FAQ

We do not require reservations for any of our tours and welcome walk up guests. However, we have a limited number of guests allowed per tour (20 maximum for the standard size tour and 13 for our small group tours), so in order to secure the time and date of your preference we strongly suggest that you make a reservation.

We offer several ways for you to purchase advance tickets.

To reserve your spot you can either use our easy and secure online booking feature, call us at (843) 478-7573, or visit us at 45 Pinckney Street between the hours of 9am and 5pm, just steps away from the Historic City Market downtown.

If you would like to request a refund for a tour and you purchased your tickets directly through our website or with one of our attendants, and it is outside of the 24 hour cancellation window, you can do so through your confirmation email with a full refund.  If you are having trouble accessing the confirmation or need help, please call or text us at 843 478 7573. If you need to cancel your tour within the 24 hour window, we are happy to offer to reschedule you or a credit for a future trip.  If you just need to reschedule, there are no fees for changing the time or date if made 2 hours prior to the start of the tour.  If you purchased your tickets through a third party like Viator or Expedia, please contact them directly to cancel.

Charleston is known for unexpected and sporadic showers especially in the summertime. We generally have a “rain or shine” policy, but reserve the right to cancel tours in potentially dangerous weather conditions. If we must cancel your tour, we will notify you by email, by phone or both prior to the start time and a reschedule or full refund will be offered.

Departure locations vary depending on the tour.  Our Historic Charleston Walk meets just outside City Hall at 80 Broad Street. The Alleys & Hidden Passages Tour meets on the north side of the Old Exchange Building at 122 E Bay St near the benches.  Please read your confirmation email carefully for your specific departure location instructions.  Please arrive a few minutes early for your tour. All tours will leave promptly at the scheduled time.

There are several “pay as you go” parking garages and open air lots scattered throughout the downtown area.   If you are joining us for the Charleston History Tour, we recommend the parking garage at 85 Queen Street.  The closest garage to the starting location for the Alleys & Hidden Passages Tour is at 25 Prioleau St.  For more parking information click here, and for a detailed map click here.

All of our tours are 2 hours (some tours will last as long as 2.5 hours) and cover a distance of approximately 1.5 to 2 miles, depending on the tour. We move along at a comfortable pace and there are plenty of opportunities to stop and take pictures, so don’t forget your camera!

We are pet friendly, especially for well behaved pets!  We just ask that if your furry friend becomes loud or causes a disturbance that you take him/her away from the group so as not to take away from the others guests’ enjoyment of the tour.  Additionally, if you think your pet will react adversely to seeing large draft horses in the streets, we ask that you do not bring her/him along as we will encounter horse drawn carriages throughout the tour.

All walking tours can be cancelled up to 24 hours prior to the walk with a full refund. There will be no refunds for tours cancelled within 24 hours. If you need to change your reservation, no problem, as long as the change request is made at least 12 hours prior to the tour start time.

All advance payment must be made by credit card, either over the phone or directly through our website, which transmits your credit card data securely and assures you the highest level of protection. If you prefer to pay in person, you can do so with a credit card or in cash with our tour guides at the time of the tour (based on availability).  You can also visit us at our desk at 45 Pinckney Street  between 9am and 5pm. We accept Visa, Mastercard, Discover and American Express.

When we have space! Check our website for availability first. If you can’t find what you’re looking for there is a chance that it’s sold out or it may just be unavailable online because it is within a day or two of the tour. When in doubt, give us a call and we can always reserve a spot for you, based on availability of course.

If you enjoyed your tour and feel like you received exemplary service from your guide, it is customary to leave a tip at the end of the tour (and very much appreciated!). The amount is completely up to you.

Yes! If you are traveling in a group and would like to inquire about a private or group tour, or if you would like to request a private tour with a particular tour guide, please send us an email at info@walksofcharleston.com with the day and time of your preference and we will send you a quote and confirm availability.

We will do our best to accommodate requests for particular tour guides, but cannot guarantee the availability of specific tour guides for our regularly scheduled tours. However, if you are interested, we would be happy to send you a quote for a private tour with your requested guide, based on availability. Please email us at info@walksofcharleston.com for more information.

All of our tours are history based and include popular points of interest such as Rainbow Row. Our Charleston History Tour is a great general overview of Charleston’s rich history with a variety of different topics and lots of popular points of interest in the“French Quarter” and the residential areas “South of Broad”. Our “Alleys & Hidden Passages Tour” is a history based tour with a nice mix of not only popular points of interest in the Historic District but some “off-the-beaten-path” streets and alleyways that are not as well known to most visitors. We include between four to six different alleyways/passages on the tour which are usually not a part of the traditional history tours. If you are interested in taking both of these tours, please note that there will be some overlap. If you notify us ahead of time that you will be taking both of these tours, we are happy to schedule different guides, so that you will hear a different narrative.

The streets of Charleston are known to be uneven, narrow and some pose difficulties even for parents with strollers. Our Alleys & Hidden Passages tour is particularly difficult to navigate as we travel down cobblestone pathways and very uneven and even unpaved surfaces and therefore this particular tour is not recommended for guests with wheelchairs.

There are famously very few public restrooms in the historic district and it is not guaranteed that there will be a convenient time during the tour to use the restroom. We strongly recommend using the restroom prior to the tour. There are very nice restrooms inside City Hall at 80 Broad St (where our Charleston History Tour begins) and also inside the parking garage at 25 Prioleau St (near the Old Exchange Building where our Alleys and Hidden Passages Tour begins).

All of our team members maintain current Tour Guide Licenses from the City of Charleston.  Each tour is unique in that it is told by one of our highly trained and entertaining local guides.  We pride ourselves on the content and delivery of each tour and stand behind each of our team members.  We strive to deliver exceptional and unique experiences for each of our guests. If for any reason you did not enjoy your tour, please let us know and we will happily refund the cost of your tour.