Not too far from the port where all the cruises from Charleston SC depart, lie many wonderful attractions that may make it worth your time to plan on staying a few extra days either before or after your cruise in the Charleston area. Here are just a few of them.

Boone Hall Plantation

“A must see!” – NBC Daytime Television. Boone Hall reflects Southern heritage spanning 300 years on one magnificent “still working” plantation. House tours, gardens, slave cabins, live performances in season, cafe, plus one of the world’s longest oak-lined avenues.

Magnolia Plantation & Its Gardens

Open 365 days a year 8am-5:30pm; call for Nov.-Feb. hours. This 17th century estate, acquired in 1676 by the Drayton family, features America’s oldest gardens (c.1680), which bloom year-round. Pre-Revolutionary War plantation house, Biblical garden, antebellum cabin, nature train, nature boat, wildlife observation tower, gift shop and more. Leashed pets welcome. $15, guided tours (House tour, train tour and Boat tour) are additional cost.

Middleton Place

Carefully preserved 18th century plantation and National Historic Landmark; 65 acres of America’s oldest landscaped Gardens. House Museum tours highlight family collections and the role of the Middleton’s in American history. Craftspeople in the Stableyards recreate the activities of a self-sustaining Low Country plantation.

South Carolina Aquarium

Fun, wonder and education come together in one amazing experience when you visit the South Carolina Aquarium and participate in our interactive exhibits and programs. You’ll marvel at loggerhead turtles, sharks, otters, moray eels, alligators and more.

Drayton Hall

Daily except Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve/Day and New Year’s Eve/Day. More than a house, activities include hourly tours and daily programs, a self-directed “Voices” Landscape Tour on DVD, self-guided river and marsh walks, A Sacred Place: The African-American Cemetery, and an artisan-inspired museum shop.

Nathaniel Russell House

M-Sa 10am-5pm; Su 2-5pm. Visit the grand Federal townhouse of Charleston merchant Nathaniel Russell, completed in 1808. The graceful interior boasts elaborate ornamentation and a magnificent free-flying staircase. Set amid spacious gardens and furnished with period antiques, the house evokes the gracious lifestyle of the city’s elite.

Edmondston-Alston House

This beautiful home on Charleston’s High Battery affords a glimpse of early 19th century elegance, style and comfort. Built in 1825, the house contains Alston family furniture, silver, books and paintings. Three piazzas offer incredible views of Charleston Harbor. In 1861, General Beauregard watched the bombardment of Ft. Sumter here.

Aiken-Rhett House

M-Sa 10am-5pm; Su 2-5pm. The expansive Aiken-Rhett House (c. 1818) stands as the city’s most intact urban villa. A conservation approach has been adopted for this important site, which has survived virtually unaltered since 1858. Many objects can still be found in the rooms for which they were purchased.

Joseph Manigault House

M-Sa 10am-5pm; Su 1-5pm (last tour 4:30pm). “Charleston’s Huguenot House” was built in 1803 and is a premier example of Adam-style, or Federal, architecture. The garden Gate Temple and outstanding collection of American, English and French furnishings of the period capture the lifestyle of a wealthy, rice-planting family. Adults $10; children $5. Combination tickets available.

The Charleston Museum

America’s first museum showcases a variety of cultural and natural history artifacts that tell the story of the Lowcountry. Visitors will be transported back through time, viewing artifacts from ancient fossils and an enormous whale skeleton, to elegant costumes and Charleston silver.

Gibbes Museum of Art

Experience Charleston’s history through art! Come face to face with stories of the South Carolina Lowcountry as seen through painting, miniature portraiture, sculpture, photographs and more at Charleston’s signature art museum. Complimentary cell phone tour (using your own phone) is offered with paid admission.

Heyward-Washington House

M-Sa 10am-5pm; Su 1-5pm (last tour 4:30pm). Built in 1772, “Charleston’s Revolutionary War House” was the town-home of Thomas Heyward, Jr., Revolutionary patriot and signer of the Declaration of Independence. Located in the original walled portion of the city, the house features magnificent Charleston-made furniture and a formal 18th century garden. Adults $10; children $5. Combination tickets available.

Open daily 9am – 5pm. Owned and operated by the City of Charleston Department of Parks. The Angel Oak is a Live Oak tree, estimated to be 1,400 years old. Live oaks are not particularly tall, but have wide spreading canopies. Only in the very oldest of specimens do you find massive limbs resting on the ground, as do the limbs of the Angel Oak. It stands 65ft. high and provides a 17,000 square foot area of shade. No admission charge.