Small-Group Tour: Charleston Old Walled City Historical Walking Tour
Description
You have found the best tour in Charleston! Our Small Group Tour takes 15 people max, allowing for questions and photo opps. This leisurely stroll through the city's oldest neighborhoods is a 2-hour guided experience. Follow your licensed guide as they delve into the history, legends, and culture of Charleston, one of America's great cities. Explore the historic French Quarter and admire the stately mansions South of Broad Street, viewing virtually intact blocks of 200-year-old houses that stand among the best in North America. Your Charleston walking tour concludes at the "High Cotton" mansions along the High Battery and take in breathtaking views of e Charleston harbor and Fort Sumter, where the American Civil War began. Our guides have extensive knowledge of both Charleston and National history, and your input might inspire a changein direction! We hope that when we part ways, you will share our passion for Charleston, America’s Most Historic City!
Tour Options
Itinerary
This congregation has worshipped on site since 1681. The church of the Colonial townspeople contains an incredible collection of clearly legible slate tombstones from the eighteenth century. Narration in the graveyard.
A city under constant seige built a gunpowder storage facility by 1713. It is the oldest surviving public structure between St Augustine and Williamsburg. Sidewalk narration.
The oldest Congregation in the Carolinas (1680) was the Church of Planters and Politicians. National figures, including signers of the Declaration and the Constitution , are at rest in the graveyard. Sidewalk and graveyard narration.
This elegant Gothic Revival Church is home to the only active French Calvinist congregation in North America. They have worshiped on site since 1706.
An 18th century style playhouse built as a WPA project in 1937. It is built on the very site of the first playhouse built in British North America in 1736.
This intersection has been dedicated to public use since 1680. Ripleys Believe It or Not! deems it the only intersection worldwide where the four governing laws of mankind intersect. Sidewalk narration.
The only surving structure in Charleston used as a showroom for slave sales houses a museum chronicling the sordid history of Slavery in the South Carolina Lowcountry.
This Revolutionary War Museum was the scene of events that founded the Nation. President Washington was entertained here four times in 1791. Sidewalk narrative.
the oldest surving church(1761) was targeted during the British Seige in 1780 and the Federal Seige from 1863-1865. Two signers of the Constitution are at rest in the graveyard.
A grouping of 18th century commercial buildings painted lovely pastels that harken back to Charleston's early connections to Barbados, Antigua and Nevis. Sidewalk Narration.
Grand waterfront mansions, many built in the first half of the 19th century as party palaces for the Winter Season. It was from one of these houses the General Pierre Beauregard gave orders to Fire at Fort Sumter, commencing the first battle of the Civil War.Sidewalk narration.
View Fort Sumter from the High Battery seawall. Hear the story of the siege and bombardment of both Fort Sumter and Charleston's civilian population. Hear about the dramatic fall of the city after 587 days.Sidewalk narrative.
We enter the garden at the Russell House (1808) to discuss horticulture and garden design. We discuss the layout of a an 18th century Charleston property. And then there is the story of the joggling board! Garden narration, no house admittance.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Wheelchair accessible
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Transportation options are wheelchair accessible
- All areas and surfaces are wheelchair accessible
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Children must be accompanied by an adult
- Comfortable walking shoes are recommended
- Operates in all weather conditions, please dress appropriately
Reviews(289)
Our guide was very informative and engaging. He ran over about 20 minutes because he had so much information to share. We really enjoyed the tour and do recommend it to friends.
Very knowledgeable tour guide. He’s clearly passionate about the city and its history, and that comes across in the tour. He asked us about anything we wanted to see and worked those pieces into the tour. We had a fantastic time!
The tour guide was 20 minutes late to the tour. He spoke very quickly and was difficult to understand. There were a lot of “racist” undertones to his stories, which included comments made by his family members.
I enjoyed the information that Al provided, especially his family's reactions to Northerners and other remnants of the Civil War era. However there were times it was difficult to hear him, given his Southern accent and the fluctuating volume of his humorous asides. Speak up, Al. We want to hear ALL the humor you inject into the tour. : )
We left about a third of the way into the tour. The guide started by spending a lot of time discussing carrying firearms in South Carolina, even about his mother carrying one. It made me wonder if he was armed. In the cemetery, he pointed out a base relief sculpture of a young woman buried there noting that she seemed to have large breasts. He then speculated that she may have died of a chest cold. His speech was difficult to follow and he had a tendency to finish his comments with a strange laugh. Luckily, there was an Irish pub along the route.
It’s a bit disappointing and disrespectful to get a cancellation at 4:45 pm for a tour that was supposed to be at 2:30 pm. We showed up well in time for the 2:30pm tour, waited over 15 minutes without any notification of cancellation. We asked the other tour guides who said Al can sometime run late. So we waited, only to get an email at 4:45pm saying the tour was cancelled because we didn’t book in time??? If that was the case close the portal so that pleoke cannot book it. While it’s no sweat off Al’s back and he’ll do more tours, my wife and I are really disappointed with the lack of professionalism.
Great tour! Al was great and so knowledgeable. Would highly recommend. We enjoyed his experience and commentary. Best tour we have done in Charleston
The guide did not show up. Call and SMS to the tour operator went unanswered. Five people missed their tour.
Al really knows Charleston and is an entertaining, informative, and hospitable guide. We especially enjoyed his depth of knowledge about the amazing architecture in the French Quarter. And he gave us well more time than our tour was scheduled for—so wear your best walking shoes!
Very Informative and great to see all the old homes. Only issue was the guide was very hard to understand
