4 Days in Charleston, South Carolina
Welcome to Charleston, South Carolina, where vibrant history, charming architecture, and delicious cuisine collide. Join me on a whirlwind four-day trip to this coastal gem as we discover the hidden treasures and southern hospitality that make Charleston an irresistible destination. We visited Charleston from July 14th to July 18th and I would have to say I do not recommend visiting during this time. The weather was extremely hot and humid, making it hard to enjoy ourselves when walking around during the day. If I were to visit again, I would probably go back during the fall or early spring when it would be more comfortable to walk around.
Although, besides the extreme heat, I loved everything about Charleston. The bright and colorful buildings, the great food and there was always lots to do! Here is exactly what we did on our 4-day trip to Charleston.
Where We Stayed:
We stayed at the Hyatt House on King Street and it was absolutely perfect for our trip. Hyatt House was located right at the end point of the best place to walk around during our stay. The hotel was clean and up to date, and we were able to walk right out our door and have easy access to all the great bars and restaurants. I would highly recommend booking here if you want to be able to truly enjoy King Street at a reasonable price.
What We Did: Download my Google Maps Guide for here Free!
We spent most of our days walking around and taking pictures of the beautiful buildings, architecture, flowers, and more. There was so much to do and see around Charleston and so many great photo spots!
Some of my favorite spots around Charleston:
The French Quarter:
This was a great area that was closer to the water, so it felt a little cooler on the hot hot days. There were all kinds of shops and restaurants around.
There were tons of great photo spots around the French Quarter, but make sure you visit the Pink House, This is an art gallery that is one of South Carolina’s oldest buildings.
We loved the Charleston Market, this was a great way to get out of the heat and to see some cool handmade crafts.
Waterfront Park:
The Joe Riley Waterfront Park is located right in Downtown Charleston. It’s a popular photo spot with its gorgeous views of Charleston Harbor’s blue water and the Pineapple Fountain. This was also a great spot to take a stroll along the waterfront.
This was one of the super Instagram-able streets, with a different cool building everywhere you look. After walking Broad Street, make sure you head over to South Of Broad where you will find all the luxury homes and White Point Garden where there’s an adorable gazebo and a magical-looking forest full of old oak trees.
Historic Downtown Charleston:
The historic downtown is another great picture spot, but one of the best picture spots in this area is Rainbow Row. You have to check this out if you are interested in a beautiful photo backdrop.
Beach Day:
We wanted to take a beach day while we were in Charleston and I have to say, it was not the easiest, but it was totally worth it in the end. We decided to get an Uber from our hotel in Charleston, to Folly Beach. Going to Folly Beach was the easy part, it was about a 30 minute drive but it cost us about $20.
The beach was beautiful and everything I needed that day. We were able to walk right on and enjoy the beach. The ocean was shallow enough to wade in and swim comfortably and it felt so great to cool off on the hot summer day.
This was the problem, apparently, all of the Ubers drop people off in Folly Beach but they don’t stick around to take you back. We tried to find an Uber to pick us up and were out of luck. We ended up having to find a local taxi to take us back, and boy was this an adventure. We called multiple taxi services that were already too busy to get us. Finally, we landed on one, who was just one guy who drove around for fun. He picked us up in his van and it was disgusting and stunk of cigarettes. We kept our location on for our entire drive back just to make sure we were going in the right direction. I would not recommend visiting Folly beach for the day unless you already have a set plan on how you are going to get back to Charleston.
Where We Ate:
We had SO many great meals while we were in Charleston. Everything I ate was so fresh and delicious. Here are all the restaurants that we ended up going to, I would recommend making reservations if you can, as these places filled up pretty quick!
The Neon Tiger is a fully Vegan/Vegetarian restaurant and bar. I think I had one of the best vegan pizzas I had ever tired here. I had the vegan pepperoni pizza and my friend Emily who I was with had the vegan Buffalo Chicken Pizza. The food was incredible and you wouldn’t even know you were eating vegan ingredients. I highly recommend checking this place out, the atmosphere here was insane also!
This was your traditional southern breakfast spot and it was delicious. We didn’t have to wait to get in and I had a giant biscuit with my eggs so I was perfectly happy. The food and atmosphere were great.
This was one of my favorite dinner spots. They have a very small select menu and everything on it was seasonal and so fresh. I had a ravioli with a lemon butter sauce and was out of this world. I would highly recommend making a reservation here if you can.
This was one of those restaurants that I had been following on Instagram for a while and was dying to try. Everything on the menu here sounded so good and the atmosphere was top-notch. This restaurant was a little fancier than the others but so delicious.
This was a breakfast place that we had set our minds on going because we had seen it all over Instagram. We had to wait about an hour to get in here, but the food was so worth it. Even the atmosphere here was great. This is a must try for brunch and lunch.
This is another Italian restaurant that had one of the freshest menus I had seen at an Italian restaurant. I had the agnolotti with cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, garlic and corn it was to die for. This is a must try.
I was sad that we had to leave Charleston, and I can't help but feel grateful for the warm embrace of its historic charm, culinary delights, and coastal allure. This four-day journey has only scratched the surface of what this captivating city has to offer.
