61. The Charleston Museum
City: Charleston, SC
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (843) 722-2996
Address: 360 Meeting St.
Description: America’s first museum, founded in 1773, has exhibits and art depicting African-American life in the South Carolina Lowcountry. Additional photographs and valued information on African-American history and culture are housed in the museum’s archives. Archival research is welcome; call the museum for an appointment. The Charleston Museum is open Mon through Sat from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sun hours are from 1 to 5 p.m. Admission is $10 for adults and teens and $5 for children ages 3 to 12. The doors are closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve.
City: Charleston, SC
Category: Tours & Attractions
Address: 3380 Ashley River Rd.
City: Charleston, SC
Category: Tours & Attractions
Address: 4300 Ashley River Rd.
City: Charleston, SC
Category: Tours & Attractions
Address: 325 Country Club Dr.
City: Charleston, SC
Category: Tours & Attractions
Address: 6 Chalmers St.
City: Charleston, SC
Category: Tours & Attractions
Address: 1254 Longpoint Rd.
67. Gullah Tours Inc.
City: Charleston, SC
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (843) 763-7551
Address: 43 John St.
Description: This group offers Charleston folktales told in Gullah, the distinctive language spoken by Lowcountry blacks that’s a separate and unique cross between English and various African dialects. Your guide is Alphonso Brown, licensed guide, lecturer, and author of A Guide to Gullah Charleston. You will tour many of the important local African-American sites such as the Old Slave Mart, Denmark Vesey’s house, and Catfish Row. All tours leave from Gallery Chuma on 43 John St., across from the visitor center. Weekday tours are at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Sat tours are at 11 a.m. and 1 and 3 p.m. No tours are given on Sun. Tours are $18 per person.
68. Sites and Insights Tours
City: Charleston, SC
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (843) 762-0051, (843) 552-9995
Description: Visit little-known black history sites, and gain a knowledge of Charleston’s past from an African-American perspective. Hear stories of slavery, free blacks, the Denmark Vesey Slave Uprising, the Stono Rebellion, Catfish Row, and Charleston’s colorful sea islands. These are 1- and 2-hour motor tours that depart from the visitor center. Rates are $13 for adults of any age for the 1-hour tour and $10 for children. The 2-hour program is $18 for adults and $13 for children. A 2-hour island tour (of James, Johns, Angel Oak, and Civil War sites) is available upon request. Rates are $23 for adults, $18 for children. Call for schedules.
City: Charleston, SC
Category: Tours & Attractions
City: Charleston, SC
Category: Tours & Attractions
Address: 1090 Ft. Sumter Dr.
City: Charleston, SC
Category: Tours & Attractions
City: Charleston, SC
Category: Tours & Attractions
73. “Doin’ the Charleston” Tours
City: Charleston, SC
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (843) 763-1233, (800) 647-4487
Description: Here’s something of a high-tech motor tour, a new twist on historic interpretation. You travel around Charleston in an air-conditioned minibus with large windows, while historic views of many of the same places you’re seeing are displayed via laser disc on a screen inside your motor coach. There’s even a musical soundtrack to your guide’s live narration. Allow 90 minutes for this tour, which includes a stop at the Battery. Rates for adults and teens are $20, and the price is $14 for children ages 6 to 11. Daily tours leave promptly from the visitor center at 9:30 a.m., noon, 2:30, and 4:30 p.m. (the 4:30 p.m. tour runs during daylight savings time only). Free pickups from downtown lodgings are offered. Call for reservations.
City: Charleston, SC
Category: Tours & Attractions
75. Talk of the Towne
City: Charleston, SC
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (843) 795-8199
Address: 2166 St. James Dr.
Description: Enjoy panoramic views of the Battery, Rainbow Row, and all the major downtown landmarks from a minibus designed especially for touring Charleston. The 2-hour tours, leaving from the visitor center Mon through Sat, include a 35-minute guided tour of the Nathaniel Russell House or Edmondston-Alston House. Pickup from all major downtown hotels is available. The rate for adults and teens is $29, for children 12 and younger, it’s $16. The 75-minute version, leaving from the visitor center at 9:15 and 11:45 a.m. and 3 p.m., is a nonstop, 7-mile ride through Charleston that includes the Battery, Rainbow Row, and the Four Corners of Law. Adult and teen fare is $20; for children ages 12 and younger, it’s $12.