Charleston Plantation History Driving Tour

Don't settle for one plantation! Here is your chance to get a taste of 5 historical sites, all on the same tour, in small group(8 or less) Mercedes Sprinter style. We will visit 4 plantations and the family church... history that dates over 300 years and is the foundation of American history in the south.
We start with McLeod Plantation, and will enjoy their interpretive tour and learn the very core of real plantation life. We then travel through Ashley River Road to get a taste of Drayton, Magnolia and Middleton properties, with short, scenic stops, learning of the family history. Please note this is a driving tour, and we do not enter the admission areas of the grounds. We finish with a trip to Old Saint Andrews Church circa 1706.

I am a city certified tour guide that takes you outside the limits! Come enjoy your the private journey into the past. This is the perfect tour for people with minor mobility issues. (please note the van is not wheel-chair accessible)

Meeting Point

375 Meeting St

375 Meeting St, Charleston, SC 29403, USA

Meet the black sprinter van at the Charleston Visitors Center, inside the bus shed.
There is parking out in front of the Center, or a parking garage that adjoins the bus shed across Ann Street.

What to expect:

Duration: 4 hours

McLeod Plantation Historic Site

325 Country Club Dr, Charleston, 29412-2215, South Carolina

Charleston's hard history is explained here at McLeod, and takes into scope grueling day-to-day life on a pre-civil war farm.

1 hour • Admission Ticket Included

Drayton Hall

3380 Ashley River Rd, , Charleston, 29414-7126, South Carolina

The only and oldest remaining plantation house, in its original form, on the Ashley River. While we do not tour inside the house, we will stop for pictures and a history lesson. The Drayton Family is fascinating, and have owned this property since inception... until just recently.
Please note this is a driving tour, and we do not enter the admission areas of the grounds.

20 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Magnolia Plantation & Gardens

3550 Ashley River Rd, , Charleston, 29414-7109, South Carolina

Thomas Drayton and his wife Ann arrived from Barbados to the new English colony of Charles Towne and established Magnolia Plantation along the Ashley River in 1676. The oldest public tourist site in the Low Country and the oldest public garden in America. We will drive down Live Oak Alley and stop for pictures in front of the house.
Please note this is a driving tour, and we do not enter the admission areas of the grounds.

20 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Middleton Place

4300 Ashley River Road, , Charleston, 29414-7206, South Carolina

View Middleton Place’s vista of the house entrance. We will shop the open-air market and museum store.
Please note this is a driving tour, and we do not enter the admission areas of the grounds.

20 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Old St. Andrew's Parish Church

2604 Ashley River Rd, Charleston, 29414-4607, South Carolina

We visit the oldest church building (1708), still in service, south of Virginia. We will stroll the church graveyard and get a peak inside this 300-year-old structure. Learn how the Reverend John Drayton Jr saved the family's crucifix-form church and how he curated the Ashley River gardens.

10 minutes