeaway wasn't haunted at all - it was learning the difference between a graveyard and a cemetery. This tour also had a digital component as we were prompted to scan the QR code to see photos of the individuals/"ghosts" he was talking about. The tour also gave us another opportunity to see Charleston from a different perspective and this time around I enjoyed riding through the historic streets by carriage. Overall, this experience was much more enjoyable than my first. The company clearly has these tours down to a science and if you're deciding between a daytime tour and the haunted evening tour, I'd surprisingly recommend the latter. I'm glad I gave Old South another chance.

Stayed in Wild Dunes Ocean Point 43. Terrible customer service and overpriced. The area is…read morebeautiful, but the home was riddled with mold in the air ducts and throughout the home, dirty air filters, two broken couches, filthy floors. Found honeycomb cereal bits under chairs (we didn't have cereal); found a pacifier under the sofa (we don't have babies); the broken couches were propped up with stacks of wooden boards; and both ice makers were broken. These defects were open and obvious. Anyone cleaning or even entering the home would have seen/smelled (mold) the issues. They knew about the issues and still charged top dollar without regard for remediation. Upon arrival, management refused to give us a code to get in on the premise we didn't pay $1k in fees. Please note, this rental was $8500 and was paid in full ahead of time. Management changed after booking and fees were tacked on. Said they contacted our travel agent, but they had not. I stopped communication after they threatened to suspend our codes for access, having not even provided a mode for us to make the payment. Let them know all the issues that were when we checked out. They blamed me for not contacting them to remedy the issues during our stay. Frankly didn't want to deal with them anymore after our initial interaction. That notwithstanding, I asked how they planned to remedy mold, broken couches, and broken ice makers with us in the house. They didn't have an answer to that and ignored it. There were more issues, but these are the ones that will keep us from returning. Please note that I've never left a negative review. The homeowner needs to know what a mess their new management company is running.

Came here for a business conference and I was really impressed. We had a two bedroom two bath…read moresuite that had a full kitchen, living room and dining area. Absolutely beautiful. Everyone was very friendly and willing to go that extra mile to make sure your stay was a good one. It was off season when we came. I would love to come back in season. The beaches are beautiful and the sunsets spectacular!

This company has closed, but the replacement company is just as nice.And I highly recommend them as…read morewell. Amazing staff and also helpful when you have a million questions regarding your reservation. I'm always met with nice People that are helpful and place the chairs in such an awesome location each year.I cannot recommend this company enough for beach chair an umbrella usage

Great customer service and prices. Rented chairs and umbrella for Sea Cabins stay. The chairs and…read moreumbrella were set up on the beach before competitors every morning. Were very accommodating in locating them where we wanted them placed, 3 different spots on the beach in 3 days. Very nice people, highly recommend Chunkys. Art S

Caroline was a wonderful tour guide. She was humorous, knowledgeable, and kind. I also appreciated…read morethe staff helping my grandmother on and off the carriage. The horses are well taken care of and Caroline explained the city's guidelines/rules for the carriage rides well, too. We were able to get a good deal on the tickets, also. Would recommend! & shoutout to Caroline.

My family visited Charleston on Mother's Day and saw this beautiful horse hitched to a large wagon…read more I asked the driver questions about the tour and the horses and she was quite pleasant. However the "gentleman" sitting next to the wagon interrupted us and yelled at me "I don't care what they do where you're from! We don't let the horses have treats until the end of the day." I was upset by his rudeness and told him I was disappointed in his lack of hospitality. I took a picture of the horse Amigo before this conversation. When I went to delete the picture and erase my memory of this unpleasant event, I noticed the horse has an untreated sore on his nose. This has me further concerned about this business. Not a good look for Charleston. I recommend giving this business a wide berth.

We booked the Boone Hall Plantation Tour and Transportation with Adventure Sightseeing and had a…read morereally lovely time. What set this apart from just Uber-ing and paying for our own admission was convenience. The tour shuttle picked us up from the Charleston Visitor Center (worth a trip on its own) and returned us to downtown Charleston at the top of the market. The shuttle driver gave charming fun facts about Charleston on the drive there and back and provided priceless tips for how to make the most of our time on the Plantation. The other thing that I will always be grateful for is that we missed our first tour time waiting for an Uber downtown to take us to the Visitor Center. The booking office charged us nothing to rebook for another day and time and didn't give me grief at all. To me, this is going above and beyond on hospitality and service you cannot buy. A wonderful company to tour with!

We were excited to visit Boone Hall Plantation & Gardens and explore Charleston, but the rude and…read morejudgmental tour guide, Anderson, completely soured the experience. Instead of providing an enjoyable tour, they criticized how guests traveled and even commented on where people chose to eat. It came across as condescending, unprofessional, and wildly inappropriate for someone representing Charleston hospitality. A disappointing experience that left a bad taste in our mouths. Will not choose Adventure Sightseeing again.

I booked a historical tour of Charleston online. I received an email reminder twice. Meeting…read moreplace and time. And the name and cell# of the tour guide. We met in front of Tommy Condon Irish Pub. There's a convenient parking garage across the street. Our reservation was Sunday at 9:30am. Free street parking on Sunday as long as you don't park in the one hour residential designated streets. Scott was our local tour guide for the historical tour of Charleston. He was on time. Before the tour started he informed everyone of the bathroom situation. On our two hours tour he made sure our group didn't block the narrow sidewalks. The historical tour included stops in front of - * St Philips church * Dock Theater * the Old Slave Mart * the Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon * the harbor * the old city wall * Rainbow Row * Nathaniel Russell house The tour was a great way for us to familiarize ourselves with the historical district. Then on our own we picked and chose where we wanted to spend more time. Scott offered places to dine suggestions. We actually went to one he suggested on Sullivan Island. He's passionate and offers a thorough tour within the two hours timeframe.

Great guide. The tour was very interesting and informative. It covered numerous squaresread more