The 21 Best Things to Do in Charleston
- 1/20
Gibbes Museum of Art
Brennan Wesley - 2/20
Bluegrass Brunch at High Cotton
Andrew Cebulka - 3/20
Self-Guided Walking Tour
Getty - 4/20
Center for Birds of Prey
Courtesy Visit Historic Charleston - 5/20
Two Sisters Tours
George Oze/Alamy - 6/20
The Caviar Bar at Zero George
Hack Hargett - 7/20
High Wire Distilling
Photo by Peter Frank Edwards - 8/20
Afternoon Tea at Hotel Bennett
This is a grand hotel, so naturally there are multiple restaurant concepts onsite for fresh variety. La Pâtisserie is a sunny and gorgeous space for morning coffee, tea, smoothies, and pastries by French Pastry Chef Rémy Fünfrock, plus daily artisanal sandwiches and desserts galore (try the strawberry sponge cake). Rooftop lounge Fiat Lux is great for afternoon and evening cocktails (both spirited and non) plus charcuterie boards, elevated nibbles, and some pretty amazing rosemary duck fat fries. Perhaps the most over-the-top experience is Hotel Bennett’s weekend Afternoon Tea (by reservation), a fantastic ritual that unfolds in the ground floor oval Camellias Bar, named so because you are literally surrounded by glittering wallpapered accents of giant camellias. A jacketed server pours flights of sparkling rosé at the flower-studded bar, then walks across softly-hued pink marble to deliver towers of savory canapés to each table, followed by another tower of sweets prepared by the aforementioned French pastry chef—all washed down with your choice of a wide selection of leaf teas and herbal infusions. Plus the bar moonlights as a swanky destination for champagne, oysters, and caviar.Courtesy Hotel Bennett - 9/20
Cypress Gardens
Chris Smith/Chris and Cami Photography - 10/20
The Charleston Museum
Courtesy The Charleston Museum, Charleston, South Carolina - 11/20
Ibu Movement
Courtesy Ibu Movement - 12/20
Sullivan's Island Beach
Getty - 13/20
Citrus Club
Courtesy The Citrus Club - 14/20
Kiawah Island Golf Resort
Patrick O’Brien/Courtesy Kiawah Island Golf Resort - 15/20
Robert Lange Studios
Courtesy Robert Lange Studios - 16/20
Preservation Society of Charleston
Photo by The Corinne Company - 17/20
King Street
Getty - 18/20
Mrs. Whaley's Garden
Courtesy Olivia Rae James - 19/20
Coastal Expeditions
Courtesy Coastal Expeditions - 20/20
Charleston Bike Taxi
John Norman/Alamy
Allston McCrady
For a small city, there's an outsized number of options. Here's where to start.
Originally Appeared on Condé Nast Traveler