Charlestons Old South Carriage Historic Horse & Carriage Tour

Excellent tour of Charleston with plenty of information on a slow paced ride

The ride was very good, although the historical information could have been tied together better. The information was rather scattered. The horses are beautiful, and the service was good. There were too many people on one carriage, and it felt cramped.

Excellent tour. Very informative and saw the amazing architecture of Charleston.

This was a memorable carriage ride. The guide Scott and our horse Rowdy gave us our moneys worth. Very knowledgeable about the city’s history. Rowdy knew the route without a lot of directions. I learned so much and enjoyed my seat mate. You must check it out for yourself.

The tour guide was engaging, entertaining, educational, and presented the information very well. There was room for all of us. The hour long presentation was just right.

The place was easy to find. Friendly staff and knowledgeable tour guides. We had a great tour with two other families. Charleston is a beautiful place to visit and highly recommend to take this tour to learn their rich history. They have fair prices and got to see a lot of French quarter.

The tour was very entertaining and Informative. Cliff, the horse, was massive. I would recommend this tour to anyone visiting Charleston for the first time.

our guide was the best !!!! The horses are so well cared for. The entire experience was top notch

Before leaving Charleston today, I decided to respectfully speak with an employee at one of the horse carriage companies. I made it clear that I understood she was not responsible for the company’s policies, but I asked if she would kindly pass a message on to the owners. I explained that during my visit I had repeatedly seen horses pulling carriages carrying many passengers in the intense Charleston heat. From what I personally observed, the horses appeared to be working very hard, and it was difficult to watch. I suggested that, as public attitudes continue to change, they might consider preserving the historic charm of the tours by using electric or motorized carriages instead of live horses. Before I could even finish my sentence, she interrupted me. She insisted that they have videos showing people—and even a young girl—pulling one of their carriages to prove that the horses are not exerting themselves. I respectfully disagreed, explaining that I was simply describing what I had personally witnessed. At that point, she became increasingly hostile. She raised her voice, told me that this business would never end, and said that if I couldn’t accept it, I should “get out.” When I calmly asked why she was yelling at me when I had approached her politely, she replied that she was tired of tourists saying the same thing to her all day. I responded that this only reflected how many people today are genuinely concerned about the welfare of the horses. She then threatened to call her manager and the police if I did not leave immediately. Since I had no intention of causing a disturbance, I walked away. As a visitor to Charleston, I was deeply disappointed by this interaction. Regardless of where people stand on the issue of horse-drawn carriage tours, visitors should be able to express respectful concerns without being met with hostility, insults, or threats. My experience left me saddened not only by the response I received, but also by the apparent unwillingness to engage in a respectful conversation about animal welfare. Just check in their real google reviews, because there are a lot that are fake. You will see that a lot of customers have had problems with their hostile ways of treating the people

This is an admittedly odd review for a carriage ride we never took, but we experienced such a positive interaction with Charleston's Old South Carriage Tour personnel that we felt impelled to comment. As, it happened, we booked a ride for July 4 well in advance but were forced to forego it because recovery from knee-replacement surgery did not go as smoothly as anticipated. We simply forgot to cancel the reservation and had decided to just absorb the cost, only to receive a phone call from Old South a few minutes before the tour was to begin to inquire about our whereabouts. Told about the reason for our absence, to our surprise and without asking, the young woman representing Old South cheerfully volunteered to refund our reservation money and wished us a happy 4th. Frankly, we are unused to this kind of service. Clearly, a carriage ride with Old South is in our future.