The amount of requests I receive for a guide to Charleston are overwhelming so I thought I’d finally update my suggestions! I definitely don’t know it all when it comes to visiting Charleston but I can tell you my personal favorites and give you this family friendly guide to Charleston. I will preface this by saying that I am not huge in the bar scene, that is just not the season of life that I’m in right now (sorry bachelorettes!). I can give you our personal suggestions for a nice dinner out and fun things to do as a family.
And this guide isn’t just for families – I’m also giving suggestions for where to stay with your girlfriends or significant other, where to eat (the best date night spots or nights out with your friends) and more. Below I recap our favorite places to eat, explore, stay and shop plus some typical scenarios for fun days in Charleston!
A FAMILY FRIENDLY GUIDE TO CHARLESTON
OUR FAVORITE CHARLESTON RESTAURANTS
Chez Nous
Chubby Fish
Melfi’s
167 Raw
167 Sushi
Vern’s
Lowland Tavern
Shiki Sushi
Little Jacks
Leon’s*
82 Queen*
Edmunds Oast*
Rancho Lewis*
Bodega*
Basic Kitchen*
Post House*
Sullivan’s Fish Camp*
Obstinate Daughter
Coastal Crust*
Hometeam BBQ (Sullivan’s location)*
Santi’s Mexican Restaurant*
*signifies a good spot to bring kids!
OUR FAVORITE CHARLESTON COFFEE/BAKE/WINE SHOPS
The Daily
Second State
Harken Cafe*
The Harbinger
Welton’s Tiny Bakeshop
Sugar Bakeshop
Babas on Cannon
BIN 152 Wine Shop
The Co-op*
Goat Sheep Cow (downtown market)
Vintage Coffee (in Mount Pleasant)*
Brownfox (in Mount Pleasant)*
*signifies a good spot to bring kids!
OUR FAVORITE CHARLESTON HOTELS
The Dewberry (The Citrus Club rooftop is so fun + beautiful rooms)
Zero George (my favorite quintessential Charleston hotel)
Hotel Bennett*
Mills House*
Post House Inn (in Mount Pleasant)
The Dunlin (Kiawah River)
*signifies a good spot to bring kids!
FUN THINGS TO DO FOR KIDS
Charlestowne Landing + The Animal Forest
Charleston Aquarium
Children’s Museum of the Lowcountry
USS Yorktown Ship Tour
Sullivan’s Island or Isle of Palm Beach Day
Charleston Fun Park or Frankie’s Fun Park (if you need some indoor fun)
Shark tooth hunting at low tide off the Pitt St Bridge (in Mount Pleasant)
FUN THINGS TO DO AS A FAMILY
Charlestowne Landing (great walking paths and space to run/see wildlife)
Holy City Brewery (so much outdoor space for kids!)
Walking Tour with Walk + Talk CHS
Kayaking on Shem Creek
Fish Charter
OUR FAVORITE SHOPS IN CHARLESTON
for women:
Beau & Ro
Hampden Clothing
Lake Pajamas
Minnow
Loeffler Randall
Nette
Monkees (Mount Pleasant)
Out of Hand (Mount Pleasant)
Elizabeth Stuart (Mount Pleasant)
AbideaWhile (Mount Pleasant)
Bennie + Coco (Sullivan’s Island)
Goldbug (Sullivan’s Island)
for kids:
Pitt Street Kids
for men:
M. Dumas + Sons
T.D. McMurry Shop
IDEAL FAMILY DAY IN CHARLESTON
If I could plan our perfect family day it would be everyone wakes up, we go grab coffee and breakfast and head to the beach at Sullivan’s Island. We would walk over to Hometeam BBQ for lunch and head home to relax for a bit. Another great day would be to go to Charlestowne Landing to walk the Animal Forest followed by lunch and playing at Holy City Brewery (these two are close enough to each other). If we wanted to be downtown it would be fun to do a Walk + Talk tour, followed by lunch at 82 Queen or Leon’s and then stop by the Aquarium (it is a good size and you can get through it in an hour).
IDEAL GIRLS DAY IN CHARLESTON
My girlfriends are coming in October and I’m already working on our plans! My ideal day would be wake up and head to a cycle class at The Works Cycle or a yoga class at The Works. Grab coffee and head downtown to shop along King Street, grab lunch at 167 Raw or Sushi, reboot and shower up, grab drinks at Lowland Tavern and then dinner at Melfi’s. OR I would head out to Sullivan’s, catch the sunset on the beach then grab dinner at Obstinate Daughter or Post House. There are so many options!!
There is so much to-do here in Charleston but honestly one of my favorite things to do is sit on my front porch and watch the world go by or roam around and explore! October and March are beautiful times of year to visit (but October can be little risky with hurricane season).
