6 Easy Day Trips from Charleston
Charleston is wonderful, but it’s also busy, especially on weekends, when the streets fill with tour groups and horse carriages. The Lowcountry around it is a different story: quiet barrier islands, salt marshes, old swamp forests and small towns that move at their own pace.
In this guide
Here are six easy day trips from Charleston, all within about 75 minutes. A couple of them are close enough for half a day.
1. Kiawah Island
Kiawah Island is about 45 minutes south, and it has one of the most beautiful beaches in the state. Most of the island is a private resort, but Beachwalker Park, at the western end, is a public county park with parking, restrooms and ten miles of wide, quiet sand.
It’s a great beach for walking, shelling and spotting dolphins, which often swim close to shore. Bring a bike if you can. The sand is hard-packed at low tide, and riding along the beach is a real treat. On the way, drive under the Angel Oak, a giant live oak on Johns Island that’s thought to be hundreds of years old.
2. Folly Beach
Folly Beach is only 25 minutes from downtown, and it’s the city’s laid-back, slightly scruffy surf town. Locals call it “the Edge of America.” Center Street is full of beach bars, taco spots and surf shops, and the pier is a fun walk.
For the best view, go to the far northern end of the island and walk out to see the Morris Island Lighthouse. It stands alone in the water now, after the shoreline eroded around it. It’s especially beautiful at sunrise. Folly gets very busy on summer weekends, so come early or on a weekday.
3. Fort Sumter
Fort Sumter is where the Civil War began, in April 1861, when Confederate forces fired on the Union-held fort. It sits on a little island at the mouth of Charleston Harbor, and you can only get there by ferry.
Ferries leave from Liberty Square downtown and from Patriots Point in Mount Pleasant. The ride is about 30 minutes, with great views of the harbor and the city, and you get about an hour on the island. Rangers give short talks, and the small museum is excellent. The whole trip takes about two and a half hours. Book ahead in summer.
4. Francis Beidler Forest
About an hour northwest, Francis Beidler Forest protects the largest remaining virgin cypress and tupelo swamp forest in the world. Some of the bald cypress trees are more than 1,000 years old. It’s run by Audubon, and it’s magical.
A 1.75-mile boardwalk takes you right through the swamp, over black water full of turtles, snakes and sometimes alligators. It’s very quiet, and the light through the trees is gorgeous. If you’re lucky, you’ll hear barred owls calling. Bring bug spray. Seriously. For a gentler option closer to town, Cypress Gardens in Moncks Corner lets you paddle a small boat through a swamp.
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5. Beaufort and Hunting Island
Beaufort, pronounced “BYOO-furt,” is about 75 minutes south, and it’s one of the prettiest small towns in the South. Its historic district is full of grand antebellum homes, live oaks dripping with Spanish moss and quiet streets. Movies like Forrest Gump and The Big Chill were filmed here.
Walk along the waterfront park, take a horse-drawn carriage tour and get shrimp for lunch. Then drive 20 minutes east to Hunting Island State Park. It has a climbable lighthouse and a wild “boneyard beach” with dead trees standing in the sand.
6. Georgetown
Georgetown is about an hour north, up the coast, and it’s the third-oldest city in South Carolina. Once it was the center of a huge rice-growing empire. Today, it’s a quiet, friendly port town with a pretty harborwalk along the water.
Walk Front Street for shops and seafood restaurants, and visit the Kaminski House or the Rice Museum to learn about the area’s complicated history. Boat tours head out into the marshes and up the rivers. If you have extra time, keep going north to Brookgreen Gardens, a huge sculpture garden near Murrells Inlet.
How to plan your trip
You’ll need a car for all of these except Fort Sumter. Rideshare works for Folly Beach, but it gets pricey. Traffic over the bridges to the islands can be slow on summer weekends, so leave early.
If you only have half a day, pick Folly Beach or Fort Sumter. If you have a full day, Beaufort and Hunting Island make a wonderful combination, with history in the morning and the beach in the afternoon.
When to go
Spring and fall are the best seasons, with warm days and fewer bugs. Summer is hot and humid, but it’s beach season. Winter is mild and quiet, and great for the swamp walks and small towns. Hurricane season runs from June to November, so keep an eye on the forecast.
Where to eat on the road
The Lowcountry is serious about food, and you’ll eat well on all of these trips. Look for shrimp and grits, she-crab soup, fried green tomatoes and, in fall and winter, an oyster roast. On Johns Island, on the way to Kiawah, Fat Hen and the Wild Olive are local favorites.
Folly Beach is all about casual tacos and beach bars. In Beaufort, sit by the water for shrimp and hushpuppies. In Georgetown, the seafood restaurants along Front Street have views over the harbor. And keep an eye out for roadside produce stands and boiled peanut stalls along the back roads. They’re a classic part of any Lowcountry drive.
Common questions
What’s the best beach near Charleston?
Kiawah Island’s Beachwalker Park for quiet, Folly Beach for a lively scene.
How do you get to Fort Sumter?
By ferry from downtown Charleston or Patriots Point in Mount Pleasant.
Is Beaufort worth visiting from Charleston?
Yes. It’s beautiful, walkable and about 75 minutes away.
Are there alligators near Charleston?
Yes. You may spot them at Beidler Forest and in other swamps and marshes.
Do you need a car for Charleston day trips?
For most of them, yes. Fort Sumter is the exception.
