Museums
Fort Sumter Visitor Education Center
Check pricesNational Park Service exhibit at Liberty Square explaining the road to the first Civil War shots.
Transit: reachable by public transit
Photo: JonathanLamb, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and resized.
AttractionsFamily FavoriteRainy-Day Pick
South Carolina Aquarium
Walk from mountain streams to the open ocean through South Carolina habitats, then touch rays and watch sea turtles in recovery.
100 Aquarium Wharf · Charleston, SC
About South Carolina Aquarium
The South Carolina Aquarium sits on Charleston Harbor and follows the state's water from the Mountain Forest gallery, with its river otters and bald eagle, through the Saltmarsh Aviary to the coast. The centerpiece is the two-story Great Ocean Tank, 385,000 gallons and 42 feet deep, where sharks swim with a loggerhead turtle named Caretta. At The Shallows you can touch cownose rays, and Zucker Family Sea Turtle Recovery lets you watch sick and injured turtles being treated.
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What's around here?
The closest stops to South Carolina Aquarium, ordered by straight-line distance.
Right next doorSwitch it up: Museums
- MuseumsHistory Buff
International African American Museum
Under $25Explore African American history on Gadsden's Wharf, where a large share of enslaved Africans arrived in North America.
Transit: reachable by public transit
Steps awaySwitch it up: Museums
- Museums
Charleston Museum
Check pricesSouth Carolina's Lowcountry history museum, founded in 1773 and billed as the nation's first museum.
Transit: reachable by public transit
0.6 mi awaySwitch it up: Museums
- ShoppingIconic
Charleston City Market
No admission feeBrowse four blocks of open-air sheds and the Great Hall for sweetgrass baskets, local crafts and souvenirs.
Transit: reachable by public transit
0.8 mi awaySwitch it up: Shopping
- MuseumsHistory Buff
Gibbes Museum of Art
Check pricesSee American art tied to Charleston and the South inside a 1905 Beaux Arts gallery on Meeting Street in the historic district.
Transit: reachable by public transit
0.9 mi awaySwitch it up: Museums
- Museums
South Carolina Historical Society
Under $25Charleston museum with interactive exhibits on South Carolina's people and events, run by a private nonprofit society.
1.0 mi awaySwitch it up: Museums
