Charleston has been a destination on my bucket list for years, and when I found tickets for less than 20k miles through our Southwest companion pass, I had to book a weekend getaway. The two of us had a great time walking and biking around the city, eating our way through the local cuisine and taking a few trips outside the city. We had sunshine everyday, only requiring some extra layers when windy.
I unknowingly booked the tickets for Easter weekend, which in hindsight probably wasn’t the best idea. Shows you how much research I did before we left…there’s a reason they call it the Holy City. For being one of the busiest weekends of the year, we were still lucky enough to book a couple charming hotels and avoid major crowds.
It was generally really easy to get around, renting bikes and using car rental apps for our day trips. We stayed in two of the cutest pink hotels, The Mills House and Meeting Street Inn. I’ll go into more details on these below. There are a lot of nice hotels in the heart of the historic district, some more affordable than others, but you really can’t go wrong. If you’re planning a trip to Charleston here are some of my favorite things to do, places to eat and general tips to help you along the way.
To Stay
As I said above, there are so many options when it comes to hotels. I was very concerned about being centrally located to a lot of the sites because I had never been before, and was pleasantly surprised by how close everything was. Here are a few of my favorites that are so charming.
Belmond Charleston Place
The Mills House
The Elliot House Inn
Meeting Street Inn
Days Inn – I only share this because it’s the most affordable and still in the heart of everything.
Andrew Pinckney Inn
To See and Do Downtown
Charleston City Market
Aiken Rhett House
Walk or bike around the battery
Rainbow Row
Waterfront Park
Explore South of Broad
John Rutledge House Inn
White Point Garden
Bike to Colonial Lake
We rented bikes from Affordabike – great service and price!
Day Trips
Plantations:
Magnolia Plantation
Boone Hall Plantation
Middleton Place
Beaches:
Folly Beach
Kiawah Island
Sullivan’s Island
Morris Island Lighthouse
We used Turo and found it cheaper and easier than renting a car from a rental company.
To Eat
Breakfast:
Poogan’s Porch
Virginia’s on King
Queen Street Grocery
Callie’s Hot Little Biscuits
Another Broken Egg Cafe
Lunch and Dinner:
Butcher & Bee – farm fresh
The Park Cafe
167 Raw
Poogan’s Porch
Jestine’s Kitchen
Basic Kitchen
Brown Dog Deli
Husk
Taco Boy
PawPaw – the best mac & cheese you’ll ever have. also the scallops. goodbye.
Obstinate Daughter
Salt
Magnolias
Dessert:
Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream – you bet I got it delivered every night.
Sugar Bakeshop
Peace Pie
Obstinate Daughter 
PawPaw 
Inside The Obstinate Daughter
What I Packed
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