Lowcountry

The southern half of the South Carolina coast is a tangle of islands cut off from the mainland by inlets and tidal marshes. Here, descendants of West African slaves known as the Gullah maintain small communities in the face of resort and golf-course development. The landscape ranges from tidy stretches of shimmery, oyster-gray sand to wild, moss-shrouded maritime forests.

The southernmost stretch of South Carolina's coast is popular with a mostly upscale set of golfers and B&B aficionados, but the area has quirky charms aplenty for everyone.

Top attractions

These are our favorite local haunts, touristy spots, and hidden gems throughout Lowcountry.

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Aiken-Rhett House
The only surviving urban town-house complex, this 1820 abode gives a fascinating glimpse into antebellum life on a 45-minute self-guided audio tour. The role of slaves is emphasized, and visitors wander into their dorm-style quarters behind the house before moving on to the lifestyle of the rich and famous. The Historic Charleston Foundation manages the property 'preserved as found,' conserving but not restoring it. There have been few alterations and you get it as is, peeling Parisian wallpaper and all. At the back of the house, a laundry business was believed to have been operated by freed slaves after the Emancipation Act, and that room is now on display.
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Guardians of Charleston Harbor
The first shots of the Civil War rang out at Fort Sumter, on a pentagon-shaped island in the harbor. A Confederate stronghold, this fort was shelled to bits by Union forces from 1863 to 1865. A few original guns and fortifications give a feel for the momentous history here. The only way to get here is by boat tour, which departs from 340 Concord St and from Patriot's Point in Mt Pleasant at varying times depending on the season (check the website). The monument also includes Fort Moultrie on Sullivan's Island.
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Old Slave Mart Museum
Formerly called Ryan's Mart, this building once housed an open-air market that auctioned African American men, women and children in the mid-1800s, the largest of 40 or so similar auction houses. South Carolina's shameful past is unraveled in text-heavy exhibits illuminating the slave experience; the few artifacts, such as leg shackles, are especially chilling. For firsthand stories, listen to the oral recollections of former slave Elijah Green and others. In a word: haunting. Combination tickets with the Old Exchange & Provost Dungeon cost adult/child $15/8.
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Heyward-Washington House
As the name hints, this 1772 Georgian-style town house is kind of a big deal because George Washington rented it for a week, and visitors can stand in what was likely his bedroom. The owner, Thomas Heyward, Jr, was one of South Carolina's four signers of the Declaration of Independence, and it's fun to think about all the talk of revolution that must have taken place in the withdrawing room. Enthusiasts of old-timey furnishings will appreciate the collection here, which includes a chair that belonged to General Francis Marion (the 'Swamp Fox') and the priceless Holmes bookcase, which was declared on Antiques Roadshow to be the most magnificent piece of furniture in America.
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Magnolia Plantation
This 500-acre plantation, which has been owned by the Drayton family since 1676, features a tram tour, a petting zoo and a guided house tour. At the reconstructed slave cabins, the Slavery to Freedom Tour traces the African American experience at the plantation. The most popular attraction, an Audubon Swamp Garden Tour, involves a spooky stroll along the boardwalk through the trees and bog. Between March and October there's also a 45-minute boat ride through the old rice fields, where guests learn about the cultivation of Carolina Gold and encounter alligators and wetland birds.
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Drayton Hall
This 1738 Palladian brick mansion is the country's oldest preserved plantation house open to the public. Yep, it's older than the nation. Drayton Hall was the only structure of its kind on the Ashley River to survive the Revolutionary and Civil Wars and the great earthquake of 1886. Tours enlighten visitors about the lives of the era's super-rich, along with the African Americans they enslaved. Guided tours explore the unfurnished house, which has been preserved but not restored. The site also offers a twice-daily, 30-minute talk focused on the experiences of African Americans in the area. Visitors may also meander along walking trails by the river and a marsh. A new visitor center and showroom displaying important objects and artifacts from the 18th and 19th centuries was slated to open in 2018. Additions will also include interpretive gardens and a caretaker's house, which emphasizes the postbellum era and the African American community.
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Middleton Place
Designed in 1741, this plantation's vast gardens are the oldest in the US. Countless slaves spent years terracing the land and digging the precise geometric canals for the owner, wealthy South Carolina politician Henry Middleton. The bewitching grounds are a mix of classic formal French gardens and romantic woodland, bounded by flooded rice paddies and rare-breed farm animals. Union soldiers burned the main house in 1865; a 1755 guest wing, now housing the house museum, still stands. The on-site inn is a series of ecofriendly modernist glass boxes overlooking the Ashley River. Enjoy a traditional Lowcountry plantation lunch of she-crab soup and hoppin' john at the highly regarded cafe, or bring a picnic lunch.
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Calhoun Mansion
If you've ever wondered what the wealthiest, fanciest, most well-traveled hoarder's house might look like, visit the Calhoun Mansion. With 35 rooms and 24,000 sq ft, this Gilded Age, Italianate manor is Charleston's largest single family residence, and nearly every inch of it brims with the eccentric homeowner's collected furnishings, art and antiques from around the world. Many visitors find it gaudy, but collectors often salivate, and everybody's jaws tend to drop at the sight of the Imperial Russian malachite table, the red sofa that belonged to Napoleon's brother, the hippopotamus-tooth chandelier, the samurai-warrior replica that dates back to the Ming dynasty and folds into a carrying case – you get the idea.
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Nathaniel Russell House
A spectacular, self-supporting spiral staircase is the highlight at this 1808 Federal-style house, built by a Rhode Islander, known in Charleston as 'King of the Yankees.' A meticulous ongoing restoration honors the home to the finest details, such as the 1000 sheets of 22-karat gold leaf in the withdrawing room. Twenty layers of wall paint were peeled back to uncover the original colors, and handmade, fitted, contoured rugs were imported from the UK, as originally done by the Russells. The small but lush English garden is also notable, as is the square-oval-rectangle footprint of the home.