Charleston

About Charleston

Charleston has spent years atop the 'best small city in America' lists, and the hotel market knows it. The historic peninsula — pastel rowhouses on Rainbow Row, antebellum mansions south of Broad Street, church steeples instead of skyscrapers — packs remarkable density of boutique hotels into a few walkable square miles, and spring wedding-and-festival season pushes weekend rates to big-city levels. That's precisely when rates that aren't displayed on the open web are worth checking: a meaningful difference some nights, more modest others, but on an Upper King Saturday in April it's rarely nothing.

The food scene is the other headline. Charleston punches far above its size — from shrimp and grits institutions to the newer wave of restaurants that made Upper King Street the city's dining spine. The geography is simple: the French Quarter and South of Broad are the postcard historic core; Upper King is where the restaurants and nightlife concentrate; and Mount Pleasant, across the Ravenel Bridge, trades walkability for family-friendly space and quick access to Sullivan's Island and Isle of Palms beaches. Fort Sumter, where the Civil War began, sits in the harbor and is reached by boat tour.

Our Travel Editor's Charleston advice: come in March or April when the azaleas are out, or October and November when the humidity finally breaks — July and August on the peninsula are a sweat test. Stay on the peninsula your first visit, even if it costs more; the city's magic is walking it at golden hour. And book one nice dinner the day your trip is confirmed, because the famous rooms fill weeks out.

— Our Travel Editor