Charleston (South Carolina) by foot · By foot in Charleston (South Carolina)
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By foot in Charleston (South Carolina)
By foot in Charleston (South Carolina)
Luckily for visitors to Charleston's peninsula, the historic district is accessible on foot. If staying in one of the many hotels on the peninsula of Charleston, a visitor could easily explore most of the city's major historical sites without benefit of a car, either by foot or also with the help of the four DASH trolley lines. Unfortunately, the plantations--a significant part of Charleston's history--are not located within walking distance of the peninsula. If you are driving into the historic downtown, the first thing to do is to find someplace to park. Garage parking is available at the Visitor Center for $1/hr.
The streets in the historic downtown in peninsular Charleston are more or less parallel and perpendicular to the Cooper River waterfront, forming a warp grid pattern, with a major shift in the angle of the grid at the east-west "fault line" of Beaufain/Hasell Street, just north of the old Market Area near the waterfront. The major east-west street, Calhoun Street, was once known as the Boundary Street, separating the then-suburbs north of it from the urban area south of it. The major north-south street, King Street, is the main shopping street in downtown, from the Upper King area north of Calhoun around the Visitor Center south to the upscale anchor, Charleston Place, at Beaufain/Hasell.
Several blocks south is a major east-west street, Broad Street, which divides two areas in historic downtown, aptly named North of Broad and South of Broad. Those South of Broad were nicknamed SOBs, and those Slightly North of Broad were SNOBs. The French Quarter, founded by the French Huguenots, is just south of the Market Area along the waterfront. The area near the southern tip of the peninsula, where the Ashley and Cooper Rivers meet, is known as The Battery.
There are many walking tours, which give you the opportunity to see more than just driving past in a bus or carriage. There is a walking tour for virtually every interest. You will find Pub Tours, Civil War tours, culinary tours, ghost tours, Gulla tours, architecture tours, art tour, and even pirate tours. Some of the walking tour companies offer tours with guides in period costume. Charleston Pirate Tours even has a costumed guide whose parrot, a blue and gold macaw, accompanies the tour.
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Charleston (South Carolina) Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.