This museum is home to the USS Yorktown, a giant aircraft carrier used extensively in WWII. You can tour the ship's flight deck, bridge and ready rooms and get a glimpse of what life was like for its sailors. Also on-site are a submarine, naval destroyer, the Medal of Honor Museum and a re-created 'fire base' from Vietnam, which all add a unique touch to merely touring a decommissioned ship. You can also catch the Fort Sumter Boat Tour. Parking is $5.
Patriot's Point Naval & Maritime Museum
Lowcountry
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
McLeod Plantation
4.37 MILES
Opened to the public in 2015, this James Island plantation offers an honest and frankly devastating account of the lives of the enslaved and later …
Aiken-Rhett House
1.7 MILES
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…
Guardians of Charleston Harbor
3.18 MILES
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…
Old Slave Mart Museum
1.59 MILES
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…
Magnolia Plantation
12.28 MILES
This 500-acre plantation, which has been owned by the Drayton family since 1676, is a veritable theme park. Enjoy a tram tour, a petting zoo and a guided…
Drayton Hall
11.38 MILES
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…
Middleton Place
15.47 MILES
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…
Rainbow Row
1.64 MILES
With its 13 candy-colored houses, this stretch of Georgian row houses on lower E Bay St is one of the most photographed areas in Charleston. The…