There’s no better way to soak up Charleston’s charm than by horse-drawn carriage, where the trotting of hooves on old cobblestone streets and incomparable Southern charm transport you to another time.

It’s one of the most iconic ways to see the city, with the intimate feeling of the breeze blowing through your hair while maximizing your time by avoiding more lengthy walking tours.

There are a surprising amount of different types of horse carriage tours, so whether you’re interested in architecture and aristocracy or the Revolutionary War or Gullah culture, there’s something for everyone.

I’ve gone ahead and reviewed the 5 top Charleston horse carriage rides out there, which are all worth your time and money. Let’s jump right in!

Be sure to see our reviews of Charleston Plantation Tours, Charleston Food Tours and Charleston Boat Tours.

Best Charleston Horse Carriage Ride Tours

	Charleston Downtown Horse-Drawn Carriage Tour	Charleston, SC: Private Daytime Horse-Drawn Carriage Ride	Charleston: Haunted Carriage Evening Tour
Location:	Palmetto Carriage Works, 8 Guignard St, Charleston	Old South Carriage Company, 8 Guignard St, Charleston	14 Anson St, Charleston
Start:	Between 9:00 AM & 5:00 PM	Between 9:00 AM & 5:00 PM	Between 5:30 PM & 10:00 PM
Duration:	1 hour	1 hour	40 minutes
Includes:	Horse carriage ride, guide	60-minute private carriage ride, licensed private tour guide	Carriage ride, walking tour, live guide
	Tour Information & Booking	Tour Information & Booking	Tour Information & Booking

Quick Answer: The 5 Best Rated Charleston Horse Carriage Rides For 2026

1. Charleston: Downtown Horse-Drawn Carriage Tour
2. Charleston, SC: Private Daytime Horse-Drawn Carriage Ride
3. Charleston: Haunted Carriage Evening Tour
4. Charleston: Historical Downtown Tour by Horse-Drawn Carriage
5. Charleston: Evening Haunted History Horse-Drawn Carriage Tour

Charleston Horse Carriage Tour Reviews

1. Charleston Downtown Horse-Drawn Carriage Tour

No matter how packed your itinerary is, I guarantee there is somewhere in your day where you have at least an hour available. Even if you’re super busy, the Charleston: Downtown Horse-Drawn Carriage Tour is a fine choice for appreciating history and the beautiful architecture all around you.

As the oldest operating carriage company in all of the city, you can count on their refined storytelling and vast knowledge to bring you a fascinating experience!

As the tour is only an hour long, there are a ton of different start times available, making it that much easier to fit into a busy schedule. Start out by meeting your guide by the big red barn belonging to Palmetto Carriage Works, which is pretty much impossible to miss.

The staff was super friendly and made the check-in and boarding process seamless and quick, already starting off on the right foot. Keep in mind that this isn’t a completely private tour, so unless you have a large group coming with you, you’ll likely be sharing a carriage with some other people.

However, for the ultra-affordable price and great quality all-around, it’s a fantastic option if you’re on a tighter budget. The guide we had was amazing, and he instantly felt like an old friend who just happened to be a local expert!

Set off through the historic downtown area, learning all about the history of the beautiful mansions, churches, and parks that line the streets along the way. It’s not just the guide doing the talking, however – it’s a fully interactive experience where you’ll get to ask all the questions you want!

If you’re looking for a relatively quick but comprehensive way to learn about Charleston, this is a nice choice!

Other Charleston Experiences You May Enjoy:

2. Charleston, SC: Private Daytime Horse-Drawn Carriage Ride

While there are many cities I feel you can kind of skim through and still get a general idea of what it’s like, Charleston is a city that you really shouldn’t rush through.

Just like how the Southern vibe overall is a lot slower, this next tour focuses on telling a story through authentic anecdotes and historic accounts with a professional guide there to lead the way! If that sounds like fun to you, do yourself a favor and check out the Charleston, SC: Private Daytime Horse-Drawn Carriage Ride tour!

If the previous tour sounded interesting to you but you’re looking for something exclusively for you and your party, this should be at the top of your list. Just like the other, it lasts an hour, but as it’s completely private, you’ll be able to learn and see just a bit more.

Meet up at the carriage company, check in, and get ready to enjoy Charleston just a few feet above street level, rolling past vividly-colored mansions, gas-lit alleyways, and all kinds of fascinating historical markers!

If you’re a history buff or would simply like to learn a bit more about Charleston, this tour is a great way to do so. Our guide did a great job of taking us through the different centuries of history, bringing to life its colonial beginnings to its bustling and modern present.

Complete with antebellum mansions, beautiful gardens, and plenty of history, this carriage ride will take you right to the heart of what makes it so special.

Capable of holding up to 4 seated passengers, it’s perfect for a unique date activity, smaller friend groups, or the entire family – children under 2 can sit on adults’ laps!

3. Charleston: Haunted Carriage Evening Tour

Charleston is one of the most history-rich cities in the US, where it feels like some of the most scandalous stories are sitting right beneath its surface. If you’re looking to learn about the ghost stories, scandals, and tragedies that have taken place here in a tasteful, educational manner, this tour is just for you.

The Charleston: Haunted Carriage Evening Tour is far from a gimmick – instead focusing on the eerie remnants of Charleston’s past. I’ve taken many a ghost tour, and every single one has been different, yet none are even remotely similar to this creepy yet fascinating haunted carriage tour!

With every single guide on these tours being a member of the Palmetto Guild, they’re required to be incredibly knowledgeable and that’s evident here. After all, covering a whopping 300 years of history in Charleston is no easy feat – especially when speaking about some of the most creepy scenes this city has seen.

Start off at the Old South Carriage Company’s stables and set off through Historic Charleston, complete with comfy blankets to keep you warm as it does get quite chilly at night. The sound of our horse and carriage trotting and rolling over the cobblestone streets definitely set the scene for a trip back in time – albeit with a bit of an unsettling feel ideal for a proper haunted adventure.

We passed historic places like the Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon as well as certain homes known for their paranormal activity and intense stories – visiting the graveyard was also equal parts terrifying and fascinating!

Despite covering some serious and at times somber material, we had plenty of smiles and jokes shared with our guide. Ultimately, I’d recommend this tour to anyone interested in the “darker” or perhaps more raw side of Charleston’s history, even if you’re bringing kids along.

Oh, and if you happen to be going around October, it simply can’t be beat with its spooky yet educational vibes!

4. Charleston: Historical Downtown Tour by Horse-Drawn Carriage

It’s not often that you find a city with a walkable, small-town feel with a thriving culinary scene, a beautiful waterfront, countless different important national landmarks, and breathtaking architecture.

However, you’ll find all that and more in Charleston – currently one of the most popular American cities comprised of a wide array of different cultures and nationalities. The Charleston: Historical Downtown Tour by Horse-Drawn Carriage is the perfect way to explore it in just one hour, gaining insight into what makes it so special.

With its subtropical climate, Charleston boasts good weather all year round, with an impressive 230 days of sunshine each year. This makes for the perfect climate for exploring the city in the open air, making a carriage tour that much more pleasant, no matter the season.

Not to mention, this is one of the most affordable tours of its kind, which is great if you’re looking to save some cash without compromising on quality.

After meeting up with your guide, you and the rest of your small group will hop onboard the carriage and set off through historic downtown as your driver regales you with live commentary about the city.

Pass iconic sites like the harbor, Rainbow Row, King Street, White Point Gardens, the Battery, and much more, learning about the significance and history behind each one. It was a nice way to see all the varied, beautiful neighborhoods and incredible architecture that you’ll only find right here in the Holy City.

Aside from that, the carriage itself was beautiful, with comfortable seating, completely unobstructed views, and a horse that seemed to know the route just as well as the driver! If you’ve just arrived to the city and want to get the lay of the land along with plenty of places to visit later, look no further than this tour!

5. Charleston Evening Haunted History Horse-Drawn Carriage Tour

Charleston is one of those cities where it feels like the past never completely leaves – it’s always hanging around the corner or down a gas-lit alleyway. If you’re looking to learn about a completely different side of the Holy City’s history, check out the Charleston: Evening Haunted History Horse-Drawn Carriage Tour!

Unlike the other haunted carriage tour, I’d say this one is a bit scarier and thus, more appropriate for adults and teenagers. This tour does a great job of tapping into the scary factor, peeling back the city’s polished facade a bit and diving into the darker aspect of its history.

Doing so in a horse-drawn carriage evokes a kind of nostalgia from an era you never lived in, along with the clipping of hooves echoing off of centuries-old buildings. Start out by meeting your guide and the rest of your small group at the Big Red Barn, and set off to learn about the restless spirits and tragedies that took place here.

The horse we had was so adorable and sweet and seemed to know the route quite well, with our tour guide chatting about the different haunted sites, offering insight into the different centuries.

While we learned about the more well-known sites like the Provost Dungeon and Old Exchange, our guide also shared stories about where duels were fought and more locally-known hauntings occur – things you won’t learn from a simple Google search.

If you’re looking for a lively and fun way to get acquainted with Charleston, I highly recommend this excursion! If you’re going to be around for at least a couple of days, definitely take it earlier on in your visit!

Charleston Horse Carriage Tours, and the One Detail That Decides Your Whole Trip

You do not get to pick your route on a public Charleston carriage tour. The city assigns it by lottery right before you climb aboard, and that single fact changes how you should think about booking one.

I have taken three of these rides across two trips, and the difference between the good one and the mediocre one had nothing to do with the company I booked. It came down to which route the city handed us that morning.

Once you know that going in, the rest of the decision gets a lot simpler.

Why the Route Is Out of Your Hands

Charleston limits how many carriages can be on its historic streets at once, so the city runs a rotation system across several predetermined routes. Which one your carriage gets assigned is decided right before departure, not by you and not really by the company either.

That means two people who book the exact same tour with the exact same operator can see completely different parts of the historic district.

One carriage might roll past the Battery and White Point Gardens. Another might spend the hour deeper in the residential blocks with fewer of the postcard sights.

This is not a flaw specific to one operator, since every public carriage company in Charleston runs under the same city rule. Knowing this ahead of time means you stop shopping for the company that promises the best route and start shopping for the company that gives you the best experience regardless of which route you land.

The Companies Worth Knowing

Old South Carriage Company runs out of 14 Anson Street, a block from the City Market, with departures every 15 to 30 minutes from roughly 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Family owned since 1983, and the standard one-hour tour is the most straightforward public option in the city.

Palmetto Carriage Works operates from the Big Red Barn at 8 Guignard Street and bills itself as the oldest carriage company in Charleston. Beyond the standard daytime ride, they run private vis-a-vis carriages, evening ghost tours, and an adults-only Saturday afternoon slot for anyone traveling without kids.

Carriage Tours of Charleston departs from 45 Pinckney Street and runs the same basic public format as the other two, with departures roughly every 20 to 30 minutes through late afternoon. Pair it with a harbor boat tour if you want to combine the carriage ride with a look at the water.

My honest take. For the standard public ride, the three operators are close enough in price and format that the choice matters less than picking a departure time that fits your day.

Where the companies actually differentiate is in the specialty tours. Palmetto’s evening ghost ride and private vis-a-vis option are the two upgrades worth paying extra for if the standard daytime loop does not sound like enough.

What a Tour Actually Costs

The standard shared carriage tour runs $40 to $50 per adult for about an hour, and that price point covers the majority of what most visitors end up booking. Children typically ride at a reduced rate, and you can usually walk up without a reservation, though booking ahead guarantees your specific time slot.

Private tours run considerably higher, starting around $250 per carriage and climbing toward $300 for an hour with your own group and nobody else sharing the ride. That price is per carriage, not per person, so a family or small group splitting a private tour can land close to the shared rate per head.

Combination packages bundling the carriage ride with a trolley tour, a harbor cruise, or a Fort Sumter ferry run higher still, and pricing varies enough by combination that it is worth comparing the individual pieces against the bundle before assuming the package saves money.

The Draft Horses Themselves

Belgian and Percheron draft horses pull most of these carriages, the same breeds that worked American farms in the early 1800s. That detail is not just trivia, since it is part of what makes the ride feel connected to the period the guides are narrating rather than a costume built around a generic horse.

Charleston takes visible care of these animals seriously, and most companies build stable visits or horse meet-and-greets into their offerings specifically because visitors ask. If the welfare of the animals matters to you, and it should, ask the company directly about their rotation schedule and summer heat protocols before booking, since pulling a carriage through a Charleston summer is genuinely demanding work for a horse.

When to Go

Morning tours beat afternoon ones for one simple reason.

Charleston summer heat builds fast, and an open air carriage at 2 p.m. in July is a genuinely different experience than the same ride at 9:30 a.m., both for you and for the horse pulling you.

Fall and spring shoulder seasons offer the most comfortable riding weather without peak summer crowds competing for the same carriage slots. If your trip lands in summer regardless, book the earliest departure the company offers.

Evening ghost tours run separately from the standard daytime sightseeing loop and follow a different appeal entirely. Book one of these specifically if you want the haunted history angle rather than the standard historic overview, since the two formats cover genuinely different material.

What You Will Actually Hear About

Guides narrate more than three hundred years of Charleston history over the course of an hour, and the material runs deeper than a simple list of old buildings. Expect stories touching pirate raids, plantation era life, Revolutionary War skirmishes, the Civil War, and the long Reconstruction period that shaped the city afterward.

Specific stops depend entirely on your assigned route, but commonly mentioned landmarks include the Gov. William Aiken House and the antebellum mansions lining the residential blocks south of Broad Street.

A good guide treats this as a real narrative rather than a memorized script, working in humor alongside the history.

Founded in 1670, Charleston has preserved an unusually large share of its original architecture compared to most American cities its age. That density of intact history is exactly what makes the carriage format work here in a way it would not in a newer city with less to actually look at along the route.

A few operators also run carriages for weddings and special occasion arrivals, separate from the standard public tour booking. If you are planning a Charleston wedding, ask directly about that option rather than assuming it falls under the regular sightseeing schedule.

Getting There and Parking

Old South departs a block from the City Market at 14 Anson Street. Palmetto departs from the Big Red Barn at 8 Guignard Street.

Both sit within easy walking distance of downtown parking garages and the free DASH shuttle that loops through the historic district. Street parking runs metered on weekdays but is free on Sundays, which is worth knowing if your visit lands on a weekend.

Arrive at least ten to fifteen minutes before your scheduled departure. Most companies operate a check-in desk inside their barn or office, and walking up late to a scheduled slot risks losing your spot to the next group in line.

None of the three main operators require advance payment to hold a walk-up slot, but peak season weekends can still fill same-day departures by early afternoon. If your schedule is tight, book online the night before rather than gambling on availability at the barn.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I choose which route my carriage takes?

No. The City of Charleston assigns routes to each departing carriage by rotation, and you will not know which one you get until you are already on board.

How long does a standard tour run?

About one hour for the standard public carriage ride, covering roughly 25 to 30 blocks and over two miles of the historic district depending on the assigned route.

Is this worth doing with young kids?

Yes, generally. The pace is slow and the ride itself is gentle, though a toddler expecting nonstop action may lose interest partway through a full hour.

Do I need to book in advance?

Not strictly, since most companies accept walk-up customers throughout the day. Booking ahead guarantees a specific time slot, which matters more during peak season and around major holidays.

What is the adults-only option for?

At least one operator runs a dedicated adults-only Saturday afternoon departure, aimed at couples or groups who would rather not share the carriage with children. Confirm the day and time directly with the company, since this slot runs less frequently than the standard tours.

Is a private carriage worth the extra cost?

If you are traveling as a couple on an anniversary or honeymoon, or as a small group who wants the guide’s full attention, yes. If you are comfortable sharing the ride with strangers and mainly want the historic overview, the standard shared tour delivers most of the same experience for a fraction of the price.