South Carolina

Take a trolley tour through the lush tea bushes at the USA’s only tea plantation and then a factory tour to see how the fragrant leaves are harvested. When you’re done tasting the tea, South Carolina’s Satisfy Your Thirst Tour continues on to breweries, distilleries, dairy farms and wineries across the state. 

Just outside of Charleston, this stretch of Highway 61 winds for 18 kilometers through the iconic South Carolina landscape and features three of the most lauded old plantation homes: Magnolia Plantation, Drayton Hall and Middleton Place. Set off from the Ashley River Historic District and find yourself driving through a landscape of hickory oak, Spanish moss and palmettos.  

A variety of tour operators take you into the heart of Gullah country, a community that has been thriving on the Sea Islands and maintaining their West African legacy for more than 100 years. Encounter the spirituality, music, food and language of this welcoming culture with local guides.
 

This naval and maritime museum may have the USS Yorktown, a historic WWII aircraft carrier, at its center, but there’s lots more to see and do. If you’re feeling brave, take a ghost tour of the carrier or a helicopter tour to take in the whole gaggle of submarines, destroyers and other crafts collected here. Stop in to the Medal of Honor Museum to learn about the heroes who commanded these vessels.

The Congaree wilderness is made up of an old growth forest and water systems that sweep the backcountry where the park is located. To best see it all, canoe or kayak the 24-kilometer Cedar Creek trail, where you can see deer, river otter and wading birds, or hike a 40-kilometer trail, which includes a boardwalk to take you over the waterways. 

The University of South Carolina in the city of Aiken features a planetarium with a 9-meter diameter tilted dome, to the delight of visiting stargazers. With public shows available on everything from the moon to Mars (also weather and cellular activity), there’s much to look up to here. The planetarium also has an observatory that houses a Bechtel Telescope.

Columbia’s unique hybrid attraction is fun for all ages. Feed the giraffes, marvel at the lions and try to identify the birds overhead at Riverbanks’ Birdhouse. Stroll a range of gardens, including an Asian area, a Bog Garden and Shade and Rose sections. Brand new Waterfall Junction is a splash park and play area for kids featuring an impressive waterfall.

From the platform at the top of this park, the highest point in South Carolina, you can see Table Rock Mountain and the valleys below. From September through November, the park is on “hawk watch,” where many gather to view the raptors on their annual migration to Central and South America. 

Cross Charleston Harbor by boat to this historic fort, site of the 1861 attack by the Confederates that incited the American Civil War. Tour the massive barracks and learn how historical events unfolded through a series of exhibits within the fort. 

Set on the Congaree River and housed in an old mill, this museum offers visitors four floors of collections and exhibits that cover arts and culture, science and technology, human history and natural history. The museum is also known for its collection of items that reflect regional and Civil War history.