Charleston’s Best Tours

I took this tour and enjoyed it thoroughly. Our guide told us stories in a manner that was very serious and factual. We had been on a different tour and the stories were way too campfire sounding but these were not. They were great stories and we loved them. I highly recommend this company if you are not looking for that cheesy circus type tour. Guide was very relaxed and answered any questions we had, even not related to the tour.

Charleston is as old as Revolutionary War dirt. With its wars, natural disasters, and colorful history of southern eccentrics, one would expect that she would have no shortage of tales to tell. And she doesn’t. Just not on this tour.
This ghost tour consists of 13 stories that mostly focus on the history of Charleston, with a dash of Gullah voodoo and a sprinkle of paranormal activity thrown in for good measure. But that’s it. They should advertise it more as a walking history tour than a ghost tour.
Tour guides in Charleston have to pass a test to become certified. Part of this test requires familiarity with a book of Charleston history. My guide definitely passed, but he stuck strictly to the book. I asked if he had experienced any paranormal activity himself, to which he replied «Nope.» Had anyone else he knew? «Nope.» He told us he had 15 years of tour guide experience, so I would’ve expected a bit more. A woman on the tour mentioned that she saw something out of the ordinary at one of the sites, and he didn’t act particularly interested. The 90-​minute walking tour consisted mostly of him taking us down dark alleys, and saying things like «On the other side of Charleston, there is a bed and breakfast that is haunted by a Civil War soldier.» So why are we in this alley, sir?
Even stranger was how abruptly the tour ended. After he told the thirteenth tale, he said goodbye, and turned to go. We were in a completely different part of town with no idea how to get back to the tavern where we started and where our car was parked. When we flagged him down, he seemed perplexed, asking, «You need to know how to get back to where we started?»
If you are into history, I would recommend this tour. However, I am sure there are more specialized history tours depending on your interests, and hopefully much spookier ghost tours (with less flaky guides) than this one.