Boutique hotels in Charleston

Charleston after dark

Upper King Street between Calhoun and Spring is the corridor, a stretch of cocktail rooms, wine bars and rooftops that filled in as the old furniture district emptied. Market Street holds the tourist bars. Last call is two and the city has tightened new late licences. During Spoleto in late May the evening moves outdoors to the Cistern Yard at the College of Charleston.

What to eat in Charleston

She-crab soup is the dish specific to this city: crab, cream, roe and a pour of sherry at the table, and it appears on almost every peninsula menu. Shrimp and grits use Carolina Gold rice country ingredients, and benne wafers, made from sesame brought over in the slave trade, are the local biscuit. Rodney Scott cooks whole hog over coals; Bertha's Kitchen in North Charleston does the soul-food version.

What's actually worth your time in Charleston

Fort Sumter is reachable only by the authorised ferry, which costs forty-three dollars from Liberty Square on Concord Street or Patriots Point in Mount Pleasant and runs two and a quarter hours with about one hour actually on the island. Rainbow Row and the Battery houses are private homes and photograph stops, nothing more. Drayton Hall, left unfurnished and unrestored since 1738, is the plantation that tells the truth.

Charleston with kids, realistically

On the harbour, the South Carolina Aquarium runs a working sea turtle hospital you can watch through glass. Children wade in the Pineapple Fountain at Waterfront Park, which is expected rather than tolerated. Patriots Point's USS Yorktown involves steep ladders and narrow hatches, so it suits about eight upwards. Downtown's cobbles and buckled brick pavements defeat pushchairs; a carrier is easier.

When the weather turns in Charleston

Four institutions within a few blocks stack into a full indoor day: the Charleston Museum, the Gibbes, the Old Slave Mart and the self-guided audio tour at Aiken-Rhett. The City Market's four sheds are roofed. Note that the real street closure risk here is not rain but king tides, which flood Lockwood Boulevard and the Market area on clear days.

When to go to Charleston

The month to avoid is July — around 31°C (88°F) with roughly 18 rain days. Prices and crowds track the weather here: October is the sweet spot, July the month most people skip.

Pack for peak season: Summer clothes, plus one light layer for air-con and evenings, Comfortable walking shoes — every guide on this site assumes you'll use them.

Where to base yourself in Charleston

• South of Broad — Most historic streets — Rainbow Row, Battery Park, antebellum mansions.
• King Street — Main shopping + restaurant strip — boutiques, cocktail bars, gallery openings.
• Sullivan’s Island — 20-min drive across the harbor — beaches, fort, low-key seafood shacks.