Charleston Walking Tour with Audioguide on your Smartphone

Washington Square is a historic public garden in Charleston’s city centre. Laid out in the early 19th century beside City Hall and St. Michael’s Church, it became a civic space framed by monuments, paths, and old trees. The square reflects Charleston’s political history, commemorative traditions, and refined urban character.

Four Corners of Law is the historic intersection of Meeting Street and Broad Street in Charleston. Its four corners are framed by City Hall, the courthouse, the federal courthouse and post office, and St. Michael’s Church. Together, they represent municipal, state, federal, and ecclesiastical law, reflecting Charleston’s civic, legal, and religious identity.

The Hat Man is a painted figure on the corner of Church and Broad Streets in Charleston. Created in the late 19th century as advertising for a haberdashery, the image is made entirely from different hat shapes. Its odd silhouette has become a small local landmark, blending commercial history, street art, and Charleston folklore.

Philip Simmons’ Egret Gate is a wrought-iron gate at 2 St. Michael’s Alley in Charleston. Designed by master blacksmith Philip Simmons, it combines Lowcountry bird imagery with the city’s tradition of decorative ironwork. The gate reflects Charleston’s craft heritage, African American artistry, and the quiet beauty of its historic lanes.

Meeting Street is one of Charleston’s most important historic streets. Running through the heart of the old city, it connects civic landmarks, churches, museums, and preserved houses. Its name recalls the colonial meeting house once associated with the area, while its architecture reflects Charleston’s political, religious, and social history.

Nathaniel Russell House Museum is a historic Federal-style townhouse on Meeting Street in Charleston. Completed in 1808 for merchant Nathaniel Russell, it is known for its elegant interiors, formal garden, and dramatic three-story free-flying staircase. The house reflects Charleston’s mercantile wealth, architectural refinement, and the enslaved labor behind elite domestic life.

Williams Mansion is one of Charleston’s grandest Gilded Age residences. Built in the 1870s for businessman George Walton Williams, it stands on Meeting Street near the Battery. Its ornate interiors, large scale, gardens, and Victorian details reflect the wealth, ambition, and social complexity of post-Civil War Charleston.

White Point Garden is a historic park at the southern tip of Charleston’s peninsula. Shaded by live oaks and lined with monuments and old cannons, it overlooks Charleston Harbor where the Ashley and Cooper rivers meet. The garden reflects the city’s military history, waterfront identity, and genteel Southern landscape tradition.

Fort Sumter is a historic sea fort in Charleston Harbor. It is best known as the place where the first shots of the American Civil War were fired in April 1861. Its brick walls, island setting, and military remains reflect Charleston’s strategic importance, the conflict over slavery and secession, and one of the defining turning points in United States history.

Robert W. Roper House is a Greek Revival mansion on East Battery in Charleston. Built around 1838 for cotton planter Robert William Roper, it was designed to be seen from the harbour, with a grand portico and oversized columns. The house reflects antebellum wealth, architectural ambition, and the complex history behind Charleston’s elite waterfront residences.

Longitude Lane is one of Charleston’s narrow historic lanes. Established during the colonial period, it was renamed in the 1760s, likely in reference to the city’s maritime trade and nearby wharves. Its brick walls, tight scale, and east-west course reflect the hidden urban fabric of old Charleston.

Rainbow Row is one of Charleston’s most photographed historic streetscapes. The row of pastel-painted Georgian houses on East Bay Street dates mainly from the 18th century and was restored in the 20th century. Its colours, harbour-facing position, and preserved façades reflect Charleston’s colonial architecture, merchant history, and distinctive Lowcountry charm.

The Old Exchange is one of Charleston’s most important colonial buildings. Completed in 1771 as a commercial exchange and custom house, it later served as a Revolutionary War prison, post office, city hall, and museum. Its history reflects Charleston’s role in trade, politics, conflict, and the early United States.

Pineapple Fountain is a waterfront landmark in Charleston’s Waterfront Park. Installed in the early 1990s, it uses the pineapple, a traditional symbol of hospitality, as its central form. Its layered basins, flowing water, and harbour setting reflect Charleston’s welcoming image, Lowcountry elegance, and close relationship with the waterfront.

The Old Slave Mart Museum stands on Chalmers Street in Charleston. It occupies part of Ryan’s Mart, once one of the city’s most prominent slave auction sites. The museum tells the story of Charleston’s role in the domestic slave trade and preserves a painful chapter of African American history.

The Pink House Gallery is a historic building on Chalmers Street in Charleston. Dating from the early 18th century, it is often described as one of the city’s oldest surviving structures. Its small scale, pink Bermuda-stone walls, tiled roof, and later use as an art gallery reflect Charleston’s colonial architecture, creative life, and layered French Quarter history.

Dock Street Theatre is one of Charleston’s most historic performing arts venues. The original theatre opened in 1736, while the present building incorporates the former Planters Hotel and a 20th-century reconstruction. Its stage, balconies, and French Quarter setting reflect Charleston’s long theatrical tradition, colonial history, and preservation culture.

The French Huguenot Church is a historic church in the city’s French Quarter. Its congregation traces its roots to Huguenot refugees who settled in Charleston in the 17th and 18th centuries. The Gothic Revival building, pink façade, and French-language heritage reflect the city’s religious diversity and early immigrant history.

Philadelphia Alley, also known locally as Dueler’s Alley, is one of Charleston’s narrow historic passages in the French Quarter. Once called Cow Alley, it was renamed after aid from Philadelphia helped the city recover from the fire of 1796. Its brick walls, quiet scale, and dueling legends reflect Charleston’s layered mix of history, folklore, and hidden urban corners.

The Powder Magazine Museum is one of Charleston’s oldest surviving public buildings. Completed in 1713, it was built to store gunpowder for the colonial city’s defences. Its thick walls, small scale, and military purpose reflect the early fortifications of Charles Town and the dangers of life in a vulnerable Atlantic port.

Charleston City Market is one of the city’s historic commercial landmarks. Its market halls stretch through the old centre between Meeting Street and East Bay Street, continuing a tradition of trade that dates back to the early 19th century. Sweetgrass baskets, local foods, crafts, and souvenirs reflect Charleston’s Lowcountry culture and everyday street life.