Charleston day tour #7 - Fun tour. The day went by faster than I thought it would. Bus driver, Al, was very kind and patient despite a few people arriving late that pushed back the schedule. He remained professional and non-blaming. He gave clear instructions as to the bus location and time to board at each stop for activities. The carriage tour was great; informative and humorous. The plantation tour was great with informative posters and audios to learn about the ways of life in a bygone era. Harbor tour was informative. Lunch was so-so. Chips and cookie good, sandwich short on the meat slices (only one slice).

Definitely worth it! - This was an awesome experience. It was just a taste of Charleston and made us want to go back just to visit there. The ride was a little long. People in our group were late and caused us to lose out on market time which was disappointing. But not too bad. The market seemed pretty repetitive so if we went through one stall, it’s kind of the same thing over and over. A lot like the market in New Orleans. The carriage tour was fantastic. Although actually riding in a horse drawn carriage was a little uncomfortable, it was awesome to see everything up close. The history was marvelous! The boat tour was a little disappointing for me. It was longer than I would have liked and the lunch was nothing great. A sub sandwich, kettle chips, a cookie and a drink. Boone Hall was amazing and I could have spent a whole day there! Very special history with original slave quarters. That is extremely rare and I’m not sure if there is anywhere else that has those. Overall it was a lovely experience and we are already discussing a trip to Charleston in the future !

Charleston excursion - A beautiful day with a beautiful trip. Everything was great from the bus to the plantation. Definitely do it again.

It met everything it said it would do - The horse drawn carriage through downtown Charleston and the boat ride were wonderful as well as visiting Boon plantation.

Loved learning about... - Loved learning about beautiful Charleston!! Carriage ride , boat ride ! Boone Plantation was amazing also!!

Tour of Charleston - A great way to learn about Charleston, South Carolina. Everyone was very friendly and informative. My favorite part was the carriage ride and seeing the historical homes. Hunter was an entertaining tour guide.

A must do tour. - Amazing trip and memories. Our tour guide Wendy went above and beyond from the time she picked us up, until after we were dropped off. The carriage ride was fantastic seeing and learning the history of Charlston. The harbor tour was great, anytime being on the water is great. The Boone Plantation was emotional as we saw the resiliency of those cast into slavery. We could spend more time to see more of the expansive plantation. So glad we decided on this trip.

Great side trip! - Excellent! I learned so much!! The best part for me was the carriage ride- Shye & her horse Mac. I didn’t expect to love it as much as I did! Shye was phenomenal & sooo interesting. . ‘Da Gullah woman’ at the Boone Plantation was also amazing. So much history & information in only 30 minutes of a presentation! I could have listened to her all day!!

Just okay - #7 Charleston day trip from Myrtle Beach - The #7 Charleston day trip from Myrtle Beach was just okay. If you want to get a taste of Charleston and aren't comfortable driving there yourself, this tour will give you that - a small, somewhat bland taste of it. But this tour doesn't touch on all the highlights (no Rainbow Row or Kings St., etc.) or give you a feel for the culture, shopping, & foodie scene in this beautiful town. For that, you'll have to travel there on your own, which I'd recommend if you can swing it. (Recommended itinerary is at the end of the review.) We took this #7 tour from MB on a weekday in mid May. Unfortunately, our tour started off on the wrong foot, first with a late pick-up and then with a different type of bus than was promised. The tour company calls each party the day before your tour to confirm the pickup location and time. Instead of telling those with a hotel pickup to be ready no later than 6:30am, they were told 6:45am, so our scheduled 6:45am pickup at Ripley's Aquarium was 20min. late. Then, instead of a coach motorbus with a rest room, as advertised, we were picked up by a minibus with no rest room. Our very capable bus driver, Wendy, told us the coach was in Charleston for repairs but we may have it for the ride back to MB. We didn't. It appeared that we were put on the minibus because there were too few people booked for that day's tour - not quite even enough fill the minibus. We would have appreciated some notice of this substitution. They did call us to confirm travel the day before our trip, so that would've been a good time to tell us about the bus substitution. One member of our party has medical issues sometimes necessitating an urgent bathroom visit, which is why the motorcoach with a bathroom was appealing. Another in our group sometimes gets car sick, so the smoother ride of a coach is better for her. Our minibus did make a stop about halfway to Charleston (& on the way back) at very nice truck stop that had bleach-clean bathrooms and a large minimart, but it's not the same as having a bathroom on board a comfortable, roomy coach for the two-hour drive there and back, not to mention while traveling from one tour stop to the next. Our first stop was just outside Charleston at a Visitor's Center to disembark those who were taking the bus tour of Charleston instead of the carriage ride (us) or enjoying City Market shopping time. The rest of us traveled on to our first real stop about a block behind City Market where we picked up our carriage tour of Charleston. While the morning ride was pleasant - the weather wasn't too hot or humid (common in Charleston) - our carriage driver & guide, Hunter, was lackluster. He was very friendly and affable, with good control of the horse, Ron, but he was not the most informative guide. Other driver/guides we passed seemed to be very animated, upbeat, and talkative, sharing the history of the town and the sights. Our driver apologetically yawned a lot throughout the trip, provided a little history, and mostly just entertained questions from the group, although he didn't always have answers. One person asked about the marker we had passed for the 1919 riots and he didn't know what it was about. A member of the group Googled it and then told us all the story. It was a Monday morning, so maybe we got him at bad time after a rough weekend or something. After the carriage ride, we all disembarked at the carriage stables & were left to find our own way out of the place, past the horses & all the gear. (An escort through all of that would have been nice.) We had about 20 minutes left after the carriage ride to walk through City Market, which was about all we could do - walk through. Despite what the tour advertises, there really wasn't time to shop the several blocks of market buildings with hand-crafted items and specialty shops if you opted for the carriage ride. The Market's merchandise seemed rather unique and interesting but tourist-pricey. We had to find our own way back to the bus drop-off point behind City Market by the allotted time, which wasn't too difficult, though it's a good thing we came prepared for walking on the uneven surfaces and old bricks that are in that part of town. The minibus then headed off for the harbor boat ride and lunch. When we were dropped off along the street, Wendy pointed us in the right direction to walk the block or so to the boat dock. Be aware that there is no escort to each of the activities and no narration on the bus rides. You only get transportation to each activity and are given a return time to be back on the bus. But you could leave items on the bus since the driver stayed with it the entire time, which was helpful. The harbor tour was on the Carolina Belle, and she is certainly showing her age. Passengers could sit up top in the open air (on hard, uncomfortable seats), which most did since it was an overcast day. Or you could sit down below in the air-conditioned, somewhat musty smelling and very dated interior. Down there were tall surrounding windows to enjoy the views (except for one with several bullet holes that was covered in plastic). There also were several round tables with plastic table cloths and well-worn but padded chairs to sit on. This is where we sat to eat the bagged lunch we got when we embarked (included with our tour but not with standard Belle tickets). We were also given our choice of a fountain soft drink or a bottle of water. The 'boxed' lunch came in a bag and consisted of half a sub roll with a slice or two of turkey, lettuce (smelled of preservatives) & tomato, a bag of chips, and a package of two chocolate chip cookies. Don't take this tour for the food, bring your own if this 'boxed' lunch isn't appealing. The harbor tour was rather uneventful. We sailed in a U-shape around Ft. Sumpter and back, but didn't get close enough to the fort to see much of anything except the island it was on and the flagpole. The captain narrated most of the trip, noting some points of interest, and relaying some history in an animated narrator voice. He pointed out the vintage aircraft carrier Yorktown across the harbor (tours available) and the island where some celebrities have homes. The highlight of the trip was Boone Plantation, which was our final stop and about a half-hour drive from the harbor. We spent the most time here at over 2hrs. On our own, we toured the gardens, the small visitor's building that details the history of the plantation & its various owners, the slave quarters, each with its own different exhibits, and stopped for some ice cream in the little shop that also has prepared salads, sandwiches and snacks. The #7 trip includes the 25-min. guided tour of the plantation house, which was interesting for those who like history, culture, and architecture. Note that only the 1st floor of the house is open to tours because the upper floors are still occasionally in use. Our favorite part of the plantation was the talk on Gullah culture given outdoors (under shade) by a descendant of one of the slaves. She sang traditional Gullah songs, spoke of their significance as a code for enslaved people, and how they laid the foundation for many later types of music and songs, which she also sang - and invited the audience to join in for those that were familiar. She shared lots of information about the Gullah history, culture, crafts and stories, painting a vibrant picture of the Gullah people and their survival. Definitely a highlight not to be missed! From the plantation, we headed back to MB for our drop-off, after another visit to the truck stop for a bathroom and snack break on the return trip. If you do this tour, be prepared for a very long day. We left our resort in Grand Dunes at 6:15am and got back around 7pm. I'd suggest packing your own food and beverages and taking some cash - everyone expected a tip or donation, including the bus driver. If it's important to you, ask about the bus you're getting - wish we had done that. But, if you want to really experience Charleston, go there on your own, take a carriage ride, spend some time shopping at City Market and along Kings Street (but look for bargains elsewhere), check out Rainbow Row, maybe take the boat trip to Ft. Sumpter and do a tour of it and/or the Yorktown if you're into the history, and head out to Boone Plantation (allow 2-3hrs. there). Then, book reservations at one of the many great places to eat in this Southern foodie town before heading back to MB, or spending the night Charleston. There's more than enough to see and do for two days if you're into it.

Total Lack of Communication - The tour itself was outstanding but the lack of communication was troublesome. After completing the Charleston city tour, I heard everyone else stating that we had to be back on the main bus by noon (not knowing this was the group 5 tour customers). Since I was not provided an itinerary and the main bus driver provided no additional information, I assumed the noon return applied to all. After sitting down in a nearby restaurant for meal, I received a call (11:15 am) that I needed to be back on the main bus by 11:30 am for the continuance of my tour. So now I'm unable to finish my meal and rushing to get back to the main bus location - very unhappy with the lack of communication and the really simple process of providing an itinerary. Additionally, I reached out to management to express my frustration but have yet to receive a reply and/or apology.