Hilton Head

We will be staying in Charleston in April but would like to visit Hilton Head. How long of a drive would that be; are there bus tours going to HH. Thanks

Hilton Head

Anything in particular you%26#39;re looking to see on HHI? It%26#39;s really just a place to go and kick back and relax...nothing of much historic signficance to see down there. At any rate, it is only about an 1 to 1 1/2 hour drive from Charleston to HHI. I don%26#39;t know of any tour buses that go down there as like I mentioned, not really much to see down there.

Hilton Head

Thank you travelgirl67; so I understand HH is mostly an upscale golf and residential community; since it is only a few hours away we will drive there for lunch and look around. On another subject I read a while ago about Middleton Place a plantation/gardens. Would you please give me a general location and distance to travel to that place. Sorry to bug you but I appreciate all your comments on this forum.

check out this site:

http://www.middletonplace.org/

Magnolia Gardens (Plantation?) is near Middleton. You could see both of them. Most opinions seem to think that a tour of the houses is not worth the time or money. I guess old houses are a lot alike. Middleton Place is wonderful.

I would skip HH too. Because so much of it is private, you can%26#39;t even see much of the beach. You get to see a lot of traffic. It%26#39;s a busy drive. It looks a lot like Florida.

Aileen is right-HHI is nice, but if you are used to places like Myrtle Beach where there is ample open, public beach, you might be disappointed. There are a few areas of public beach, but most beach access there is through hotels and resorts or privately owned. If you drive there you will be on HWY 278, the only access to the island from the mainland, and you cannot see the beach. You can drive around some of the residential neighborhoods, but most of them are gated communities without public access. South Beach in Sea Pines is fun to visit and looks like a quaint New England fishing village. Harbor Town is also cute. You do have to pay a fee to drive into Sea Pines though. I think it%26#39;s about $5.00 per car to get in. If you do drive down to HHI, do some research first to find out what areas you have access to if you%26#39;re not staying on the island and I think that you will have a better time.

All 3 of the plantations on the Ashley are about a 20-25 minute drive from the downtown area depending time of day and traffic it could be more. They are all on the same road and it is very easy to reach from downtown.

Middleton Place (www.middletonplace.org)is more formal gardens and Magnolia Gardens (www.magnoliaplantation.com) is more informal. The house tour at Middleton Place is really not that great but the house tour at Magnolia Gardens is quite good. Middleton Place is $25 for the gardens and stables and an additional $10 for the house tour. Magnolia Gardens is $14 for the gardens and an additional $7 for the house tour. Magnolia has a Nature Train for an additional $7 and it is really very interesting. Middleton does have a carriage tour for an additional $15 but I’ve never taken that tour. Middleton Place does have a nice restaurant with a pre-fix lunch menu and full dinner menu whereas Magnolia Place just has a little snack shop. It really is a tough call as to which to visit but I do think for the value Magnolia is the plantation.

If you do have time, stop by Drayton Hall

(www.draytonhall.org)...1st plantation on the Ashley River coming from Charleston...it is one of my most favorite places in Charleston as the house is pretty much as it was when it was built in 1783...the house has been preserved rather than restored which makes it so special to me. In one of the rooms, there%26#39;s a family growth chart that dates back to the late 1700%26#39;s.

Hope that helps...enjoy your visit!

WOW!

Merçi, merçi beaucoup for your help travelgirl, Aileen and Sultana; you looked after ';day 3';