Charleston Visitor Center & Bus Shed

bought the heritage pass at the visitor center on my trip to charleston. It would have been nice if they mentioned that the gibbes museum was closed for renovation. I saw the sign when i got there.

Went to Visitors Center to learn about the history of Charleston. I was both enlightened and disturbed by what I saw. You can see the influence of the African cultures in the architecture, basket weaving, and the Southern cuisine (rice, okra, seafood, pork meat) I still see a huge economical & educational gap between those who financially prospered from slavery and those who were oppressed and victimized by it. This is still a slave state.

Clean bathrooms, air conditioning, trolley map available at the front desk and the trolley drop off by the visitor center works for all trolley lines! Convenient parking garage across the street

Went here and picked up some flyers and information, The people working seemed nice, I was a bit surprised to see that this place closes at 5PM. could be just during the «off» winter months.

This is a great first stop for anyone that visits. The offer tickets and information for almost everything in town. The best visistor center I hav ever used.

Charleston has a very nice visitors center. It is well worth visiting when you begin your trip here. You can get all kinds of local information inside for free, and it can help you plan your visit. The folks working inside are very happy to help. Many of the tours begin and end here. There are also many displays of interesting information that you can self tour while inside.

When traveling into downtown Charleston, SC we decided to park at the Visitor’s Center during the day. Note that the cost is not cheap. I think we paid $ 18 to park at the packing deck all day. That said, we arrived at the Visitor Center at 11:00 am and did not return to the parking deck until 8:30 pm. I honestly cannot complain to pay less than $ 20 for an entire day of safe parking.
We did not check out much of the Visitor’s Center but we did find the information we needed quickly. If you want to grab a map or better understand where the trolley is going stop by the Visitor’s Center and ask them for the details. We were looking for sunscreen which was not available at the Visitor’s Center which was a letdown as we had to walk all the way over to CVS near the College of Charleston.

This is a nice place for a break when walking around Charleston. The building is nice to walk around and look at the different exhibits. It is also air conditioned which was very helpful when walking around in July. They have the usual info packets available for area exhibits, a help desk which I did not use, and a little historical video to watch which I did not feel like paying for. I was meeting a beer tour here which made it really convenient as most of the major hotels downtown are within easy walking distance. The DASH (local free downtown shuttle bus) stops across the street heading uptown, and right next door heading the other way.

First off, make sure you are at this Visitor Center, not the smaller private operation (read deceptively fake) which is located nearby.
Of all the city visitor centers I’ve been to this is by far one of the best. It’s huge, loaded with helpful information, a friendly and helpful staff, has its own ticketing counter for information and tour tickets and is attached to what is its own tour bus and transportation terminal. Also on the John Street end is a trolley bus stop which provides free city transportation. There is also a gift and souvenir shop and most frequently an area in which someone is creating certain crafts, generally Lowcountry craftwork, which is also offered for sale.
Better yet, this visitor center on Meeting Street is really within the heart of it all. The Charleston Museum is located just across the street and within a mere short walk or on nearby King Street are all sorts of great restaurants and varying shops. Though I suggest using your Unilocal App in making any selection, you really can’t go wrong with any choice. Indeed, unlike in most cities, you might even have to work at it to find a bad meal in Charleston.
If you have children with you, you’re also in like in that the Children’s Museum is also located right next door on John Street in the direction of King Street.
If there is any drawback to this really huge convenient well-​constructed visitor center it is that it gets crowded, as in really crowded with tourists as Charleston is a tourist destination center which also in my mind is the real pearl of the South; not Savannah or Atlanta. So, just because it gets crowded and there are lines, it only means that there must be something people like about it; hence I’m going Five Stars with no deduction of points on that count.

One of the nicest visitor centers i’ve been to and a great help for planning our days as we’d never been to Charleston before. If you’re going to take any of the guided tours (horse or otherwise) make sure to schedule them here as you’ll usually get a discount for doing so.

This is a large and very attractive visitor center and the architecture is worth seeing. It’s also a great location to catch the free shuttle that operates throughout the historic district. However, I did not find the visitor’s center to be particularly useful for planning our visit to Charleston. There were plenty of opportunities to pick up literature and even more opportunities to buy tours or to make hotel or restaurant reservations but there wasn’t much opportunity to learn what to see in the historic district. I think I’m a little spoiled by the visitor centers operated by the National Park Service.

Make sure to make this your priority stop whenever in Charleston. This is where you can organize your city tour, get info and buy some souvenirs all under one roof.
We did the historic tour riding in one of the mini buses called «doin the charleston»
The guide was informative but a bit too crass with the jokes.
A must.

Must visit if you are wondering what to do or if you want to purchase tickets to anything around town. It’s a one stop shop with very helpful and knowledgable staff. Clean and air conditioned. Also is located by a trolley stop.

We called ahead and were told that «special» B and B rates. were for. Walk in service only, so we sped our way there and upon arrival a woman yelled at us,“you, re not getting a discount today, it’s Spoleto”. I explained that they told us that on the phone and told another girl to help us book a room. She opened her book and showed us one that was not suitable so I asked to just browse the book to save time and she retorted, loudly,“We close in 13 minutes”. She was rude, un hospitable, and out of sorts and clearly could care less about fulfilling her job responsibility. That’s ok, I got her name and I know the mayor.

I have been in Charleston for 5 years and never once have stepped foot in the Visitor Center. I guess I don’t really have any need to. A friend and I were walking back to our car (parked outside) after a meeting and I mentioned the fact that i had never been. She said I must experience it just to see what’s in there so we stopped in.
I didn’t actually inquire about any information. I was shocked at how cool of a visitor center we have though. Most I have encountered have just been brochures and people selling you tours. Yes, they have this too, but there is so much more. The highlight is probably the interactive computer maps with projector screens and a map projected on the center floor. All free to play with… Enjoy!

Friendly greeters and very resourceful. Get the city map and you get coupons for various places throughout the city.

We stumbled upon the visitor’s center on our way to the children’s museum & I’m glad we did! It was very informative, open & filled with little surprises– just perfect for visitors new to Charleston!

I don’t think I’ve ever been to a visitor’s center that was so well designed, large and informative. There are videos that show tips and information and several areas that offer brochures and maps. There is a really neat interactive section to search the sights and the counter to buy advanced admission tickets allows for several groups to be helped at the same time. At the end of the center there is a cute little gift shop.
The staff are tremendously friendly and helpful. The center is clean, contemporary and blissfully cool. Free restrooms.

I’d like to give Charleston 4 or 5 stars for it’s vistor center because the gentleman that worked behind the counter was extremely friendly and really helpful. I am taking two stars away because nobody warns you that you will pay an arm and a leg for parking in charleston.
First: Read the fine print. It said first 30 minutes free… but apparently somewhere said after 5 there is a 3 dollar minimum or something ridiculous, even if you stay for 15 minutes. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?
I should have known this place was a parking joke when you travel down further and its a dollar for every 20 minutes. 3 dollars an hour!!? WHAT?! And theres really no other option because most of the side streets are residential permit parking, there are no clear signs about where to park for cheaper or anything. The Vistor center should explain how to get away with spending the least amount of money parking in Charleston. That would gain it 5 stars.

We found the visitor center to be very informative, and the people were very helpful. Many of the city and plantation tours depart from here so it is convenient. Plus, the center is well located and next to bustling King Street.
There is a «fake» visitor’s center across the street, but that is not the visitor’s center fault that these people advertise themselves as the real deal. A simple question such as «is this the visitor’s center?» will quickly clear up any confusion.