Map view
Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum, Charleston
Best time to visit: March-May, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- Naval museum located in Mount Pleasant, whose initial plans for the museum called for a large building onshore to display exhibits related to the history of small combatants ships in the U.S. Navy, and in 1976, the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown was opened to the public
- The museum has an extensive collection of ships and aircraft, and includes the Medal of Honor Museum, which features biographies of all medal recipients
Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park, Beaufort
Best time to visit: April-May, Sept-Oct
Cost: $
- Celebrated riverfront park providing landscaped green space, and a stage for performances
Yaupon, Sculptured Oak and Pond Trail, Myrtle Beach State Park
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: June-Aug
Cost: $
- State park located in Myrtle Beach, and the first South Carolina State Park to open, in 1936
- It was developed by the Civilian Conservation Corps, a New Deal Program created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt
- The program was designed to provide employment during the Great Depression while addressing national needs in conservation and recreation
- A number of buildings built by the CCC in the 1930s are still in use there
Coligny Beach Park
Best time to visit: April-May, Sept-Oct
Cost: $
- Oceanside park with landscaped walking and biking paths, swings, and beach equipment rentals
Reedy River Falls Loop, Falls Park on the Reedy
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: March-May, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- Park adjacent to downtown Greenville, whose most striking feature is a unique pedestrian bridge that curves around a waterfall on the Reedy River
- Named the Liberty Bridge at Falls Park on the Reedy, the long suspension bridge is supported by cables on only one side, giving an unobstructed view of the falls
Kiawah Island Beach Walk, Kiawah Beachwalker Park
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: March-May, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- Located on Kiawah Island, Kiawah Beachwalker Park offers ocean frontage and a river view, along with the only public beach access on Kiawah Island
- Other amenities include a boardwalk and beach chair rentals
South Carolina State Museum, Columbia
Best time to visit: March-May, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- Museum dedicated to the history of South Carolina that has a digital dome planetarium, 4D interactive theater, and an observatory
- It is the largest museum in the state
- The museum is positioned on an old shipping canal (Columbia Canal) that dates back to pre-Civil War times
- Opened in 1988, it is housed in what it calls its largest artifact, the former Columbia Mills Building
- When the mill opened in 1894, manufacturing cotton duck cloth (a canvas-like material), it was the first completely electric textile mill in the world
- It was also the first major industrial installation for the General Electric corporation
Kaminski House Museum, Georgetown
Best time to visit: June-Aug
Cost: $
- Preserved Georgian manor depicting 18th-century Southern life, with antiques and guided tours
Laurel Hill County Park Loop, Isle of Palms County Park
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: March-May, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- Beachfront park offering umbrella rentals, plus grills and a sand volleyball court
The Jazz Corner, Hilton Head
Best time to visit: April-May, Sept-Oct
Cost: $$
- Live jazz shows in a moody space, accompanied by oversized martinis and contemporary Southern food
Islanders Beach Park
Best time to visit: April-May, Sept-Oct
Cost: $
- Public beach with a boardwalk, picnic facilities, and seasonal lifeguards
Boardwalk Loop Trail, Congaree National Park
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: March-May, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- National park in central South Carolina that preserves the largest tract of old growth bottomland hardwood forest left in the United States
- The lush trees growing in its floodplain forest are some of the tallest in the eastern United States, forming one of the highest temperate deciduous forest canopies remaining in the world
Fort Sumter Interpretative Trail, Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: March-May, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- Historical Park located in coastal South Carolina, it mainly protects Fort Sumter, Fort Moultrie, the Charleston Light and Liberty Square, Charleston
- The visitor center features museum exhibits about the disagreements between the North and South that led to the incidents at Fort Sumter, particularly in South Carolina and Charleston
- Displays include slavery and the plantation culture, major figures, politics, and how the Confederate Army was formed
Magnolia Historic Garden Walk and Audubon Swamp Tour Loop, Magnolia Plantation and Gardens
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: March-May, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- Historic house with gardens located on the Ashley River, and one of the oldest plantations in the South
- Magnolia was originally a rice plantation, with extensive earthworks of dams and dikes built in fields along the river for irrigating land for rice cultivation
- African enslaved people from rice-growing regions created the works
- As time went on, these enslaved people developed a creolized Gullah language and vibrant culture, strongly influenced by their West African cultures
Broadway at the Beach
Best time to visit: June-Aug
Cost: $
- Shopping center and entertainment complex located in Myrtle Beach
- The attraction is set in the heart of Myrtle Beach and features three theaters, over 20 restaurants and over 100 specialty shops as well as attractions, night clubs, and hotels, all surrounding Lake Broadway
Rainbow Row
Best time to visit: March-May, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- Rainbow Row is the name for a series of thirteen colorful historic houses in Charleston
- The name Rainbow Row was coined after the pastel colors they were painted as they were restored in the 1930s and 1940s
- The original owner chose to paint some of the houses pink based on a colonial Caribbean color scheme
- Other owners and future owners followed suit, creating the rainbow of pastel colors present today
City Market, Charleston
Best time to visit: March-May, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- Historic market complex in downtown Charleston, established in the 1790s
- Market Hall was added in the early 1840s, and throughout the 19th century, the market provided a convenient place for area farms and plantations to sell beef and produce, and also acted as a place for locals to gather and socialize
- Today, the City Market's vendors sell souvenirs and other items ranging from jewelry to Gullah sweetgrass baskets
Middleton Place
Best time to visit: March-May, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- Plantation along the banks of the Ashley River, built in several phases during the 18th and 19th centuries
- The plantation was the primary residence of several generations of the Middleton family, many of whom played prominent roles in the colonial and antebellum history of South Carolina
- The plantation is now used as a museum, and is home to the oldest landscaped gardens in the United States