Day Trips From North Myrtle Beach, Chapter One: Charleston
The first in a series. Every few weeks I'm spotlighting one town within striking distance of North Myrtle Beach: what to see, where to eat, and what happens when the day trip accidentally becomes an overnight. We're starting with the big one.
I know what you're thinking. Charleston is not a secret. Charleston is on every list, in every magazine, all over your feed. So why am I starting the series here?
Because almost everyone gets Charleston wrong from the Grand Strand. They treat it like a whole vacation, wait for a free weekend that never comes, and end up never going at all. Or they go once, get herded down Market Street with everyone else, eat somewhere forgettable, and come home wondering what the fuss was about.
Charleston from North Myrtle Beach is a two-hour drive. That makes it a day trip. And a day trip, it turns out, is the best way to do Charleston, because one day forces you to skip the checklist and just be in the city. Here's how I do it, starting with the drive itself, because Highway 17 South is not a chore to be endured. It's the opening chapter.
The Drive: North Myrtle Beach to Charleston
The route: Take SC-31 (Carolina Bays Parkway) south to skip the Myrtle Beach stoplight parade, then pick up US-17 South and simply stay on it. Highway 17 carries you the whole way: through Murrells Inlet, Pawleys Island, Georgetown, the Francis Marion National Forest, Mount Pleasant, and over the Ravenel Bridge into Charleston. One road, no thinking, all scenery.
The time: About 95 miles and 2 hours door to door if you drive straight through. Budget 2.5 to 3 hours if you take a stop or two, which you should at least once. A note on timing: Highway 17 through Mount Pleasant crawls during weekday rush hour, so aim to hit that stretch before 4 p.m. on the way home or embrace the overnight.
Stops along the way, in order:
Pawleys Island (30 minutes in). The Hammock Shops Village is the classic leg-stretch: shaded walkways, local shops, and the famous rope hammocks that have been made here since 1889. If you skipped breakfast, this is your fix-it stop.
Georgetown (50 minutes in). The natural halfway point. South Carolina's third-oldest city has a walkable historic waterfront on Front Street, working shrimp boats, and a downtown that locals will tell you is criminally overlooked. I'll be honest with you: Georgetown is still on my own list, which is exactly why it gets its own chapter in this series later. Consider this stop your homework before I do mine.
McClellanville (about 80 minutes in). Blink and you'll miss the turnoff, which is the point. This tiny shrimping village tucked under the live oaks is a five-minute detour off 17 and feels like the South Carolina coast before anyone built a mini-golf course on it. Slow roll through, look at the boats, get back on the road.
The Sewee stretch (about 90 minutes in). As you pass through the Francis Marion National Forest and Awendaw, you're in sweetgrass basket country. The roadside stands along 17 here are where generations of Gullah artisans have sold hand-woven baskets, an art form older than the country. If you've ever wanted one, buy it from a stand on this road, not a shop in the city.
Mount Pleasant (about 1 hour 50 in). Last chance for a detour: Shem Creek's docks and pelicans are five minutes off the highway. Otherwise, stay on 17, climb the Ravenel Bridge, and enjoy the single best arrival view in the Southeast. Charleston's steeples and harbor open up below you, and no matter how many times I cross that bridge, I never skip the view.
The strategy: On the way down, drive straight through or take one quick stop, because Charleston is the point and morning is her best hour. Save the leisurely stops for the drive home, when you're in no hurry and Highway 17 at golden hour does its thing.
The Day Trip: The Complete Itinerary
This is the whole plan, free, nothing held back. Every stop is somewhere I've actually been. Leave North Myrtle by 7:30 so the day starts with breakfast, not a growling stomach.
9:30 a.m. Breakfast and coffee at Carmella's. Cross the Ravenel Bridge (the best arrival view in the Southeast, steeples and harbor and the whole postcard), park, and head straight to Carmella's. They open at 8, and starting the day with their coffee and something sweet is the correct way to meet Charleston.
Parking, the honest version: metered street parking is usually easy to find if you're willing to drive around for a few minutes. Pick a spot, feed the meter, and commit to it for the day. Anything that's genuinely out of walking range, you Uber. Or walk it all if you're fit and up for it, because Charleston on foot is Charleston at its best.
10:00 a.m. The City Market. Open daily 9:30 to 5. Yes, it's on every list, and it earns it. The craftsmanship here is superb, the vendors are genuinely talented, and this is where you watch sweetgrass baskets being woven by hand. Give it a real browse, not a drive-by.
11:00 a.m. King Street. High-end stores, adorable boutiques, and you can spend as much or as little time browsing as your willpower allows. If you want something to do rather than buy, Candlefish is a fun stop: it's a candle company where you can make your own, and you drive home with a souvenir that isn't a t-shirt.
12:00 p.m. Stroll to The Battery. Walk south and let the streets get older around you. The live oaks are stunning, Rainbow Row is on the way, and the homes in this part of the city are just breathtaking. Take it all in. Walk the waterfront and keep an eye on the harbor, because you might spot a dolphin.
1:00 p.m. Get lost in the French Quarter. On purpose. This is the oldest corner of the city and the whole point is to wander it without a plan. One assignment only: find the French Huguenot Church. By now you have absolutely worked up an appetite.
1:45 p.m. Lunch at Leon's. There is just something about the ambience of this place, and about being able to order fried chicken accompanied by champagne. That combination is the entire Leon's argument and it wins. The Siam salad is amazing too, and leave room for a sweet treat, because they have soft serve. It's a bit out of the way from the historic district, so Uber or bike it, especially if you're tight on time. (And honestly, Charleston has so many great restaurants that you really can't go wrong, but this is my day, and my day goes to Leon's.)
3:15 p.m. The bookstore crawl. Uber back down and give the rest of the afternoon to the bookstores: Buxton Books, Sweeter Than Fiction, and Blue Bicycle Books, which is my favorite of the three and the one I'd save for last. Check their calendars before your trip, because all of them host author talks and events, and stumbling into one is the best kind of trip detour. Buy the book that will forever remind you of this day.
4:30 p.m. A cocktail, a view, and a chapter. Take your new book to The Rooftop at The Vendue. They open at 11:30, so it's ready whenever you are, and a cocktail with a rooftop view of the city you just walked is the correct way to end the loop. Bring the book up with you and read a chapter. Or ten.
Then you have a decision to make.
The sunset version: point the car north around 5:30, beat the worst of the Mount Pleasant crawl, and be home by 8:30 with a new book and a candle you made yourself.
The dinner version: stay. Charleston's dinner scene is the reason chefs move here, and a few of my favorites are Magnolias, FIG, Stella's, and The Ordinary. Or simply stay put at The Rooftop and turn cocktail hour into dinner. You'll be home late. It will be worth it.
One bonus stop, and it has to come first: Gwynn's of Mount Pleasant, a boutique with genuinely unique clothing, shoes, and handbags that is so much fun to browse. It closes at 6, so it can't be a drive-home stop. If shopping is your love language, hit it on the way into the city and push the rest of the day back an hour.
When One Day Isn't Enough
Here's the thing about that itinerary: it works perfectly, and it will also convince you that you need to come back. Because the day trip only ever meets daytime Charleston, and Charleston's best self comes out after the day-trippers leave.
The dinner scene chefs move across the country for. The gas-lantern streets at night, briefly empty and briefly yours. Ghost tours through alleys you walked innocently at noon. And the single best hour in the city, 8 a.m. with coffee in hand, when the light is gold and you have the French Quarter to yourself before the buses arrive.
That version of Charleston takes two or three nights, and it takes real planning: which hotel, which neighborhood, which nights to book which restaurants, and what to do with a full second day.
So I'm building that plan right now.
Coming Soon: Charleston in 2 to 3 Nights
Charleston for the Book Lover: 2 to 3 Nights is my next paid itinerary, currently in the works and built from my real trips. It will include everything I keep out of free posts:
My hotel shortlist with the character of each, the rooms worth requesting, and which hotel bars are destinations in their own right. Night-by-night dinner plans: which of my favorites to book for which night, exactly what to order, and how far ahead each one books up. The full second-day itinerary the day trip can't fit. Charleston after dark, done properly. The 8 a.m. golden-hour morning route. The closed-day landmines that wreck trips. And olive ratings for every single pick, because a martini is the only honest unit of measurement.
Want it the day it drops? Reply to this email with the word CHARLESTON and you'll be the first to know, plus I'll send early subscribers a little launch discount as a thank you.
Can't wait, or does your Charleston lean galleries over ghost stories? My Charleston for the Art Lover itinerary is already live on the site, and the two guides will stack beautifully for a long weekend.
