To Tour The Houses

A free sixty-five-page guide to Charleston and its surroundings is available from Charleston Trident Convention & Visitors Bureau, P.O. Box 975, Charleston, SC 29402 (803-723-7641). The Charleston Museum and the city’s historic houses are open daily all year. Various tours of houses, churches, galleries, museums, and the harbor (including Fort Sumter) leave every day, and special house tours—including houses not usually open to the public—are available in October, during Christmas week, and in the spring. For information and reservations, write or telephone: Preservation Society of Charleston (Attn.: Helga Vogel), 147 King Street, Charleston, SC 29402 (803-722-4630); Associated Guide of Historic Charleston (Attn.: Jean Spell), Box 545, Charleston, SC 29402 (803-724-6519); or Tours of Historic Charleston (Attn.: Mary Martha Blalock), 37 Broad Street, Charleston, SC 29401 (803-722-0026). For people who want to stay in a historic building, there are two organizations that can make bed-and-breakfast reservations in the old city for you: Charleston Society Bed and Breakfast, 84 Murray Boulevard, Charleston, SC 29401 (803-723-4948), and Historic Charleston Bed and Breakfast, 43 Legare Street, Charleston, SC 29401 (803-722-6606).