This was the perfect tour to take a cultural break from our beach vacation in Myrtle Beach. We traveled with our 5 children all under 12 years old. I was a bit nervous, but ended up to be a great experience!
Pro’s: everything is done for you. No need to worry about parking or to have your tickets ready for each activity. The box lunch on the boat was just fine- my kids loved the fluffy white bread the turkey sandwich was on. It also included a bag of chips, orange, water of soda, and 2 cookies.
We took a smaller bus into Charleston (about 25 people) and took a large tour bus back (with bathroom). The bus stopped in Georgetown on the way into Charleston if we needed a break.
I loved the variety in the 3 tours: horse and carriage ride, boat tour to Sumter, then the walking tour of the Boone Plantation.
The horse tour was so great! Old town Charleston has a ton of charm and history! The houses are amazing. Our guide was great and was a licensed tour guide. One newly renovated house recently sold for 12 million! You’ve got to see it! Sometime it was hard to hear the guide from the very last row on the carriage. Tips are appreciated.
The boat tour was great too. The bottom level was very well air conditioned and had tables and chairs to eat our lunch at. Standing out on the deck was great too!
The Fort Sumter museum is still closed unfortunately. They have park rangers there and they had an activity booklet for kids 12 and younger to do. I’d they compete it they get to become a junior park ranger with a pin. Super hot weather in the sun out there.
The plantation was amazing. The oaks trees are hundreds of years old. I was mostly interested in the slave quarters. So harrowing. Each brick house has a button to push to teach you about something. Each house had a theme. We didn’t get to do the barn ride- ran out of time. We spent most of the tine in the little slave houses listening and learning. There was a cute gift shop over by the horse stalls with yummy ice cream and other goods.
Cons: early in the morning! We were picked up at ripley’s aquarium at 6:45am. We don’t have a rental car so we had to schedule a large taxi with our hotel concierge to get us there in time. I was worried Lyft or Uber wouldn’t have an XL ride that early in the morning. That ride came at 6:20am which was early early for our family of 7 and a 2 hour time change to consider! June 1st is super hot and humid here, so appropriate clothing is essential or you’d be miserable. Considering all you get to see in a day, I understand why they start early. We got back to Ripley’s about 6:20 pm.