Jun 29, 20214 min read

The land of fried green tomatoes - 🍅Charleston SC

For the longest time, visiting Charleston and Savannah has been on my list. The reason being the travel community I belong to #GLT sing praises about these 2 beautiful cities which listed #Charleston as one of the top destinations for me to explore food, history, and its uniqueness.

Charleston is defined by its cobblestone streets, horse-drawn carriages, and pastel antebellum houses, and of course fried green tomatoes (it was on the menu of every restaurant and was the star dish for most places). The city of Charleston has a coastal vibe where Battery Promenade and Waterfront Park both overlook Charleston harbor.

Everything is royal about Charleston, even the roads are named as King street and Queen street.

I enjoyed the short stay in Charleston which I covered as a part of my twin trip to Charleston and Savannah.

Here are some of the following deets that will help you plan your trip to SC.

Weather – One thing that we underestimated in our trip to Charleston was to combat the heat and humidity of the city due to the summer months. Therefore the best time to go to Charleston is should be between March and May. During our 3 day trip, the heat index and humidity were shooting through the roof and we had to keep our sunblock and hydration game top notch.

Accommodation – Like any other city, Charleston has a wide variety of hotel and Airbnb accommodation. Depending on your needs both options are easily available and affordable. We stayed in a hotel near downtown which offered a beautiful lounge and bar and comfy and cold air-conditioned rooms.

Things to do – Charleston is best known for its history and its landmarks such as - Arthur Jr Bridge, lighthouses, Fort Sumter, Fort Moultrie, Angel Oak tree, pineapple fountain.

To kickstart, we took a long walk around the city to capture the aura of the beautiful historic town.

A must do in Charleston is a horse carriage ride which is a cool way to learn about the city's nooks and corners. There are plenty of horse carriages tour companies and they all rate the same and run through the same loop. It was amazing that our coachmen had such wonderful stories to share about each of the historic houses in the city. It's about a 90 min tour that covers most points in the city. There are plenty of other kind of tours like - walking tour, Segway tour , bike tours which are available in the city to learn about Charleston.

Cool spots #1 – Charleston City Market is one of the nation's oldest public markets and the heart of Historic Charleston. If you're looking for locally handmade items, one-of-a-kind gifts, or memorable souvenirs, this place is full of vendors from all over. City market was once a place where slaves were sold.

Cool spot # 2- Rainbow Row is the name for a series of thirteen colorful historic houses in Charleston which represents the longest cluster of Georgian row houses in the United States. Our coachmen told us the story that this was the red-light district back in the day and to identify the courtesan’s houses differently they were painted in the Caribbean color palette.

Cool spot # 3 - Angel Oak. It is said to be the largest live oak east of the Mississippi. The gorgeous tree is 65 feet high, with a circumference of 25.5 feet. It's estimated that the tree is between 300 and 400 years old.

There are strict rules to not climb the tree and is fenced around to preserve.

Cool spot # 4 - Boone Hall Plantation - Charleston, SC has some really beautiful plantations in and around. The prettiest one is the Boone Hall Plantation & Gardens located a mere 30 minutes away from downtown Charleston. We did an all-inclusive plantation house tour, and got to learn about the history of slavery. This tour included a tractor ride of the plantation that shows indigo, cotton, peach, pecan, and several other fields. The plantation is full of preserves to depict the history of slavery in the southern USA. There are 9 slave cabins line one side of the road at Boone Hall and is known as the Slave Street and is a poignant reminder of a sad phase of American history.

The most beautiful thing about the plantation was the beautiful oak alley at the entrance with hanging Spanish moss from the trees which gives some gorgeous views.

Cool Spot # 5 – Pineapple Fountain - This enchanting fountain has become a must-see monument in Charleston and acts as a familiar symbol of hospitality.

Cool Spot # 6 – The Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge over the Cooper River in South Carolina connecting downtown Charleston to Mount Pleasant and has some super cool views. Check out for yourself 🙂

Cool Spot # 7 - Fort Sumter National Monument- Fort Sumter is a sea fort built on an artificial island protecting Charleston, South Carolina, from naval invasion. The beach behind the fort has a cool rocky coastline to enjoy a quiet day.

Cool Spot # 8– Folly Beach - After days of exploring Charleston's historic sites, we took some time to kick back, relax and enjoy the Southern sun.

This is a very unique beach that has an entrance from Lighthouse Inlet Heritage Preserve area with a walkway full of graffiti leading to the beach and finally be surprised with views of a stand tall lighthouse between the ocean.

We made it to this beautiful beach just before the sunset and we got the most spectacular view of the lighthouse from the beach.

Folly beach is dazzled by a tree called “Wishing tree” which is growing from the soft sands and is located towards the north of Folly Beach County Park.