Charleston, South Carolina, is one of the most interesting and lovely cities in the United States. If you are planning a trip to Charleston, Discover 10 Best Things To Do In Charleston will suggest interesting activities to experience in this city.
1. Relax in Waterfront Park
2. Visit Middleton Place Plantation
The next activity that Discover 10 Best Things To Do In Charleston introduces you to is Visit Middleton Place Plantation. In addition to a fully equipped garden house, Middleton Place is also distinguished by the oldest Bonsai Garden in the United States.
Spanning a series of stunning terraces, hedge galleries, and pools, the courtyard showcases its symmetrical 17th-century European design. The gardens bloom year-round with rare camellias in winter and rhododendrons in spring.
On a tour of the 1755 house, you’ll learn about four generations of the Middletons and their slaves as you see furniture, silver, rare books, porcelain, and portraits maintained by the same family for more than three centuries.
Plant Stableyards recreate life outside of the big house, with valuable interpreters demonstrating skills and careers including blacksmithing, pottery, carpentry, co-working, and weaving, activities performed by slaves on a lowland rice plantation during the Antebellum years.
3. Visit Magnolia Plantation & Gardens
This is definitely a destination for garden lovers, most of whom will be mesmerized by the beauty of Magnolia Plantation’s vast garden. These are America’s oldest gardens, first opening to visitors in 1870, although parts of them date back two centuries before that.
They are also the nation’s last large-scale romantic garden, in contrast to most natural gardens designed to be modern and luxurious. This is also the next destination that Discover 10 Best Things To Do In Charleston introduce.
Address: 3550 Ashley River Road, Charleston, South Carolina.
4. South Carolina Aquarium
One of the most popular things to do in Charleston is the South Carolina Aquarium. Though it’s not just home to aquatic creatures. Birds, terrestrial mammals, plants, and reptiles, but this is also a place that attracts the participation of tourists.
The highlight is that in addition to the 385,000-gallon aquarium tank, which features daily interactive shows, you’ll find Shark Shallows, where you can touch sharks and a touch tank with starfish and other creatures.
For a behind-the-scenes feel of animal care, visitors can tour the aquarium’s Sea Turtle Hospital – South Carolina’s only hospital for sick and injured sea turtles. The aquarium’s most beloved resident is Caretta, a 220-pound sea turtle that lives in the Great Ocean tank.
This is also an interesting experience that Discover 10 Best Things To Do In Charleston introduce to you.
5. Old Slave Mart Museum
Located in the heart of the French Quarter, near the French Huguenot Church, the Old Slave Mart Museum is housed inside the building where slaves were auctioned off before the Civil War.
The tour is self-guided, with signage explaining the history, as well as personal accounts of slaves, artifacts, and audio and visual exhibits. It is a small but profoundly influential museum that gives a serious look at history.
One block is the Old Exchange & Provost Dungeon, where cost guides deal with the history of pirates and patriots who were once imprisoned here.
Address: 6 Chalmers Street, Charleston, South Carolina.
6. Explore USS Yorktown and Patriots Point
Just past Charleston Harbor from the Historic District is Patriots Point, where you can board the USS Yorktown. This giant ship is the tenth aircraft carrier to serve in the United States Navy, receiving the Presidential Unit Citation and earning 11 battle stars for World War II service.
As well as five battle stars for service in Vietnam. She was also the ship chosen to rehabilitate the Apollo 8 astronauts, and even made a film debut in the 1944 documentary The Fighting Lady.
The USS Yorktown was retired to the Patriots Point Navy and Maritime Museum in 1975. While at Patriots Point, you can also tour aircraft, submarines, and other maritime exhibits.
7. Check-in at Ravenel Bridge
Bridge Arthur Ravenel Jr. across the Cooper River, located from downtown Charleston to Mount Pleasant, became a favorite upon its completion in 2005. Its sleek cable design is more than just a pretty bridge.
It can withstand winds in excess of 300 miles per hour and a 7.4-scale earthquake and even prevent collisions with ships. Along with multiple traffic lanes, the bridge includes a pedestrian path for cyclists called Wonders’ Way.
Walking or biking up there is a favorite activity to get sweeping views of Charleston.
8. Fort Sumter National Monument
The American Civil War began on April 12, 1861, at Fort Sumter, when the Confederacy overthrew the federal fort in Port Charleston. The fort ruins are well preserved to this day, and National Park Rangers tells the story of Fort Sumter and how it helped shape history.
Visitors must reach the island by boat, from the Visitor Education Center in downtown Liberty Square or from Patriots Point. This is also an interesting activity that Discover 10 Best Things To Do In Charleston think you should not miss.