Hi, friends! Due to many requests, we are so excited to share with you our travel guide to Charleston, South Carolina. Emma and I recently enjoyed a long weekend in Charleston and fell quickly in love with this colorful, charming city! Now, I admit, four days is not nearly enough time to try all a city has to offer! For that reason, in addition to the places we tried and loved, we’ll also share with you some recommendations from our trusted friends who are local to Charleston as well as those spots that were repeatedly recommended by you, our readers!
Fair warning, you will want to book some tickets and GO by the time we are done here today. This city is magic.
Places we visited and loved:
Let’s start by sharing the spots that we personally visited and really loved!
Hominy Grill Southern food perfection. We went for breakfast after countless recommendations and enjoyed both the food and the atmosphere. Emma ordered the Salmon Potato Cakes and highly recommends them!
Second State Coffee (formerly Black Tap) We really liked this adorable coffee shop. We spent a few hours there sipping coffee and coconut tea and working on our computers.
The Daily We enjoyed this coffee shop (located right by Butcher & Bee). It doesn’t have much seating, but for coffee and treats on the go, it’s perfect!
We also visited Butcher & Bee (right next door) for lunch one day and loved the menu. It’s really creative with a lot of vegetarian options.
In the parking lots by The Daily and Butcher & Bee, there is this awesome, giant mural by Shepard Fairey.
We enjoyed taking a long walk along The Battery and looking at the beautiful homes and then seeing Rainbow Row. Charleston has the highest per capita of pink and pastel houses I’ve ever seen in my life, obviously a very good thing!
One of the things that surprised us about Charleston was how many things were within walking distance of downtown. And when we drove, most of the places we went to were about five or ten minutes away.
We enjoyed Mac & Murphy, a cute local stationery shop. We spent way too long in there picking out cute cards and journals. It’s extremely well curated and fresh!
Right down the street from Mac & Murphy is Sugar Bakeshop. The treats are delicious, but the thing we loved most about it was the beautiful courtyard inside where we had a chance to sit and chat with our friend Erin. It’s beautiful! Also on Cannon street is Indigo & Cotton, a super nice shop for dudes. I picked up a few gifts for Jeremy there.
We loved visiting Redux and seeing the studios of some artists we admire including Lulie Wallace, Tiel Duncan and Raven Roxanne. It was inspiring to see so many amazing artists working so closely together in this shared space.
Our favorite coffee shop we visited in Charleston is called Saint Alban. It’s a beautiful atmosphere with a really great menu plus lots of space to hang out with friends.
The best lunch we had in Charleston was at Husk. Their menu is fresh, local and changing constantly. Vegetarians beware, EVERYTHING has bacon in it unless you ask for a vegetarian option (which they are very cool about). What really impressed us most about Husk was their awesome cocktail menu. They have a little bar next door, and next time we visit we might just drop by for drinks because they were that good.
One morning we drove out to Folly Beach and had breakfast at Lost Dog Cafe. It was a fun, chill spot with good surfer vibes. We drove up and down the beach house streets to look at all the colorful beach houses. They were seriously incredible. Our local friends say this is their favorite beach, but since we visited in January, we didn’t do any swimming.
We got a lot of recommendations for FIG, and since it was right next door to our hotel, we knew we had to check it out. It was one of the fancier places we tried, and we thought both the dinner and cocktail menus were really great!
That night we also tried Gin Joint. They had the best cocktails we had on our trip to Charleston. It has a really cute atmosphere too. We loved it so much, we wanted to go back another night, but it was closed the other nights we were there. Perfect happy hour spot!
Speaking of hotels, we stayed at The Indigo Inn. We liked that it wasn’t super expensive since we stayed four nights, and it is in walking distance to lots of food, shopping, and the water. Super nice people too.
On our last night in Charleston, we wanted an un-fancy dinner and a lot of people recommended Taco Boy. It was delicious and the outdoor patio is SO cute! (I think there is a Folly Beach location too, but this is the one in Charleston).
Emma got a frozen screwdriver. It was fun.
(Xiao Bao Biscuit photo via Map & Menu)
Xiao Bao Biscuit was probably my favorite meal we had (although the competition was clearly very stiff!). I can’t stop thinking about it. Next time I am in Charleston I’ll be there first thing! Order the cabbage pancake to start. Obsessed!
That same night we went to The Belmont for one drink. I had an apple cider cocktail that was some kind of black magic. It’s very cute too.
Places that were highly recommended:
Since we only visited Charleston for a long weekend we didn’t get to do everything on our list, although I think we made a pretty good dent in it! 🙂 These are the spots that we got multiple recommendations on and will definitely visit next time!
• The Commons Handmade goods for the home.
• Flowershop A beautiful local flower shop.
• Glazed Gourmet Donuts Next time!
• Edmonds Oast One of our friends, Erin’s, favorite spots.
• Waterfront Park There’s a cool pineapple-shaped water fountain there.
• Sullivan’s Island We really wanted to see some cool houses there, like this one called “the eye of the storm“, but we just ran out of time.
(Image via Monolithic.org)
Your turn! Do you have a favorite Charleston spot you want to recommend? Leave us a comment! We want to hear what you love.
And Charleston residents, I hope we did you proud! We love your beautiful city and we’ll be back soon! xx. Elsie
ps. A HUGE Thank you to our friend Erin for making us an amazing travel guide before our visit! Check out her weaving shop, SunWoven.
Credits: Author: Elsie Larson, Photography: Elsie Larson and Emma Chapman (unless otherwise noted). Photos edited with Stella and Jean of The Signature Collection.
Great post about everything to do in Charleston!
Awesome posts! Love you pictures and your style, you helped me out a ton in quick trip planning ~ Cheers
Thank you so much for this fabulous post with superb photos. I have been to Charleston twice in the past and going again in September. You provided me with a lot of great recommendations. I look forward to exploring new sites and definitely getting to Sullivan’s beach. The post about Dorothea is great. I will have to pick up some of her books before my trip. Excellent.
Love the post! These are some great suggestions!
I wish I got up that way more. There’s no shortage of awesome stuff in Charleston!
Where is your dress from!!!! I LOVE it!
These are awesome! I’m definitely going to remember these. Charleston is on the bucket list 🙂
Phenomenal city – went last summer, and cannot wait to go back! Magnolia’s Restaurant is a staple, and well-deserving of its reputation. And, if you are looking for a place to stay, I cannot recommend The French Quarter Inn enough – the staff and amenities are the absolute epitome of Southern hospitality. The breakfast included is to die for, and the wine and cheese hour is also no joke!
One of the best dinners I have ever had was the shrimp and grits at SNOB (Slightly North of Broad). Love Charleston! I’ll second FIG for the cocktail menu alone.
This looks like such a wonderful trip for just the two of you <3 also I love the website update!
Elsie- your black (leather?) jacket is perfect. Would you mind sharing the info?
Poogan’s Porch is amazing for comfort food! The mac’n’cheese is made with gruyère. You will leave stuffed! We had our wedding reception there 12 years ago, and recently went back on an anniversary trip. We went to Poogan’s twice! Also, on Market St. there is a little dessert bar called Kaminski’s. It’s always packed in the evening and is the perfect place for a date night.
this was *perfectly* timed, seeing as how i’m going to charleston in 2 days for my eighteenth. it’s kind of my favorite place, lbr.
Seriously impressed by your list. I lived in Charleston for several years and still visit friends there. It would be easy to get caught up in more tourist-y areas, but you hit so many of my favorite spots! I used to intern at Mac & Murphy so I’m especially proud to see they made your list.
Love love love this Charleston Guide!! My hubbs & I were just there in January for our first time too! We had a blast and called it our “foodcation”. 😉 You have inspired me to go back very soon with your fantastic photos of some of our fave places and also some descriptions & pics of new places that I cannot wait to go to next time! Thanks! 🙂 And next time you go, I recommend Ansonborough Inn! It was fantastic! Super duper cozy room with brick walls, amazing old school “warehouse” type window and awesome fire place. Really loved it! Also make sure you grab a bite at Callie’s Hot Little Biscuit! Soooo good! 🙂
Awesome job. You guys hit a ton of great places. I haven’t heard of Saint Alban! I’ll have to go there soon :). I’ve been meaning to try Xiao Bao as well. Glad you guys loved Charleston..next time come back in the spring/summer! -Taylor
Coconut tea sounds so delicious. Have you found a quality blend to brew at home?
Cheers,
Traci
My husband and I LOVE Charleston, and it’s proof to the city that it’s full of amazing things because the only stop on your list that we wanted to try and knew about was Hominy Grill. Our absolute MUST is Kaminski’s, a dessert restaurant that also serves amazing cocktails. You really have to check it out. One of our favorite casual restaurants was the Navy Pier. It looks like nothing, but the food was amazing!
Charleston, SC is one of my “to-visit” places. My dad spent sometime there while in the Navy when I was first born. Awwww the stories he has told.
It makes me want to go there so bad!
http://ladiesandcroissants.blogspot.fr/
My husband and I visit Chuck Town a couple times a year we love it so much! It’s about a 5 hr drive from our Va home, so we leave early and get there in time for lunch–usually a fried green tomato at Magnolia OR something yummy at Hominy Grill 🙂
We LOVE The Bar at Husk…it’s a MUST! Such a chill atmosphere and quality drinks…the aged Manhattan is out of this world.
We usually eat at Poogans Porch next door and have drinks after. We always stay at The Battery Carriage House Inn, which is on the Battery, and super romantic…so not for you and the sis but if either of you go with a SO 🙂