Charleston Sole

Throughly enjoyed our walking tour with Brian! Being a native himself, he knew lots of history and cool facts. Kept it entertaining with his sense of humor and engaging the group. Would definitely recommend for anyone wanting to learn more about beautiful downtown Charleston! Even if you’re not into history, it’s a perfect walk around the area to take photos!

Excellent tour. Brian was great and did his best to cater the tour to our interests and included history from chicago as well. Answered all of my questions and was very engaging. Impressive knowledge of the history of charleston and it’s politics.

Excellent tour of historic Charleston. Fin included history, stories and information about the city to make this a great way to get some information and enjoy the afternoon. He was interesting and extremely knowledgeable, and it was obvious he enjoys giving tours. We recommend!

Fin was an enthusiastic, informative and engaging tour guide. The pace of the tour was perfect and we learned a ton about downtown Charleston’s history in a little over two hours. A manageable amount of walking for anyone (my 71yo mother had no trouble).
I would highly recommend this walking tour to anyone looking to learn about historic Charleston and have some fun!

Excellent tour! Brian was very knowledgeable and did his research. He even went over time to finish the tour. As a local resident I would highly recommend!

Brian is an Awesome tour guide so much history in so little time. Great info about people, locations, architecture, and local folks. Great walk not fast but a quick enough not to get bored. Plenty of time to ask questions and take pictures. A good size group but not to large. Highly recommended!

My boyfriend and I just got back from a wonderful trip to Charleston and chose this walking tour with Brian. What a great time! Brian was very welcoming and so excited to share his knowledge of the city. He obviously loves what he does and it shows. He has so much information to tell and infused several funny stories during the tour. When our two hours was up, he was more than happy to extend the tour by an extra 30 minutes to let us continue seeing interesting spots. Highly recommend him!

This tour was awesome! My husband and I were in Charleston for the holidays and decided we wanted to do a walking tour and found this one online late Christmas night. So glad we did.
Brian really knows the history of Charleston. You can tell by listening to him that it’s not just a script he’s going off of, that it really interests him as well. Our group was a mix of ages and levels of interest in the tour. A few peppered Brian with questions, while some were content to stare at their phones, but most were just happy to look and learn. We walked at an easy pace and made several stops along to the way to get a closer look at points of interest.
Throughout the tour and after he would only say nice things about the restaurants, other tours guides and businesses. It’s a refreshing attitude and you could see that he really meant every recommendation.
But the biggest compliment I could give him is that during the rest of our trip my husband kept mentioning that he just wants to buy Brian a few beers and pick his brain about everything he knows about the city.

Braved «the hottest day of the summer» and it was well worth it!
Charleston Sole’s new «Charleston House of Worship Tour» (led by Fin) was a very enjoyable and informative way to stroll the beautiful streets of historic Charleston, while learning about the early years of «The Holy City» and gaining insight into the way of life through different time periods. Lots of interesting facts and glimpses into Charleston’s history and its earliest citizens.
I would recommend this tour to anyone who enjoys city tours, history buffs, anyone wanting to learn more about Charleston itself, as well as those interested in architecture, historic cemeteries or graveyards (take the tour if you don’t know the difference!) or someone looking for a multifaceted tour with wide appeal. It would also be a great tour to have customized for your family group or special interest group.
While it is a walking tour, the pace and terrain were not challenging and there was a water/​restroom break about half way through the tour. Great photo opps too!

My girlfriend and I took a day trip to Charleston from Myrtle Beach. We only had one day to spend in town and this is the tour we chose. Fin Smith was our tour guide. We were in a group of six. Fin is a former history teacher, and his skills as a teacher and storyteller were on full display during our tour. The tour focused on history and architecture, two subjects that are inseparable in telling Charleston’s long story. The theme of Fin’s tour focused on the calamities that have hit Charleston throughout its history, and how the city has not only survived each one, but has rebuilt to be stronger as a result. As a group, we peppered Fin with questions, some germane to his presentation, others not. Not once was he stumped. Fin is not only knows his subject, but is passionate about it as well. His presentation was compelling. He not only explained what each site was, but he also the role it played in the day to day life of a Charlestonian of that time period.
Overall, I would recommend this tour to anyone choosing a walking tour of Charleston. The walk covered no more than a mile and a half in distance, with several opportunities to rest during the tour. Unfortunately, a two hour tour of Charleston only begins to scratch the surface of the city’s deep history, but Fin was good about suggesting sites to explore on our own to have a deeper experience of Charleston’s history.

We chose Charleston Sole based upon the good reviews and Brian sure proved that he was deserving of all the praise he has received. Brian is an encyclopedia of information, facts, and history. It was quite clear that Brian carefully created this tour by conducting detailed research, and immersing himself into the history of Charleston. I was most impressed at all the quotes, facts, and speeches that Brian was able to share from memory.
Brian is polite, energetic, friendly and interesting. He is like a local celebrity and seems to know everyone. Being a Charleston native has its benefits. Our tour was about 2 hours and 45 minutes and I was sad that it had to end when it did. Stop your search and book with Charleston Sole!

There is no question that Brian knows his Charleston history. Ask him any question and he will probably know the answer. However, I had a really hard time following his stories.
I would suggest taking this walk if you have many specific questions about the area. Otherwise, if you’re looking for an entertaining story telling stroll throughout Charleston, I would look elsewhere.

Hands-​down, this is the walking tour you should take if you’re new to the Charleston area. Heck, we’ve been here multiple times, but took this tour again anyway because Brian is just that good!
Our first time, we purchased a Groupon. Our group was large, but that didn’t phase Brian. He somehow managed to personalize the experience where you felt included in all aspects. He got us into exclusive places, like the seating area of the Dock Street Theatre. If you ever have the opportunity to go there, do it! I got cold chills when I sat in one of the seats; the inside is that breathtaking. Our second time, he got us into the Town Hall, which turned out to be an amazing experience.
I couldn’t believe how much knowledge Brian possessed. The information he told us was so interesting. I felt as though I just wouldn’t get that on any other tour. He also knows all the great restaurants to try, so feel free to pick his brain for honest reviews.
Please, please, please take this walking tour if you have the time! The next time we’re here, I’m pretty sure that we will do this tour again. I assure you that you won’t be disappointed! Thanks, Brian!!!

We chose to do the walking tour because we did not want to ride behind a stinky horse in the carriage ride. This was definitely the way to go.
Finn was amazingly talented story teller.
It was very informative and great way to get an overview of the city!
Our tour was small and easy to keep up with him while still stopping to take many photos (cause that’s my thing). We saw places we wouldn’t have ventured on our own and learned a lot about the architecture and buildings that make Charleston, Charleston.
Definitely a great Highlight of our trip. Highly recommended.
Be ready to walk for 2 – 2.5 hours, but worth it. Suitable for travelers of any age.
(My mother has had a hip replacement is in her 60s and made it through the walk with ease, just to give you an idea of how it is not very strenuous walk.)

Take this tour! The pace is perfect. Our tour group was nine people, a great size.
Brian enthusiastically tells stories; he weaves names and places together to create a broad picture of the history of Charleston and the region. There’s so much information in such a short time, it’s difficult to remember the details. We were hungry for more! That’s the sign of a great tour guide.
Regarding the reviewer who found Brian to be racist, pure poppycock. He does not shy away from talking about slavery or about race relations. He carefully treads on current politics, framing his discussion from a standpoint of how we got here, not what things mean right now.

We had a choice of many walking tours, but selected Brian because of the previous reviews on Unilocal.It was a wise decision. Brian was informative, entertaining and obviously very enthusiastic about the historical subject matter. The 2+ hour tour was totally enjoyable and the time just flew by. We could have easily listened to Brian for another 2 hours. On a personal note, I was concerns about whether I could do the tour because of some walking difficulties, but the speed of the walk and the terrain covered was no problem. I would recommend Brian’s tour to everyone, and especially to those with slight physical limitations.

Brian is a really knowledgable, passionate and enthusiastic tour guide. I have been to many tours in my life, and my boyfriend has never taken one. Yet, him and I both left the tour saying «Wow! That was amazing!» We would recommend Charleston Sole to anyone who likes history, interesting tid bits, and random facts/​inside scoops about the city. Prior to the organized tour, my boyfriend and I went on our own three hour tour of the old city. We were afraid that we will see all the highlights and will no longer be interested in our organized, afternoon tour. We were wrong. No repeats at all! Brian provided us with that, which our own touring did not accomplish: secret alley ways, random buildings we previously ignored but turned out to be important historically, and loads of information no history or tour books could have provide us with. Thank you, Brian!!!

Despite the frigid weather, Brian’s passionate and knowledgeable accounts brought Charleston to life! Very informative, interesting, and fun! Would recommend this tour to everyone!

So much information! Our guide was very knowledgeable and kept our interest. We walked all thru downtown and I hope I retained just a fraction of the info he gave us. There is so much to learn about the history and so many times we’ve been on tours talking about the rumors and secrets. It was a pleasure to learn actual facts and true parts of our history.

Great tour this morning with Brian. This is the only way to properly see Charleston’s homes and hear the history. I highly recommend this to all visitors.