Downtown stops for Charleston souvenirs, from the City Market and two nonprofit shops to a Charleston bookstore. The market has more than 300 vendors and is open every day except Christmas. Look for the Certified Authentic: Handmade in Charleston seal, which marks products made in the Charleston area.
Q: Where do you buy real Charleston souvenirs?
A: Start at the Charleston City Market at 188 Meeting Street, then walk up King Street. The market has the sweetgrass basket weavers and most of the local makers in one place. King Street has the nonprofit shops and the bookstore, which is where you find things that are not sold in every tourist shop in town.
Most souvenir lists tell you where the shops are. The harder question is what in them was actually made in Charleston, because plenty of what is sold to visitors here was not. This guide covers both.
Charleston Souvenir Shops Compared
The main stops, side by side. Details are below.
| Where | Address | Open | Known for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charleston City Market | 188 Meeting St | Daily from 9:30 a.m., closed Dec 25. Check the current closing time | 300 plus vendors, sweetgrass baskets |
| Charleston Night Market | 188 Meeting St | Fri and Sat 6:30 to 10:30 p.m., seasonal | Local artists, live music |
| Preservation Society Shop | 147 King St | Daily from 10 a.m. | Local makers, Charleston books and prints |
| Historic Charleston Foundation, City Market store | 188 Market St | Sun to Thu 9:30 to 5:30, Fri and Sat 9:30 to 6 | Licensed Charleston reproductions |
| Historic Charleston Foundation, house museum stores | 51 Meeting St and 48 Elizabeth St | Both daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. | The same nonprofit, inside two historic houses |
| Blue Bicycle Books | 420 King St | Mon to Sat 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., Sun 1 to 6 p.m. | Charleston writers, used and rare books |
1. Charleston City Market: What Is It and When Is It Open?
An open-air market at 188 Meeting Street with more than 300 vendors, open every day of the year except December 25. It is the first stop for most visitors and it earns that.
The market runs from Market Hall through a line of one-story sheds. Vendors sell jewelry, art, spice blends, tin work, clothing and food, and the sweetgrass basket weavers work in the open where you can watch them.
Know before you go: The market opens at 9:30 a.m. Closing times have shifted, so check the official City Market site for the current one before you go. Carry some cash too, since it makes small purchases from individual vendors faster.
2. The Night Market: Which Months Does It Run?
The Night Market is seasonal and runs Friday and Saturday evenings from 6:30 to 10:30 p.m. Check the current schedule before planning your visit, especially in March and April.
It is a different set of sellers from the day market. The Night Market page lists around 100 local artists and craftspeople, including 25 new ones, with live entertainment on those evenings. If you want to meet the person who made the thing you are buying, this is the better window.
Know before you go: It does not run in the deep winter, so a January or February visit needs a call to the market first. Come at 6:30 rather than 9:30 if you want time to talk to the makers.
3. What Is a Sweetgrass Basket, and Why Does It Cost That Much?
Sweetgrass baskets are one of the most distinctive traditional crafts associated with Charleston and the Lowcountry. They are hand-coiled by Gullah weavers using a method carried here from West Africa, and the style began as a working tool for winnowing rice on Lowcountry plantations.
Today they are sold as art, not as tools. Each one is coiled by hand, which is why a large basket costs what a piece of craft costs and not what a gift shop trinket costs. If price is the deciding factor, buy a small one rather than a machine-made lookalike.
4. Preservation Society Shop: The Nonprofit on King Street
A shop at 147 King Street run by the Preservation Society of Charleston, a nonprofit founded in 1920. It stocks work from local artisans along with Charleston books, old maps and prints.
Money spent here goes back into preservation advocacy for the city, which is a better answer than most gift shops can give when someone asks where your souvenir came from.
Know before you go: Open daily from 10 a.m. Listings disagree on the Sunday closing time, so treat late Sunday afternoon as uncertain. The shop's own site states that all of its sales are tax free.
5. Historic Charleston Foundation: How Many Stores Are There?
Three. Historic Charleston Foundation currently operates three gift stores: the Charleston City Market at 188 Market Street, the Nathaniel Russell House Store at 51 Meeting Street, and the Aiken Rhett House Store at 48 Elizabeth Street.
The Foundation is a nonprofit set up in 1947, and since 1972 it has worked with manufacturers on a licensed line of home and garden pieces based on Charleston style. This is the place for a reproduction print, a piece of jewelry or a book rather than a fridge magnet.
Know before you go: The City Market store runs Sunday to Thursday 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Friday and Saturday to 6 p.m. Both house museum stores are open daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Aiken Rhett House Store on Elizabeth Street is the closest of the three to the upper peninsula. Older guides still point people to a store at 108 Meeting Street, which the Foundation's current store listing no longer includes, so go by the three addresses above.
6. Blue Bicycle Books: Charleston Books and Local Authors
A locally owned bookstore at 420 King Street that carries just about every new and used book ever written about Charleston. It sits on upper King Street, which makes it an easy stop while you are exploring the area.
It opened in 1995 as Boomer's Books and became Blue Bicycle Books in 2007 when local writer Jonathan Sanchez bought it. The shop hosts over 200 authors a year, so signed copies by Charleston writers turn up on the shelves.
Know before you go: Open Monday to Saturday 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. and Sunday 1 to 6 p.m., which makes it the one place on this list you can still get into after dinner. If you are visiting the second weekend of November, YALLFest takes over this part of upper King.
What About Edible Souvenirs?
They travel well and they cost less than a basket. Two are easy to find without going out of your way.
Callie's Hot Little Biscuit sells biscuits and pantry goods at 476 1/2 King Street, open daily 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., and has a second counter in the City Market at 188 Market Street, open daily 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Millers All Day at 120 King Street mills its own grits in an antique mill in the front window.
One warning: anything fresh needs to survive the trip home. Pantry goods and dry grits travel. A box of pastries in a hot car does not.
How Do You Fit Souvenirs Into the Trip?
Shop on the last full day, not the first. You will know by then what you actually want, and nothing sits in the car in the heat for a week.
- Go in the morning. The market opens at 9:30 a.m. and the crowds build through the afternoon.
- Bring a bag. Sweetgrass baskets and framed prints do not fold into a backpack.
- Leave suitcase room. A washer and dryer at your rental means you can pack lighter on the way out and fill the space on the way back.
- Park once. Drive down, park, and do the market and King Street on foot in the same trip.
Staying downtown makes all of this easier. Every one of our homes includes free off-street parking, so you are not paying a garage twice in one day.
| Home | Sleeps | Free parking | Why it suits a shopping trip |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 Tully | 6 | 1 space | On upper King, near the shops in this guide |
| 179 St. Philip E | 10 | 2 spaces | Two cars for a group that wants to split up |
| 33 B Cannon | 8 | 1 space | Three blocks from upper King Street, in Cannonborough-Elliottborough |
| 118 President Street | 16 | 6 spaces | Four short blocks from King Street, and six cars can drive down together |
| Pool House | 4 | 1 space | Near upper King Street, plus a free Tesla and EV charger |
See all five on our collection of Charleston homes.
FAQs
The Charleston City Market at 188 Meeting Street is the main one, with more than 300 vendors. After that, the Preservation Society Shop at 147 King Street, the three Historic Charleston Foundation stores, and Blue Bicycle Books at 420 King Street.
A sweetgrass basket if your budget allows, since it is the craft most closely associated with Charleston and the Lowcountry. Otherwise a book by a Charleston writer, something edible like biscuits or stone-ground grits, or a print from a local artist at the market.
Look for the Certified Authentic: Handmade in Charleston tile in a vendor booth at the City Market. The market awards it to products that are 100 percent fabricated in the Charleston area. If there is no tile, ask the seller where the item was made.
The day market opens at 9:30 a.m. and runs every day of the year except December 25. Closing times have shifted, so check the official City Market site for the current one. Give yourself the afternoon rather than arriving late in the day.
No, it is seasonal. It runs Friday and Saturday evenings from 6:30 to 10:30 p.m., and it does not run in the deep winter. Check the current schedule before you plan an evening around it, especially in March and April.
Yes, but this guide focuses on downtown Charleston, because that is where the City Market and the shops covered here are located. Visitors staying in North Charleston can make a dedicated trip downtown for souvenir shopping.
Planning Your Charleston Stay
Tell us your dates and how many people are coming, and we will tell you which of our homes is free. All five are downtown with their own parking, which is the part that makes a shopping day simple.
Check availability or call 843.329.2040 or email bookings@chcvacationrentals.com