CHARLESTON WITH KIDS, A BEAUTIFUL CITY TO EXPLORE

CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA TRAVEL GUIDE

We fell in love with Charleston. It is one of the most beautiful cities we explored while we were living in America. Charleston with kids was a truly magical experience, and a lot of the things we did were completely free.

We visited Charleston with our boys in November 2023 and spent 3 full days there. If you’re visiting in the warmer months, you might want to add an extra day for the beach! We were there for Freddie’s 4th birthday and Jaxon was 9 months.

When we travel, we like to do a mix of activities for us as parents and for the kids to enjoy.

We had a hire car while we were here as it was part of a road trip. While you can explore the main part of Charelston easily on foot, a couple of the best places we visited did require a car so I would recommend hiring one if you can. We always search for the best deals using Rentalcars.com, which I’ve linked below.

WATERFRONT PARK

Waterfront Park is a great place for both parents and kids to enjoy. It would also be a great place for a picnic.

The pineapple fountain is a must-see and the pier is also cute. Freddie loved running on the grass, dancing on the ‘stage’ and walking along the wall.

RAINBOW ROW

A little row of houses painted in rainbow colours. This wasn’t as amazing as I thought it would be (The streets in Notting Hill, London are better). However, it’s very close to Waterfront Park so likely you’ll pass it and it is worth stopping by.

The guidebook in our AirBnB said to go there really early for photos. We didn’t do this and it wasn’t that busy. Spinning around the lampost was great fun for Freddie and we ended up with some lovely photos.

HAZEL PARKER PLAYGROUND

Playgrounds are an essential activity for us when we travel with our kids. They love to run about and burn some energy. They’re also a great free activity for them. Hazel Parker Playground was a good find and was located right near Rainbow Row.

WHITE POINT GARDEN

Right at the South of Charleston, is another beautiful park. The boys loved exploring here and climbing on/ playing with the cannons.

KING STREET

King Street is one of the nicest streets we’ve ever been to. It’s beautiful and lined with shops, cafes and restaurants. There are lots of independent boutiques and also mainstream stores such as H&M and luxury brands like Louis Vuitton. I could have spent a full day shopping here. However, as I was with the kids I was selective about which stores to go in. (We were on the hunt for a Christmas decoration.)

CHARLESTON CITY MARKET

An adorable market in the heart of Charleston. Full of gift stalls, many independent businesses and also a couple of food sellers.

This is actually where we found that Christmas decoration we were looking for!

CHARLESTON FIRE STATION

We stumbled on here by accident. Located on the corner of Wentworth and Meeting Streets. Not only is this the cutest firehouse I’ve ever seen, but they were incredibly friendly. They let the boys sit in the fire engine and also gave them fireman hats and badges for free!

It’s not a guarantee you can do this. If there is an emergency, obviously they have to go but if you’re passing, you might be lucky.

CALLY’S HOT LITTLE BISCUIT

This came highly recommended to us and it didn’t disappoint! We got these from the Kings Street location and ate them in Marion Square. It’s a tiny store so use Google Maps or you might miss it!

They also have a location in the City Market.

GADSDENBORO PARK

If you need another playground, this is a good one! There is an aquarium located near here as well. We’d just been to the Georgia Aquarium so we didn’t do this but it’s an option for kids!

HAMPTON PARK

This is another hidden gem we found when we were exploring Charleston with our kids. I didn’t see it on any other blog posts but I saw it on Google Maps, it’s a big park and was fairly near our Airbnb. I’m so pleased we went there. Not only is it extremely beautiful, the trees are amazing and super fun to climb on and there’s also a fun little playground.

CYPRESS GARDENS

This is a hidden gem in Charleston. It’s about half an hour’s drive from the main city but was so worth it. This is where we went on Freddies’s birthday. It’s a preserved area of gardens and wetlands. It’s also where the boating scene from the Notebook was filmed.

Tickets cost $10 per adult (free for under 6’s and $5 for under 17’s.) This includes a self-guided swamp boat ride, which we highly recommend.

We did the swamp tour and loved it! (Even myself, a real city girl, enjoyed it!) Alligators do live in the swamp but apparently, they rarely surface in cooler months so we didn’t see any. The boat tour takes around 1.5 hours but there is a shorter route if your kids aren’t feeling it.

Also in the gardens, there’s a large playground, a butterfly house and a ‘Swamparium’. You can find more information on their website, HERE.

SULLIVANS ISLAND

It wasn’t beach weather but we still wanted to check it out. The beach at Sullivans Island is gorgeous and we had a short but wonderful time playing there.

We also did the Sullivans Island Nature Trail. This is just a short, 0.6-mile each-way walk through the woods. I wouldn’t say it was amazing but it was a good trail for little kids, however not stroller/pushchair friendly!

There are quite a few other things to do on Sullivan’s Island but unfortunately, that’s all we had time for. Also, Folly Island and Beach are supposed to be great so if you have time, check that out as well.