Charleston Walking Tour: Rainbow Row to the Battery
Walk from Charleston’s old market to the Battery, past pastel houses, churches and grand residences.
United States
Self-guided tours in South Carolina
2 tours in South Carolina
Haunted Charleston Walking Tour
Walk from the Battery to the Old City Jail, where Charleston’s ghostly reputation meets its surviving streets and stones.
About South Carolina
South Carolina's coast was the richest part of colonial North America, and Charleston was its port: a walled town on a peninsula between two rivers, built on rice, trade and the labor of enslaved people. The old city survived war, earthquake and hurricanes well enough that you can still read that history in its streets, and our two South Carolina tours both start there. The Charleston Walking Tour runs from the City Market to the Battery in eight stops over 2.4 miles, about 1 hour 20 minutes with the stories. It covers the Old Slave Mart on Chalmers Street, the Four Corners of Law, the Heyward-Washington House, Rainbow Row, the Nathaniel Russell House, the Edmondston-Alston House and the Battery, where the first shots of the Civil War were watched across the harbor. The Haunted Charleston Walking Tour runs from White Point Garden to the Old City Jail in seven stops over 1.9 miles, about 1 hour 8 minutes. It covers the pirate Stede Bonnet, the Provost Dungeon under the Old Exchange, the Dock Street Theatre, St. Philip's Church and two old graveyards, telling each legend and then the record. Both walks are flat and stay on the peninsula, so you can take one in the morning and the other after dark.
Where to go in South Carolina
South Carolina: questions people ask
What audio tours are there in South Carolina?
Two walks in Charleston: the Charleston Walking Tour from the City Market to the Battery, and the Haunted Charleston Walking Tour from White Point Garden to the Old City Jail.
Can I do both Charleston walks in one day?
Yes. They take about 1 hour 20 minutes and 1 hour 8 minutes with the stories, and both stay on the old peninsula.
Are the tours self-guided?
Yes. Start whenever you like. unlock the rest to hear it on the web or in the Stories app, which also works offline.
Is there a self-guided tour of South Carolina?
Yes. 2 tours, including "Charleston Walking Tour: Rainbow Row to the Battery", are on Stories. Unlock it once for your group for $4.99 and play it in your browser; the app plays each story as you arrive.
Every Stories tour plays in your browser, no app needed. How it works
Know someone headed to South Carolina? Give a walk as a gift, emailed on the day you pick.