Charleston Private Driving Tour: Local Guide, Unique Access

Rainbow Row, The Battery, and the streets carriage tours never drive

A private two-hour driving tour of Charleston in a full-size SUV with local guide Jeff Zimmerman, tailored to your interests. You visit the landmark stops: Rainbow Row, The Battery, St. Michael's Church, Charleston Waterfront Park, but also reach the side streets and quieter corners that carriage and bus tours skip. The guide is a licensed tour operator since 1997 and shapes the route around what you want to see, whether that's architecture, history, culture or the natural world.

Step-by-step itinerary

Stops and time spent at each4 stops

1. Charleston Waterfront Parkpassing by
2. Rainbow Rowpassing by
3. The Battery and White Point Garden10m
4. St. Michael's Churchpassing by

Charleston private citywide driving tour

• Visit Charleston Waterfront Park
• See Dock Street Theatre
• Pass by The Citadel
• View Rainbow Row houses
• Explore The Battery and White Point Garden
• Pass by St. Michael's Church
• Pass by City Hall building
• Pass by large city park with Live Oaks
• Pass by neoclassical building by James Hoban

The experience

The tour starts with your choice of morning or afternoon departure, and the SUV picks you up from your location. Jeff Zimmerman and his team have been licensed guides since 1997, so the narrative moves beyond the standard script. You get the city's history and eclectic architecture, but also the stories behind the less touristy blocks and the natural landscape. The vehicle is full-size and weatherproof, which means you stay comfortable while moving between stops instead of walking long stretches in heat or rain.

The route takes you through Rainbow Row, the longest continuous cluster of intact Georgian row houses in America, where the pastel colors make it one of the most photographed corners of the city. You'll see The Battery and White Point Garden at the peninsula's tip, where the Ashley and Cooper rivers meet, with views of Fort Sumter and the harbor framed by southern mansions. St. Michael's Church, built in 1761, sits at the Four Corners of Law and holds the graves of two signers of the U.S. Constitution. Charleston Waterfront Park gives you unobstructed views of the Ravenel Bridge and the U.S.S. Yorktown at Patriots Point. The guide also works in stops like the Dock Street Theatre (the first building in America built solely for theatrical performances, opened in 1736), and The Citadel, a 300-acre military college on the Ashley River.

Because the tour is private and tailored, you're not locked into a fixed pace or a script designed for a group. The guide adjusts based on what catches your interest, so if you want to linger at one stop or skip another, the itinerary moves with you. You avoid the crowds that gather around carriage and bus tours, and you reach the neighborhoods and details that those tours can't access from their fixed routes.

What’s included

• Private transportation in a full-size weatherproof SUV.
• live guide in English.
• pickup from your location.
• a two-hour route tailored to your interests that includes Rainbow Row, The Battery, St. Michael's Church, Charleston Waterfront Park, and off-the-beaten-path neighborhoods carriage tours can't reach.

Information

Lasts 2h, runs every day at 10:00 and 13:00, from US$ 201.14 per person, with a live guide in English, as a private tour and with free cancellation up to 24 h before.

Days and timesEvery dayDepartures at 10:00 and 13:00

GroupPrivate

Live guideEnglish

Meeting point and pickupHotel pickup included.You can choose from 42 pickup points.

Book up to1d before

AgesAdult (13 and older) · Child (3 to 12 years) · Infant (under 3): free

Cancellation and refundsFree cancellation up to 24 h before the start. After that, no refund.It may be canceled due to bad weather. If that happens, you're offered another date or a refund.

Prices and times updated 9 days ago

Good to know

Low physical effortPets welcomePublic transport nearbyInfants must sit on laps

Operated by Jeff Zimmerman

Is this one for you?Choose the morning departure if you want to see the city before the crowds gather at the main stops, or pick the afternoon tour if you prefer a later start. Either way, the private SUV and tailored route mean you move at your own pace instead of following a carriage or bus schedule, and you reach the quieter corners of Charleston that walking tours and group tours skip entirely.

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Top questions

Can children come?

Yes. Ticket types: Child (3 to 12 years); Infant (under 3): free.

What happens if it rains?

It may be canceled due to bad weather. If that happens, you're offered another date or a refund. Free cancellation up to 24 h before the start.

What is Rainbow Row and why is it such a big deal in Charleston?

Rainbow Row is the longest continuous cluster of intact Georgian row houses in America, painted in pastel colors and one of the most photographed sections of the city. The tour includes a stop here so you can see the architecture and take photos without the crowds that gather on foot tours.

Can I choose what time of day I want to do this tour?

Yes, you pick either the morning or afternoon departure when you book. Both tours run for two hours and follow the same route. The choice is yours based on your schedule.

What is The Battery and what will I see there?

The Battery is located at the tip of the peninsula where the Ashley and Cooper rivers meet, and locals say the two rivers "form the Atlantic Ocean" there. From The Battery and White Point Garden you get views of Fort Sumter and the harbor, with some of Charleston's most impressive southern mansions overlooking the park.

Will the guide take me to places that regular bus and carriage tours don't go?

Yes. The tour is designed to get you off the beaten path to less touristy spots that are off limits to carriage and bus tours. Because you're in a private SUV with a guide who tailors the route to your interests, you reach neighborhoods and details those fixed-route tours can't access.

How long has the guide been doing this?

Jeff Zimmerman and his team have been licensed tour guides since 1997, so they bring nearly three decades of knowledge about Charleston's history, architecture, culture and natural world to the narrative.

What is St. Michael's Church and why is it on the tour?

St. Michael's Church, built in 1761, is the oldest church in downtown Charleston and sits at the Four Corners of Law. The churchyard is the resting place of two signers of the U.S. Constitution, John Rutledge and Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, making it a key landmark in the city's history.