There are a few precious weeks at the beginning of the year when the South Carolina coastal city of Charleston winds down, when an air of tranquility descends on its picture-perfect cobbled streets before the hordes arrive.
Footfall drops at museums and shops, and it’s much easier to bag reservations at even the most sought-after restaurants.
Strolling along the spectacular Sullivan’s Island Beach at the mouth of Charleston Harbor in the winter sun, you might only come across a handful of people.
Yet during this secret season there is still plenty of buzz as horse-drawn carriages ferry visitors up and down streets steeped in history.
I went to see what Charleston had to offer in January and to escape the freezing temperatures of New York.
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What I did not expect was to be basking in 70-Fahrenheit sunshine on a beach during what I consider to be the most miserable month of the year. If you don’t get quite so lucky with the weather — a couple of weeks after our visit, even Charleston was not immune from a winter storm — the Southern hospitality will soon warm you up.
On arrival at The Spectator Hotel in the historic French Quarter, we were welcomed by staff who handed us a sweet, bourbon-based cocktail.
It’s the only hotel in the city that offers a personalized butler service. Butlers can help with everything from booking tours and restaurants to shoe shining, laundry, and bringing breakfast in bed (included in the room rate, from $400 per night). Snacks and soft drinks in the room are also complimentary, and staff replenish them as soon as they run out.
For our first meal out on the town, we chose Hank’s Seafood Restaurant — a Charleston institution consistently voted the best by locals. The “She-Crab” soup, a local speciality, is a must.
Then it was back to the boutique hotel’s low-lit Great Gatsby-style bar, adorned with leather-bound books, for a nightcap before crashing out on the luxuriously soft king-sized bed.
The Museum Mile Month was another incentive for visiting in January. For the entire month, one pass grants access to 12 sites, including the Charleston Museum (great for an overview of the city’s history), the Gibbes Museum of Art, the Joseph Manigault House and more. The pass will save a bundle, particularly for families, and points of interest are all walkable.
Carl Borick, director of the Charleston Museum, said the pass gives visitors a chance to see much more at a lower price than they would during the “blazing hot” months of June and July.
“We chose January because, historically, that’s been a really slow time of year from a tourism standpoint,” he added. “If you come in January, you might have a cheap hotel, but you also have the opportunity to buy this Museum Mile pass and go to see a number of different organizations.”
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He added: “It’s a good time to be in Charleston. You can take it in without some of the hustle and bustle that you normally see during higher visitation months.”
Walking around Charleston’s palmetto-lined streets today, you are never far away from reminders of the horrors that went on during the slave trade.
Plaques scattered throughout downtown acknowledge the city’s past as the most active slave trading port in North America and point out former sites where abominable cruelty took place. Remarkably, some of the plaques were only added in the past few years as the city reckoned with its history.
There are other haunting relics if you look close enough. On a handful of historic downtown buildings, the fingerprints believed to be those of child slaves are still visible in the brickwork.
For a deeper understanding, head to the International African American Museum (admission not included in the Museum Mile Month pass). Opened in 2023 after 20 years of planning, the museum sits poignantly on Gadsden’s Wharf — the largest single point of entry for enslaved Africans arriving in North America at the height of the trade between 1783 and 1807. With its incredibly detailed exhibits, the museum provides a space not only to learn, but to reflect and remember.
The aim was to include as many museums as we could pack into four days, but the balmy weather, which even took locals by surprise for the time of year, prompted a change of plan and an excursion using a ride-hailing app to Cypress Gardens, a serene spot just a 40-minute drive from downtown Charleston.
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The highlight was a self-guided rowboat excursion through the alligator-inhabited blackwater swamp (included in admission fee) — the site where a scene from The Notebook was filmed. Be warned that even in the depths of January, people recreating the scene for Instagram will likely cause a boat bottleneck.
The cypress trees in the swamp are not so green at this time of year, but it is still breathtakingly beautiful on the water.
For lunch, we made a pit-stop at Jackrabbit Filly in the residential neighborhood of Park Circle, a popular hang with locals serving new Chinese-American cuisine. The restaurant is having a bit of a moment after its owner and chef, Queens-born Shuai Wang, made the season 22 final of Top Chef in 2025, and rightly so. Order one of its staple karaage don dishes (Japanese fried chicken). If you have time, check out some of the local breweries and shops in this relatively tourist-free zone.
To walk off lunch, we took a taxi 20 minutes from downtown Charleston to Sullivan’s Island for a wander along the glorious three-mile-long sandy beach, followed by a swift pint in Poe’s Tavern. It’s named after the famed author in a nod to his stint at nearby Fort Moultrie from 1827 to 1828, and his short story, The Gold Bug, which is set on the island.
Later that evening, it was dinner at the laidback Italian restaurant Frannie & the Fox, located in the trendy Emeline hotel. They serve tasty woodfired pizzas and pastas and its secret garden-style courtyard, complete with a large fireplace, is an ideal place to unwind with a glass of wine.
Day three and with the sun still shining, we ventured out to Boone Hall Plantation and Gardens in Mount Pleasant, a 30-minute drive away. Driving up the Avenue of the Oaks, lined with centuries-old Southern live oak trees, my gaze first turned to the magnificent canopy above, then to the nine preserved cabins that were once home to the plantation’s enslaved families that come into view on the approach to the mansion.
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Visitors are encouraged to go inside the cabins to learn more about what life was like for the enslaved families people on the plantation. Daily tours and presentations about its difficult history are included in the admission fee.
A tractor ride around the farm also provides the chance to spot some wildlife, including alligators, storks and, if you’re lucky, bald eagles.
Once back in Charleston, we had dinner at Malagón, a cosy candlelit tapas restaurant awarded its first Michelin star in 2025. Even in January, every table and seat at the bar was packed out all evening, so booking ahead is recommended. Foodies will not be disappointed whatever they order from the menu, which changes regularly, but we particularly enjoyed the fresh tuna ceviche, roast chicken, and the Basque cheesecake.
Our final breakfast was at Miller’s All Day, which serves comforting Southern fare in what used to be a pharmacy. This place is so popular that lines often form around the block, though, being January, we strolled right on in. Fluffy American pancakes, grits, eggs and bacon — you can’t go wrong.
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In case it wasn’t obvious by now, Charlestonians will make sure you are well fed.
Later that afternoon, we joined one of the highly-rated walking food tours — “Savour the Flavors of Upper King Street,” one of many laid on by BullDog Tours and a culinary history tour and dining experience wrapped into one. Food tastings are offered at several stops, and the portions are generous, so arrive hungry.
Offerings on our tour included Southern staples such as corn bread, fried green tomatoes, and shrimp and grits at Virginia’s on King. At the Swamp Fox there was more She-Crab soup, followed by possibly the best mussels and frites I’ve ever had outside of France, courtesy of Rue de Jean. Our guide was the excellent Lisa, a Charleston-born historian and foodie who was warm, informative, and kept us entertained — a description befitting of the entire city during our secret-season sojourn.
Rhian Lubin visited Charleston as a guest of Explore Charleston.
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