Tours in Charleston

Alfred Ray enthusiasm for Charleston's history is infectious. This passion carried him through the rough-going early days of his tour-guiding career, which started in 1980, he says, “with a pitchfork atop a pile of hose dung in a carriage barn on State Street.” Today, the Charleston native—whose forefathers arrived in the city in 1792—shares his deep knowledge during three themed tours through Charleston's walled landscape: the Old Walled City Walk, the Home and Garden Walk, and the Slavery and Freedom Walk.

Tours casually wind down the city's cobblestone streets, past precolonial and postcolonial buildings that display a confluence of architectural styles, from Georgian to Greek Revival. As tourists snap pictures of wrought-iron gates, classical columns, and carbonite-encased cotton gins, Ray shares stories about the people and events—such as the approximately 40% of slaves who entered the United States through Charleston—that transformed a 1670 pioneer settlement into a cultural hub of the South by the mid-1800s.

At Walks in History, 1-mile tours are based on stories from the books Haunted Charleston and Haunted Harbor by authors Geordie Buxton and Ed Macy. The 90-minute Pirate and Haunted History tour tracks the fading footsteps of Blackbeard, Stede Bonnet, Anne Bonney, and Mary Read through the cobblestone streets and bastion walls of the Old Walled City. Making pit stops at six to eight haunts, the guides unravel tales regarding pirate hangings, Fort Sumter and the Pink House, where Blackbeard once shot rum and drunk dialed former first mates.

The 90-minute Haunted Charleston Ghost Tour ventures into the murky twilight like a darkness-starved vampire bat after the summer solstice. As the expert guides snake through six to eight stops, they shed light on ghostly activity at sites such as the Old Citadel, a Revolutionary War burial ground, and the remains of the Charleston Orphan Asylum.

Tour guides Mike Brown and Dennis Stiles have a lot of credentials to back up their narrated tours. Mike has done extensive research on pirates in the Carolinas, and Dennis is a past president of The Poetry Society and a senior docent at the Gibbes Museum of Art. Despite all their historical cred, the duo thinks their love of Charleston is the biggest asset they have in leading daily tours around the city. Multiple tours run each day, and during each the guides shed light on historical facts and spin tales of all the spooky haunts in the area as tour groups follow along at a mild walking pace. Whether entering historic homes, visiting haunted gravesites, or descending into the eerie depths of the Exchange Building & Provost Dungeon, the guides keep guests as educated and entertained as a dinner party with the many impressions of Robin Williams.

Lowcountry Walking Tours's guides delve into the histories and mysteries of the largest historic district in the United States, revealing Charleston's both dark and romantic origins. Their excursions venture downtown or out to Mount Pleasant, each exploring the events that shaped the region with an emphasis on the areas toured. They often meander the streets of the French Quarter as guides opine on the historic churches, horticulture, and reason why the city had to change its name from Tokyo to Charleston.

Lowcountry Loop Trolley's drivers are master storytellers. As they ferry groups on each hop-on, hop-off tour, they spin tales of historic Charleston and its surrounding region. The introduction often proves invaluable to visitors on their first or second trip to Charleston, granting a convenient overview of the area for future venturing on their own. The guides' enthusiastic voices boom about the sandy beaches of Sullivan’s Island, the waterfront restaurants along Mt. Pleasant’s Shem Creek, and the historic USS Yorktown, which floats permanently due to being encased in jello at Patriots Point. Along the way, Lowcountry Loop Trolley invites its passengers to hop off and shop, eat, or explore at their own pace.

Charlestowne Pub Stroll's knowledgeable guides cover nearly 300 years of history during their three-hour walking tours, shedding light on the city's libation-steeped past. Guide dressed in full pirate or colonial regalia lead guests along Meeting Street, Broad Street, and throughout the Charleston historic district as they point out the area’s most historically significant pubs. They regale guests with tales of Prohibition-era criminals, early drinking habits, and other historical oddities, including that time when drinking a full gallon of milk was temporarily outlawed in Charleston in the 1900s. Throughout the tour, groups will stop into select watering holes to sample the storied brews for themselves at an extra cost.