Last updated: August 2026
Charleston is a historic port city on South Carolina's coast, set on a peninsula between the Ashley and Cooper Rivers where they meet the Atlantic. Founded in 1670, it's known for pastel antebellum row houses, cobblestone streets, wrought-iron gates, and a food scene built on Lowcountry traditions like shrimp and grits, she-crab soup, and rice-based dishes with deep African and Gullah roots.
The city carries a complicated history as a major hub of the transatlantic slave trade and a center of the Confederacy, and serious visitors should engage with sites like the International African American Museum alongside the more familiar plantation and garden tours. It draws honeymooners, architecture and history buffs, food travelers, and beachgoers heading to nearby barrier islands.
Charleston works well as a walking city: the historic district, harbor waterfront, and King Street shopping corridor are all close together, with beaches and plantations a short drive beyond downtown.
Quick facts
- Population
- Roughly 155,000 (city proper, approximate)
- County
- Charleston County
- State
- South Carolina
- Country
- United States
- Setting
- Coastal peninsula between the Ashley and Cooper Rivers
- Nearby cities
- Savannah, GA; Mount Pleasant and Folly Beach, SC
- Best known for
- Antebellum architecture, Lowcountry cuisine, and Fort Sumter
Things to Do
Rainbow Row
A stretch of brightly colored 18th-century houses along East Bay Street, among the most photographed spots in the city.
View in NearbylyFort Sumter National Monument
Reachable by ferry from the downtown waterfront, this harbor fort is where the Civil War began and now serves as a National Park Service site.
View in NearbylyInternational African American Museum
Opened on the site of a major slave-trading wharf, this museum tells the story of African American history from the Middle Passage forward with unusual depth and care.
View in NearbylyThe Battery and White Point Garden
A waterfront promenade lined with grand antebellum mansions, offering views across the harbor toward Fort Sumter.
View in NearbylyMagnolia Plantation and Gardens
One of the oldest public gardens in America, with sprawling grounds and exhibits that also address the plantation's history of slavery.
View in NearbylyCharleston City Market
A historic covered market running several blocks, home to local vendors and the Gullah sweetgrass basket weavers who continue a centuries-old craft tradition.
View in Nearbyly
Eat Local
She-crab soup
A rich, sherry-laced cream soup made with crab roe, considered a Lowcountry signature dish served at restaurants across downtown.
View in NearbylyHusk
Founded by chef Sean Brock in 2010 and now led by other chefs, this influential restaurant helped define modern Southern cooking with a menu built largely on Carolinas ingredients.
View in NearbylyShrimp and grits
A Lowcountry staple with roots in Gullah cooking, now served everywhere from casual diners to upscale dining rooms downtown.
View in NearbylyDowntown brunch culture
The city's brunch tradition, built around dishes like shrimp and grits and biscuits, remains one of its most reliable pleasures at local diners and cafes, a legacy shaped in part by the now-closed Hominy Grill.
View in NearbylyFig
A long-running, chef-driven restaurant on King Street known for seasonal Lowcountry-French cooking and a loyal local following.
View in Nearbyly
Shopping & Markets
King Street
Charleston's main shopping corridor, running from antique dealers in the lower blocks to boutiques and design shops further up.
View in NearbylyCharleston City Market
Sweetgrass baskets, local art, and Lowcountry foods fill this historic market building near the waterfront.
View in NearbylyLower King Street Antique District
A concentration of antique shops selling Southern furniture, silver, and decorative arts, reflecting the city's long collecting tradition.
View in Nearbyly
Hidden Gems
Philip Simmons' ironwork gates
Scattered across the historic district, the decorative wrought-iron gates by master blacksmith Philip Simmons are a quiet, citywide art collection worth seeking out.
View in NearbylyUnitarian Church Graveyard
An intentionally overgrown, romantic old graveyard tucked just off King Street, a peaceful contrast to the manicured gardens elsewhere downtown.
View in NearbylyGullah cultural sites on nearby islands
A short drive from downtown, communities on Johns and James Islands preserve Gullah Geechee language, food, and craft traditions worth exploring respectfully.
View in Nearbyly
Nature & Outdoors
Folly Beach
A laid-back barrier island beach about 30 minutes from downtown, popular for surfing and its funky, low-key main strip.
View in NearbylyAngel Oak Tree
A massive, centuries-old live oak on Johns Island with sprawling limbs that touch the ground, one of the oldest living things east of the Mississippi.
View in NearbylyCooper River waterfront parks
Waterfront Park downtown and the Ravenel Bridge pedestrian path offer easy harbor and river views without leaving the peninsula.
View in Nearbyly
A little history
Charleston was founded in 1670 as Charles Town, named for England's King Charles II, and quickly grew into one of the wealthiest cities in colonial America on the strength of rice and indigo plantations worked by enslaved Africans. By the 18th century it was the principal port of entry for enslaved people in North America, a history now centered at the International African American Museum, built on the site of Gadsden's Wharf.
The city played an outsized role in the Civil War: the first shots of the war were fired on Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor in April 1861. Charleston endured occupation, a devastating 1886 earthquake, and periods of economic decline before a mid-20th-century preservation movement, driven by organizations like the Preservation Society of Charleston, protected much of its historic architecture from demolition.
Tourism and a growing culinary reputation transformed the city's economy from the late 20th century onward, and Charleston is now regularly ranked among the top travel destinations in the United States, a status built on its restored historic district and Lowcountry food culture.
Ready to wander Charleston?
Open the live explorer to see what's actually around you right now — parks, museums, local kitchens, coffee, markets and hidden gems, sorted by distance.
More city guides
Maintained by Nearbyly. Details can change — check ahead before making a long drive.