Old Charleston, SC - A Walking Tour Mecca

If any city was made for walking tours, it's Charleston, SC. Anyone who has been here knows that the city is overflowing with historical buildings, mysterious and colorful characters, and momentous events. Preservation of historical buildings and sites has been ongoing for decades. The people of Charleston are passionate about their history, so they take care that the most beautiful sites are not only preserved from destruction but are taken care of with generous funding and donations from various civic groups. Charleston played heavily in the Civil War and before that, it was a center of trade and cotton and tobacco businesses. Unfortunately, it also traded in slaves and this is just one part of the dark underbelly of this lovely city. Today people have access to expert tour guides that can relate details and stories while they show the physical monuments of that history. The walking tour guides in this city are numerous. I've picked just a few of the top ones to highlight.

http://www.tourcharleston.com/

Tour Charleston is one of the premier tour companies in the city. They provide several different tours: an historical walk, a Ghost and a Pirate tour. This tour company is ten years old and was founded by a city commissioner who also wrote the widely read book, The Ghosts of Charleston. All the guides are experts on Charleston history and have been aired on CNN, HGTV, and the History Channel. The History Tour will cost $18 for adults and $12 for children. Tour times are 10, 2, and 5, Monday through Sunday. This tour recounts the effects of past wars on Charleston, its colorful and sometimes disreputable characters, while winding through alleyways and courtyards, churchyards and graveyards, and the French Quarter and its elegant homes and hotels. To purchase tickets by phone, please call 800.979.3370

184 East Bay Street
Suite 103 - Behind Subway
Charleston, SC 29401
843.723.1670 - 800.854.1670

http://www.charlestonwalks.com/

Charleston Walks claims to offer the most diversity of thematic Charleston walking tours in the city. They've been operating for over 13 years. Some of their walks are the following: Historic Homes, Civil War, Slavery and Freedom, Charleston, Pirates and Buccaneers, Patriots, Ghosts and Legends, and Gibes Art Museum Discovery. Their web site has links for best deals for hotels and hotel specials too, which is an added convenience. One of their walks, The Patriots, cost $22.50 for adults and $14.50 for children. This wonderful walk takes visitors into the historic buildings where events took place during the Revolutionary War that would form the very foundations of the new country. It departs at 10:30, 1:30 and 4:00 daily. Purchasing from the link on their web site will save adults $3 or call toll-free at 866-550-8939 from 9-10 am daily

The last site is an official Charleston City web site that lists even some different tours. A separate company runs each the ones listed on their site, but one I found fascinating here was the Dark Side of Charleston Walking Tour. Call 843-722-8687 to get a reservation for this. It's run by Bulldog Tours and takes visitors into Charleston's history of brothels, scandal, corruption and crime in what used to be known as the "Holy City" because of its abundance of churches and parishioners. It takes 1.5 hours and leads visitors into places where the social world was blighted by scandal, temptations and "unruly behavior." I can't imagine a more interesting tour to walk, personally. Tours like this put into perspective the awful stuff that's happening today and gives more of a perspective on our place in history. Email them at info@bulldogtours.com. (843) 722-TOUR. I might tend to put this site at the top of my list for walking tours here because they tour jails, ghost dungeons and as Charleston stroll. Or mix any of these tours with others. Any way it's done, Charleston is definitely off the charts when it comes to making history come alive through a stroll through the streets of an historic and exquisitely beautiful city.

http://www.charleston.com/sightseeingTours.cfm?subcategoryID=328