Travel Guide: Charleston, SC | Atlanta based Travel Blog

T and I celebrated our one-year wedding anniversary in the beautiful city of Charleston, South Carolina. Charleston is just a 5-hour drive from Atlanta so we spent the long weekend in the Holy City. We had the most amazing weather and had the best time. Here is my list of what we did and enjoyed while in Charleston.

Where we stayed

We stayed at this VRBO and would stay there again. It was in the perfect location on Broad Street where we could walk everywhere we wanted to go. The studio had a very comfortable king bed and was right next to the cutest coffee shop. It also came with bikes (a huge plus) and beach chairs and umbrellas.

What We Did

Bike Through The City – I think this is the best way to see the city. Our VRBO provided bikes but I know many Charleston hotels also provide them. If where you’re staying doesn’t provide bikes, you can also rent them!

Shop on King Street – Of course I had to go shopping! I loved walking up and down King Street and stopping in all the cute boutiques (this was probably T’s least favorite part of the weekend).

Walk along the Battery and Rainbow Row – The Battery and Rainbow Row were a two-minute walk from our VRBO and this was one of my favorite parts of Charleston. I loved enjoying the water while also looking at all of the beautiful historic houses!

Sullivan’s Island – Sullivan’s island is only a 20 minute drive from Charleston. We spent the day on Sullivan’s Island for our anniversary. Being from Florida, we both loved spending time near the water. Make sure you bring towels and plenty of sunscreen!

Waterfront Park – I loved spending dusk at Waterfront park (a five minute walk from our studio) walking along the water and watching the boats sail by and the sun set.

Where we ate

Blossom – We ate here on our first night in Charleston. We ordered the fried green tomatoes to start and I had the mahi mahi while T had the swordfish. Both were great!

Carmella’s – We came here for after dinner drinks and dessert on Friday night and also after dinner on Sunday. We split their gelato ice cream sandwich and on our actual anniversary we split a chocolate peanut butter cake since we didn’t save our wedding cake. We got there around 10:30 and it was packed. I think it’s a popular place for late night drinks and sweets!

The Daily – One of my favorite spots! We rode our bikes here Saturday morning and then had coffee, charcoal lemonade, and avocado toast.

Magnolias – We ate here for lunch on Saturday and it was definitely a traditional Charleston experience. Cornbread croutons, fried shrimp, and southern hospitality were just a few of the things we enjoyed while eating at Magnolias!

The Darling Oyster Bar – This oyster bar was recommended to us by multiple people so we knew we had to try it! We started with oysters and salad and then had grouper and lobster rolls. Would definitely recommend!

Kaminsky’s – We found this dessert bar on Yelp for drinks and dessert after the oyster bar and when we arrived we learned the wait was 45 minutes! We weren’t sure if we should wait but we ended up staying and we are so glad we did! We tried the tollhouse pie and the mint oreo pie and they were both delicious!

Pavilion Bar at the Market Pavilion Hotel – We came here for drinks both nights and enjoyed cocktails and the 360 view of Charleston. This is a must do!

The Obstinate Daughter – We ate here for brunch on our anniversary and it was the perfect way to start the day. The ambiance was on point and the food was amazing!

Poe’s Tavern – We ate lunch here after we spent a few hours on the beach and it was the perfect place to wear your swimsuit and beach cover-up to for some post beach fuel. I had a shrimp salad sandwich and T had the burger. The restaurant is centered around Edgar Allen Poe and the bathrooms are covered with pages from his stories!

Hank’s – We had our anniversary dinner here. T picked out this place and it was such a delicious and romantic dinner for our anniversary. We started with the mussels and I had the salmon, while T had the roasted grouper.

Beech – We stopped at Beech for acai bowls before we drove home. We had eaten a lot of southern (i.e fried) food throughout the weekend and it was nice to end the weekend with a meal that was healthy and refreshing.