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Area guide · South Carolina, USA

Things to do in Lowcountry

  • Sports & Outdoors
  • Sightseeing
  • Museums
Lowcountry
Lowcountry
Lowcountry
Lowcountry

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Three to see first in Lowcountry

Sports & Outdoors
Family Favorite

Angel Oak

No admission fee

Stand beneath a centuries-old Southern live oak whose massive limbs dip to the ground and rise again in a small city park.

Johns Island, SCTransit: reachable by public transit

Sightseeing
Outdoor Adventure

Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge

No admission fee

Walk or bike Wonders' Way across a cable-stayed bridge with two 575-foot diamond towers and wide views of Charleston Harbor.

Charleston, SC

Sightseeing
History Buff

Boone Hall Plantation & Gardens

$25–$50

Drive under the Avenue of Oaks, then tour the house, the brick slave cabins and the fields of a working plantation.

Mount Pleasant, SC

Top picks

In Lowcountry

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Sports & Outdoors
Family Favorite

Angel Oak

No admission fee

Stand beneath a centuries-old Southern live oak whose massive limbs dip to the ground and rise again in a small city park.

Johns Island, SCTransit: reachable by public transit

Sightseeing
Outdoor Adventure

Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge

No admission fee

Walk or bike Wonders' Way across a cable-stayed bridge with two 575-foot diamond towers and wide views of Charleston Harbor.

Charleston, SC

Sightseeing
History Buff

Boone Hall Plantation & Gardens

$25–$50

Drive under the Avenue of Oaks, then tour the house, the brick slave cabins and the fields of a working plantation.

Mount Pleasant, SC

Shopping
Iconic

Charleston City Market

No admission fee

Browse four blocks of open-air sheds and the Great Hall for sweetgrass baskets, local crafts and souvenirs.

Charleston, SCTransit: reachable by public transit

Sightseeing
History Buff

Drayton Hall

$25–$50

Tour an 18th-century Palladian plantation house on the Ashley River, then explore its grounds, gallery and cemetery.

Charleston, SC

Sightseeing
History Buff

Fort Moultrie

Under $25

Walk through a restored coastal fort on Sullivan's Island that traces harbor defense from 1809 through World War II.

Sullivan's Island, SC

Sightseeing
Iconic

Fort Sumter

$25–$50

Ride a ferry across Charleston Harbor to walk the island fort where the first battle of the Civil War took place.

Charleston, SC

Sightseeing
Family Favorite

Harbour Town Lighthouse

Under $25

Climb 114 steps up the red-and-white striped lighthouse for views over the Harbour Town yacht basin.

Hilton Head Island, SC

Sports & Outdoors
Outdoor Adventure

Hunting Island State Park

Under $25

Climb the historic lighthouse, walk five miles of beach and hike maritime forest on a wild Lowcountry barrier island.

Beaufort, SC

Museums
History Buff

International African American Museum

Under $25

Explore African American history on Gadsden's Wharf, where a large share of enslaved Africans arrived in North America.

Charleston, SCTransit: reachable by public transit

Sightseeing
History Buff

Magnolia Plantation and Gardens

$25–$50

Walk centuries-old gardens of azaleas, camellias and live oaks along the Ashley River, then tour the house.

Charleston, SC

Sightseeing
History Buff

Middleton Place

$25–$50

Stroll the oldest landscaped gardens in the United States, tour the house museum and visit the stableyards on the Ashley River.

Charleston, SC

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Museums in Lowcountry

Sightseeing in Lowcountry

Sports & Outdoors in Lowcountry

More places in Lowcountry

More guides in South Carolina

Maps

Maps

Visitor maps for Lowcountry

About

About Lowcountry

The South Carolina Lowcountry is the coastal region that runs from historic Charleston and Beaufort south to the Sea Islands and Hilton Head Island. Fort Sumter sits on an island at the entrance to Charleston Harbor, and the American Civil War started there on April 12, 1861. Plantations and gardens spread out around Charleston: Middleton Place has America's oldest landscaped gardens, Magnolia Plantation and Gardens has gardens dating to about 1680, Drayton Hall is a preserved Georgian Palladian house, and Boone Hall in Mount Pleasant offers house tours, an oak avenue and Gullah culture programs.

Visitor info

Nearest help

  • Hospital with an emergency room · 4.8 mi from the center

    Bon Secours-St Francis Xavier Hospital

    2095 Henry Tecklenburg Drive, Charleston, SC 29414

  • Police · 3.2 mi from the center

    Charleston Co Sheriff Subst

    617 Riverland Dr, Charleston, SC 29412

  • Fire station · 1.5 mi from the center

    St Johns Fire Department Station 1

    3327 Maybank Hwy, Johns Island, SC 29455

Hospitals, police and fire stations in Charleston

In an emergency, call 911.

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