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Destinations › Tours and Day Trips › Charleston History Tours
Charleston's history is easiest to meet in person, on foot. Start at the official visitor center on Meeting Street, then pick museums and a guide that suit your day.
- Visitor Center375 Meetingdaily 8:30am-5pm
- Old Slave Mart$8general admission
- Guide Cert.VoluntaryCity of Charleston page
- ReadNov 32026
Facts below come from official pages read on November 3, 2026. Three museum sites would not load for us, so they are listed as not confirmed rather than guessed.
Start at The Visitor Center
The Charleston Area Convention and Visitors Bureau runs the official visitor centers.
- The Charleston Area CVB lists the Charleston Visitor Center at 375 Meeting Street, open daily 8:30am-5:00pm, closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day; phone (800) 774-0006. source
- The same CVB page lists the Mount Pleasant Visitor Center at 99 Harry M. Hallman, Jr. Boulevard, open daily 9:00am-5:00pm. source
Museums You Can Read Up On
These are museum visits you can do on your own schedule.
Old Slave Mart Museum
Museum in an 1859 building that the museum calls the last surviving slave auction gallery in South Carolina; self-guided with posters.
- Where
- 6 Chalmers Street, Charleston, SC 29401
- Hours
- Monday-Saturday 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.; closed Sundays
- Cost
- $8 general; $6 military and senior; $5 child (7-12); $5 teacher/student with ID; free ages 0-6
Choosing a Guide
Guided walking and carriage tours are run by private companies. The City of Charleston says the following about guide certification.
- The City of Charleston's tour guide page presents Tourism Commission guide certification as voluntary. source
- The City page says certification expires on the third anniversary of issue. source
- The City page mentions a City of Charleston business license only for Lifetime Certified guides (25 or more years of experience), who must keep one as required. source
For the long list of house museums and walking tours we already track, see Historic Tours in South Carolina, the 3 Days in Charleston plan, and the Historic District profile.
What We Could Not Confirm
Not confirmed: we looked for these on official pages and did not find them. Check with the town or operator before you rely on them.
- Charleston Museum, International African American Museum and Gibbes Museum: their own websites refused our page reader this session (access error), so hours, prices and tours are not recorded.
- Tour guide licensing: the City page we read calls certification voluntary and states no general guide license rule, so do not tell visitors that guides must be licensed. Whether a business license is required of tour companies was not confirmed on a page we could read.
- The City tour guide page shows no last-updated date.
- Old Slave Mart Museum: the page we read states no guided-tour times; the visit is described as reading posters at your own pace.
- Historic Charleston Foundation and Old Exchange were not re-read because the existing site pages already cover them.
- Charleston Museum, International African American Museum and Gibbes Museum of Art: hours and prices are not confirmed here. Use each museum's own page: charlestonmuseum.org, iaamuseum.org, gibbesmuseum.org.
FAQ
Do Charleston tour guides have to be licensed?
The City of Charleston presents its Tourism Commission guide certification as voluntary. We found no page that makes it a requirement for every guide, so ask any company what certification its guides hold.
Where is the visitor center?
The Charleston Area CVB lists the Charleston Visitor Center at 375 Meeting Street, open daily 8:30am to 5:00pm and closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day.
Sources
- International African American Museum – plan your visit (not read)
- City of Charleston – Tour Guide Certification
- Charleston Area CVB – Visitors Centers
- Charleston Museum – museum information (not read)
- Gibbes Museum of Art – visit (not read)
- Old Slave Mart Museum
Official pages read on November 3, 2026. How we check: editorial standards; spot a mistake? Tell us.
Cite this page: It's South Carolina, “Charleston History Tours: Visitor Center, Museums and Guides”, itssouthcarolina.com/destinations/tours-and-day-trips/charleston-history-tours/ (updated ). By the It's South Carolina editorial team. Free to quote with attribution and a link to this page; data and tables are licensed CC BY 4.0.