Apr 2, 2018

With only a couple hours of being home from Charleston, I pounded out this blog post.  Partly because all of the hidden allies and street corners were fresh in my mind, but mainly because I just  a d o r e d  visiting the fabled Southern City.  Charleston is one of the oldest cities and a city of many firsts.  But what it’s known most for is for it’s Southern charm! And a Charleston travel guide isn’t complete without a list of the cutest streets out there.

While I hope you end up using this as a guide sometime in your life, I also hope it’s much more of a loose guide.  We only toured the city on foot and rented bikes, meaning I could hop off and snag as many photos as I liked.  (Not shocking that I stopped a lot.) But I think the beauty of Charleston is finding the unknown streets and carving out on your own.

Rainbow Row

One of the most popular sections in the city is Rainbow Row.  It’s a high trafficked street in Charleston so I would suggest showing up early or during a meal time. But the rows of brightly colored homes will make up for it!

Elliot Street

This travel guide isn’t going to give you an exact location on each street.  Why? Because part of the beauty of the city is finding and discovering your favorite allies and corners.

After we strolled through Rainbow Row, a quick turn on Elliot Street had us wondering if we were in Paris or South Carolina still.  And led us to even more flowered window sills.

Battery Street

On the other side of Rainbow Row, right next to the Atlantic ocean – lies Battery Street!

The Battery is named for the civil war artillery battery at the site, though tourists flock to it mainly for all of the grandiose historic homes that line the Southern most point of the city. The homes are known for their “antebellum” architecture meaning they have large pillars, wrap around porches and enormous foyers on the inside.

Bedons Alley

I can’t remember the last time I visited a city and ran down every alleyway I saw.  But that’s the magic of Charleston! It’s beauty and charm is often tucked away meaning don’t ever be afraid to go off course.  You never know what you will find!

Case in point : Bedons Alley.

While just another cute scenic alley filled with vines and exposed brick with a tiny teal home was right at the end.  Bonus! Even all of the surrounding homes were as cute and quaint.

Philadelphia Alley

Another alley that is often talked about in Charleston.

Pennsylvania alley is nestled right in the French Quarter, a few blocks east of King Street. It’s a bit more well known and traveled than the majority of alleys.  But it’s also covered in greenery giving you so many photo ops in just one street!

Church Street

This street runs North and South in the city stretching throughout a lot of different neighborhoods.  In some ways I liked this one a bit better than the famous King Street.  It was so much quieter and a bit more colorful!

An FYI for the history buffs out there, Church street is where the historic Heyward-Washington House is located.  This home housed one of the signers for the Declaration of Independence and  you can actually tour the house by buying tickets at the museum for only about $12.

Montagu Street

We unfortunately didn’t get an Airbnb booked in time for our trip (word to the wise: book out at least 6 months in advance if you have a strict budget), but I like to think it was for the best! Biking from our hotel to the College of Charleston, we discovered this  street with sprawling homes and a super secret garden.

A few locals passed while we were taking photos and said the gates aren’t always open, but when they are even they feel like the garden is a special treat.

King Street

I’m personally not a big fan of tourist traps…. buuuut you still have to go see King Street.  There are a few blocks that are purely shops (Anthropologie, Madewell, Sephora and such.)  So feel free to skip those if you aren’t in the mood, but it also houses some of our favorite restaurants.

Jeni’s Splendid ice cream, Leon’s a relaxed space to eat oysters and fried chicken, and Husk (technically half a block off King on Queen Street) all are littered on King Street.

I fee like I could go on and on with photos of Charleston and street names! The city is just drenched in charm and has me already wanting to book another trip back.  But for now I’ll just be over here dreaming of the flower boxes and vine covered allies.

Have you ever traveled to Charleston? If so what was your favorite part of the city??