I recently traveled to Charleston, South Carolina. It was my first time there and first time back to the East Coast in over five years! I chose Charleston for Memorial Weekend 2021 partly because it was my friend’s birthday trip and partly because we are big Southern Charm fans! If you have never watched Southern Charm before, what are you doing? It is a reality TV show following around a group of friends, and of course, all their drama.
Surprisingly, this trip is one of the only trips that we went into it without set plans. We saved some spots on Google Maps, and my friend Angie had a list of places she also wanted to go, but we waited too long for reservations at a lot of the restaurants so we went into this trip winging it.
If you like eating and drinking on your trips, then I have a great list of recommendations for you!
Click to jump to the following topics:
- How to get around
- Where to stay
- Things to do
- Where to eat
- Where to drink
- Places to see the cast of Southern Charm
How to get around
Airport to downtown Charleston
Ride shares are currently few and far between which can make it a bit tricky to get downtown. However, we wandered over to the taxi area and stumbled upon a shuttle service that ended up being $15 per person and took us to our Airbnb.
Getting around Charleston
It ended up being tough for us to get an Uber and Lyft within the city. However, you can easily walk everywhere if you need to and there are also a ton of pedal cards that will take you around. We ended up walking and clocked about 25 miles in 3 days! Bring comfy shoes!
Where to stay
If you want to be able to walk everywhere, I definitely suggest staying anywhere right on or blocks away from King Street. I guarantee you will spend most of your time in that area…especially if you take some of my suggestions below.
We found a great Airbnb on Spring Street about a 5 minute walk off the top of King Street. We ended up loving the coffee shop that was on the corner of our block as well!
Things to Do
Rent a bike
The main way to rent a bike in Charleston is via Holy Spokes. There are different stations all over downtown. All you have to do is download an app and select your rental plan.
Walk down King Street
King Street is the main street in Charleston where you will find the best places to eat, drink and shop! From Spring/King all the way down to Broad/King is about 1.25 miles. It takes about 30 minutes to walk top to bottom.
Shop at Sewing Down South
Sewing Down South is one of the latest shops to pop up on King Street and is owned by Southern Charm cast member, Craig. If you watch the show you know that he found his calling: sewing pillows. He has actually done so well that he opened his flagship store in May 2021. We happened to be there when he was doing his official grand opening and got to meet him.
Visit the Historic Charleston City Market
The Historic City Market is a 4-block city market that contains a few covered outdoor buildings and a few indoor buildings full of a ton of shops! The market is open 9:30 – 5:30 daily.
Take a walking ghost pub tour
Charleston has a lot of history. With history generally comes a pretty interesting past. This was the only organized tour that we chose to book and it ended up being pretty fun! It’s roughly 2.5 hours and the bars you visit can vary night to night.
Walk along the waterfront
There is a nice path to walk along the waterfront that starts at John Riley Waterfront Park. At the waterfront you can also check out the Pineapple Fountain here.
Visit Rainbow Row
When you look up Charleston on Pinterest, chances are, pictures of this famous row of colorful houses will pop up. These are a historic cluster of 13 pastel-painted Georgian-style rowhouses dating from 1748 to 1845. They are absolutely gorgeous homes!
Where to Eat
Xiao Bao Biscuit
Xiao Bao Biscuit put out some pretty amazing Asian dishes. This one ended up being a block from our Airbnb and was our first meal of the whole trip. There are a lot of delicious looking items on the menu, but we ended up taking our waiter’s recommendations and also ate family style.
Miller’s All Day
Expect a wait at Miller’s All Day as it is a very popular brunch spot! The interior is super cute! If you want to avoid a wait, I recommend getting there prior to 9AM. We ordered: B.E.C. (bacon, egg and cheese sandwich), and biscuits and gravy.
The Ordinary
The Ordinary is a $$$ seafood restaurant. If you want reservations, be sure to make them a few weeks out. We ended up waiting too long and could not get a reservation. We got to The Ordinary 15 minutes after opening and were actually able to get a table right away. We ordered: 1/2 dozen oysters, spring vegetable salad, oyster sliders and shrimp.
Stars Rooftop & Grill Room
We had brunch here and loved the atmosphere. If you come for weekend brunch, you will probably also enjoy some live music. Stars Rooftop & Grill Room has a very 1930s vibe and if you get there after 11, they also have a really cool rooftop.
Felix Cocktails et Cuisine
Felix Cocktails et Cuisine is another great place to get brunch! If you can, sit at the bar! The bartenders are all super friendly and we just had a lot more fun chatting with them while we ate. I definitely recommend getting the eggs benedict or one of their specials. Our friend’s got the chicken and waffles.
5Church
If you read a bunch of Pinterest blog posts, 5Church will come up a lot as a place you must eat. The restaurant is set in an old church and has beautiful stained glass windows. One thing to note: they serve brunch until 3PM and at 5PM they switch over to their dinner menu. We were there at 3 so we had brunch. If I ever go back, I would definitely book a reservation further in advance to get a dinner reservation.
The Griffon
Since we were visiting over Memorial Weekend and waited too long to get reservations, we stumbled across The Griffon and ended up snagging a table outside. The Griffon is a English pub and I definitely recommend getting fish and chips here!
Husk
Husk is a Southern restaurant with rotating dishes. This Husk location is in an old Victorian home and is beautiful! Since we couldn’t get reservations, we were there right at 5PM and got our name on the list. They told us that initially we probably wouldn’t be seated until closer to 9. Luckily we were notified and sat at 8. We got to sit at the bar not in the main restaurant and honestly had an amazing time. The bartenders were great and the food was SO GOOD. We ended up picking a few starters (I highly recommend the tuna crudo).
Where to Drink
Warehouse
Warehouse was one of the first bars we stopped at on our trip. There was a DJ there on a Thursday night and then every evening after that it was SUPER busy. It’s a good place to grab a drink.
The Belmont
If you love creative cocktails, then I definitely recommend checking out The Belmont. They have a good list of specialty cocktails or you can have anything made.
132 Spring Coffee & Kitchen Bar
We got coffee from 132 Spring Coffee every morning! It was very convenient to have this coffee shop just a block from our Airbnb. They had a cold foam cold brew as one of their specials that we ordered every day. The first morning we also had their lox bagel which was great! If you live in the area, you can also buy live plants from this coffee shop!
Pour Taphouse
If you like beer or cider and are excited about the concept of pouring your own beer, then you would love Pour Taphouse! You are given your own card that contains a QR code that is tied to your credit card. There are a bunch of beers on tap that you can walk up to, scan your card and then pour the amount of beer that you want. For me, that’s amazing since I was able to pour half glasses of beer. It’s a super fun concept.
1st Place
I love a good sports bar and 1st Place was a fun spot to people watch on a Friday night, enjoy a good burger and also some beers. If you watch Southern Charm then you are familiar with Leva. She owns this sports bar.
King Street Dispensary
King Street Dispensary has a cool vibe and an outdoor back patio. We went there to enjoy Austen Kroll’s Hazy IPA (he is a cast member on Southern Charm). Surprisingly his beer is pretty good!
Bay St. Biergarten
Bay St. Biergarten is about 10 minutes off King Street, but is worth it if you love beer. They have a great outdoor space and an even bigger indoor space. We got to sit inside at the bar and enjoy a beer.
Henry’s on the Market
I wish we had more time at Henry’s. They have a super call 3 story tall building with a rooftop. We ended up finding a rooftop seat and enjoyed a drink before our ghost tour started.
The Rooftop Bar at the Vendue
This was by far the most crowded bar that we visited, however, the view from the top is pretty cool! If there is a line at the elevators, you can easily take the stairs. Seating all seemed to be first come first served.
Uptown Social
We saved Uptown Social for last and conveniently it ended up being Sunday Funday. There was even a DJ playing. We loved the alcohol slushies and found a corner of the bar that we hung out at. The best part: We ran into Shep & Austen at Uptown! My friend was pretty starstruck and they also let us take some pics with them.
Places to see the cast of Southern Charm
94 Rutledge Ave, Sewing Down South, The Commodore, Uptown Social, Republic, King Street Dispensary
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