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See the Best of Charleston the Old-Fashioned Way

Palmetto Carriage Tour

Any visit to the historic city of Charleston can’t be considered complete until you take the Palmetto Carriage Works Tour. This relaxing, one-of-a-kind tour is an old-school way to see and experience all the beauty and grandeur that is the city of Charleston. Charleston Tours and Events offers the Palmetto Carriage Works Tour as part of a combination tour package, along with the Charleston Harbor Tour, where you can save money on both tours by booking them together. It’s the most popular combination tour that Charleston Tours and Events offers.

The Palmetto Carriage Works Tour allows guests to experience 25-30 blocks of Charleston’s historic downtown district, see mansions, gardens, churches, and parks, all while learning about the buildings, architecture, flora, and people that make Charleston one of the most charming and historic cities in the United States.

One of the great bonuses with booking the Combination Tour is that there are no restrictions as to when you have to use the Harbor Tour portion. You can take the Harbor Tour before or after the Palmetto Carriage Tour, on a different day, or even on your next trip to Charleston if that’s what suits you.

Palmetto Carriage Works is a Top Tour in Charleston

Family owned and operated since 1972, Palmetto Carriage Works is the oldest tour company in Charleston with some of the most experienced tour personnel in the industry. With a tour experience that’s been honed to perfection over the years, the Palmetto Carriage Tour has become an authentic and historically rich experience that friends and family will cherish forever.

Charleston is a city that needs to be taken in slowly—there’s so much to see and learn about, and a carriage tour gives you the opportunity to take in all the relevant sights and hear the history of this beautiful city from knowledgeable and witty tour guides. More than 40,000 horse carriage tours roll through the streets of Charleston every year, and no company has been doing it as long as Palmetto Carriage Works. Nobody does it quite as well either, as evidenced by the over 5,000 guests who’ve given the tour five stars on Trip Advisor.

“Wow, what a great way to tour the city. The weather was as perfect as our guide Rob was awesome. He really had a way to combine history with humor and make it one of the most memorable times of our trip south. This is a must-do for everyone!”

“This is our 4th tour with Palmetto Carriage, and we had a great time as usual! They have very knowledgeable tour guides who explain the history of Charleston in a very interesting way and are very good at answering questions! Wonderful company!

Carriage rides run daily, beginning at 9 am and running until 5 pm during daylight savings time and until 4 pm for the rest of the year. Tours run every 15-30 minutes, and your best bet to get on a tour is to make a reservation at 843-853-6125. Each carriage can hold up to 16 guests, and they run full each ride. Food and non-alcoholic beverages are allowed on the tour.

Charleston Honored for Cleanup Work

One might imagine that so much horse traffic in downtown Charleston leaves behind waste that might be offputting to visitors. The city has always done a great job of removing that waste quickly and efficiently, but recent efforts have made it almost invisible.

As reported by Brian Hicks in the Charleston Post and Courier, the city of Charleston was awarded the 2019 Exemplary Systems in Government Award from the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association for its revolutionary work in technology that improves equine waste management. With new technology, when a horse makes an unscheduled drop, the guide simply presses a button on his lanyard and the target is automatically mapped and the information is instantly passed on to the waste management company. In days past, it might have taken an hour for a full cleanup, and now most messes are gone before anyone even notices they were there.

See Charleston from Both Land and Sea

The Charleston Harbor Tour and Palmetto Carriage Ride Combo Tour offers guests two of the most respected and highly thought of tours in all of the South at a reduced rate for each. Both tours provide spectacular sightseeing and narration, that is both funny and informative. Charleston is a city that is steeped in history and tradition and both of these tours get you up close and personal looks at what makes the city one of the most charming places in the country.