Top Charleston Culture

Embark on a captivating journey through the heart of Charleston aboard a custom-built minibus in air-conditioned comfort. The expert tour guide brings the city’s vibrant story to life, blending entertainment with education for an unforgettable experience. Discover iconic landmarks, from the historic Battery and Rainbow Row to the bustling Charleston City Market, all with the flexibility to hop off and explore at designed stops along the route while your bus waits for you. Don’t just visit Charleston, relive it aboard Old Town Trolley Tours.

Travel back in time to discover one of America’s most historic cities—Charleston, South Carolina—on this guided small-group walking tour. Explore some of the city’s most enchanting alleys and hidden passages. Visit the Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon, a colonial building with a 300-year history; Rainbow Row, the longest cluster of Georgian row houses in the United States; plus historic Philadelphia Alley, and many more.

Your guide brings history to life during this Charleston walking tour of the city's historical downtown. See notable buildings including the Nathaniel Russell House, the Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon, and the Old Slave Mart Museum. As you walk over the flat and easy terrain with your guide, discover the history that occurred right under your feet and around every corner from Rainbow Row to the Battery.

Enjoy a slow tour of Charleston without tiring yourself out by walking when you trade in a walking tour for a horse-drawn carriage excursion. Hop in a private horse-drawn carriage and head out on the town, checking out historic landmarks and listening to live commentary from the carriage driver you make your way through the city.

Dating back to 1670, Charleston is one of the most haunted cities in America. With a history of pirates and criminals, patriots and founding fathers, the city swarms with restless souls and unexplained phenomena. On this tour, your local guide takes you to all the spookiest spots, from haunted graveyards to execution sites and more, keying you into the spirits who walk the cobblestone streets.

Get an inside perspective on Charleston's lesser-known black history during this guided walking tour. Hear forgotten tales and facts about important figures in the city's history. Set off through Charleston's historic neighborhoods on foot, taking in the local ambiance from the ground up, with stops at sites such as the Old Slave Mart Museum and Catfish Row.

Learn all about more than 300 years of history on this guided carriage tour of Charleston. See the many mansions, churches, and gardens as your horse-drawn carriage tour covers more than 2.5 miles and 30 blocks of historic Charleston. Belgian and Percheron draft horses lead you through the streets while you learn about this “Holy City” and its role in the Civil War—leave your guidebook at home, these stories are better.

Charleston is a wonderful city to walk around, though there’s no beating the Southern heat quite like a relaxed, air-conditioned ride. Join this bus tour for a comfortable cruise around Charleston’s best attractions. Pass by the Fort Sumter National Museum and Charleston City Market. Stop at the Battery & White Point Gardens for a photo op. See the Charleston Harbor where your guide’s family sailed into in 1740.

As you wind through the city, you will encounter many of the iconic sights, sounds, customs and stories that have shaped the low country of South Carolina and our nation over three centuries. Beyond the iconic points of interest, we will also explore little nuances that have created the character of this amazing city. The tour is expected to last approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes in total.

Learn about the history and heritage of Charleston during a small-group walking tour. Meet your guide for a city stroll that includes popular attractions such as the French Huguenot Church, the Dock Street Theater, and Waterfront Park. Hear stories about local architecture, historic figures, and cultural landmarks during this guided tour.

Strongly recommended for guests age 10+, The Pirate Escape Scavenger Hunt will take you back in time to the Golden Age of Piracy along the Carolina Coastline. Two local historians have designed an immersive experience like no other scavenger hunts currently offered in Charleston. Guests will start at the Fireproof Museum where admittance is included. Using the provided packet guests will follow a themed escape of Pirates during the Pirate Siege of Charles Towne in 1718. The hunt will have guests visit sites and locations that were around during the very real pirate siege of 1718 and find items to help "escape." Information and details provided along the route have been vetted and will provide hidden insight that most guests would have difficulty finding on their own. Great for families, friends, solo travelers and corporate groups; this escape will provide a budget friendly way to explore Charleston's colonial era on your own time. Join us in taking this Pirate Escape Adventure!

Too hot for a walking tour? Enjoy Charleston's best history tour in the cool comfort of the Historic District's finest classic restaurants on the Tastes Through Time Tour. This unique foodie tour blends the perfect pairing of culinary delights with the captivating history of Lowcountry culture and the evolution of the region's cuisine. While you dine on Charleston's signature dishes and delicacies of the Lowcountry, your fun, knowledgeable, engaging guide, a lifetime local of the area, will escort you to some of the city's premier restaurants, where you will receive VIP service. Your guide will be happy to recommend the best local dining and touring experiences to make the most of your stay in Charleston. Our partner restaurants gladly substitute dishes for food restrictions upon request. This is a timed tour, with reservations at each restaurant, so we ask that guests please be on time. *A minimum number of guests (3 - 5) may be required for the tour to operate in peak periods.

Enjoy a time-saving way to explore one of the country’s most historic cities on this sightseeing bus tour of Charleston, South Carolina. Visit Rainbow Row, the longest stretch of Georgian row houses in the United States; the Old Exchange Building; White Point Garden, in the heart of the city's historic district; and more. You can also upgrade to include admission to the Joseph Manigault House or the Charleston Museum.

Travel back to Colonial times aboard a horse-drawn carriage and discover more than 300 years of history on this guided, 1-hour tour of Charleston. See the many mansions, churches and gardens of yesteryear on this narrated tour around historic Charleston. Enjoy the romantic clip-clop sound as this educational adventure winds through the streets and learn about this ‘Holy City’ and its rich history and role in Civil War times.

Kayaking in the tidal marshes around Charleston is a must-do for wildlife lovers, but without a guide by your side, you’re likely to miss a lot. This tour gets you out on the water with a guide who knows the best spots to go for sightings. While you never know just what you’ll see, creatures that live in these waters include Loggerhead turtles, bottlenose dolphins, and more.

As one of America’s oldest cities, Charleston is considered one of its most haunted. During this hair-raising walking tour, visit the city’s famous paranormal hotspots including Poogan’s Porch, one of America’s top 10 haunted restaurants, and St Philip’s Church graveyard, the location of a famous haunting. From stories of pirates, gangsters and serial killers to tragic lovers, you choose the narrative to suit your interests during this unique ghost tour.

Join Charleston native and host of the popular Pleasing Terrors Podcast, Mike Brown, on this 90-minute Pleasing Terrors Night-Time Walking Ghost Tour. Join Mike as he combines suspenseful storytelling with unparalleled knowledge of the hidden and often frightening stories lurking in Charleston's past and present.

Discover the spookier side of Charleston’s history on this haunted tour of the Old City Jail. With an expert guide, learn about some of Charleston’s most notorious criminals, pirates and despicable characters like Lavinia and John Fisher, 19th-century hoteliers who allegedly poisoned their guests. Visit eerie spaces such as prisoner cells, hallways and locations where criminals died. Brace yourself for a possible ghostly apparition!

See the Charleston Harbor by boat with a leisurely sightseeing tour along the Cooper River to Fort Sumter National Monument. Leave the guidebook at home, because this fully-narrated tour focuses on Charleston, South Carolina's history from Civil War sites to antebellum houses and landmarks, passes under Cooper River bridges, and explores a waterfront that’s home to bottlenose dolphins and pelicans.

Bring your appetite for this tasty walking tour of downtown Charleston. You’ll spend a few hours of mouthwatering fun touring the culinary side of the Holy City, learning about the history of the city as you dine at four local restaurants. Explore the French Quarter and the Market while tasting traditional and contemporary Lowcountry cuisine.

Discover the delights of the Charleston food scene on this walking tour. With a guide, you'll learn about the cuisine of the Lowcountry region as you explore this historic city and sample local food products such as stone-ground grits, pralines, collard greens, and South Carolina barbecue. Tour is limited to 12 people for a small-group experience.

See Charleston's most celebrated streets on your own schedule, without waiting for a group or keeping pace with a guide. This smartphone GPS walking tour leads you through the heart of historic downtown—past the grand antebellum homes of the Battery, the pastel facades of Rainbow Row, and along the waterfront—with location-triggered audio commentary that plays automatically as you walk.

See the historical sights of Charleston on a walking tour with a guide who tells you about the city's long history. You'll wander along narrow streets and alleys, passing by antebellum homes and other attractions as you listen to stories about Charleston's past 300 years.