Charleston Sole Walking Tours

What a wealth of knowledge. Brian was amazing. His passion and enthusiasm for Charleston is what brings it to life. He adapted the tour to my families interests and speed. All the hidden gems and unique things he shared with us brought the area to life. We went to places that nobody else went. I highly recommend this tour!

Our private tour with Brian from Charleston Sole in mid-October was nothing short of exceptional! From start to finish, his passion for Charleston’s history, deep knowledge of the city, and genuine kindness set this experience apart from any other tour we’ve taken. Brian’s storytelling brought Charleston to life—he shared fascinating details, answered every question with enthusiasm, and tailored the experience perfectly for our private tour group of eight. It was clear that he loves what he does, and that energy made the tour both engaging and unforgettable. If you’re looking for a truly memorable and meaningful way to experience Charleston, Brian is the guide you want. I couldn’t recommend him more highly!

Brian from Charleston Sole Walking Tours was simply amazing. We booked his tour yesterday and were not disappointed at all, on the contrary: Brian was a wealth of knowledge which kept us captivated for the entire 2+ hrs tour of Charleston. He was funny, charming and took the time to answer every single question. His own long family history in the Holy City gave him a perspective that no other tour guides could. He showed us all the most important sites in the city and much more. I would 100% book him again. Thank you so much Brian.

Brian was our guide for my bachelorette walking tour and he was amazing! Professional, informative and passionate about the history of Charleston. It truly amazes me how he retains information. He made the tour everything we wanted and more— he had facts that tied back to places where my guests and I live, which was cool to see how many connections Charleston has to other cities. The gardens, homes and parks he took us by were beautiful and he clearly has many great connections in the area as well!

There were other recommendations that people gave us for walking tours, but even though this is a small company, we felt that we would get a detailed and fun tour with this company. We absolutely LOVED the tour. Brian , our tour guide, did a fantastic job balancing out history with his own personal anecdotes. He was warm, funny, and seemed genuinely interested in the group. The tour itself walks by several important sites and again Brian did a great job. We went in early February and it was sunny, but chilly. However, since it is off season, our group of 10 were the only ones on the tour. When we come back, we definitely want to book a private tour with Brian.

Fantastic tour with a true story teller. Our guide Fin was terrific and told a great story of the city of Charleston and it’s history. He showed us the sites but interwove how the history of Charleston evolved and how it connects all Americans to this great city. I would highly recommend this tour!

We had a fantastic time exploring and learning so much about the history of Charleston with Fin! He was warm and welcoming to all, including our dog. The group was small enough that the tour felt personal and everyone could have their questions answered. We highly recommend booking a tour with Charleston Sole if you want a genuinely passionate and knowledgeable guide who is committed to an immersive experience. You will leave having a deeper appreciation for the city and its rich history than you could get walking the streets on your own.

Really enjoyed Brian's tour. Learned a lot even though I've been to Charleston multiple times. Highly recommend, it's a great value and last just the right amount of time.

OH, what a lucky day it was! I booked a walking tour with Brian as soon as I arrived in Charleston, and he quickly confirmed. There was a small hiccup--I typed the wrong digit for my phone number--but Brian reached out via email to make sure everything was set. To my delight, I was his only client that day, which meant I got a private tour! Let me tell you, it was hands down the most educational, interactive, and entertaining tour I've ever been on. Brian's knowledge of Charleston is absolutely unmatched, and his passion for the city and its history is evident in every word. The fun trivia, fascinating stories, and historical tidbits he shared were so captivating--I truly felt like I was living history! So, if you're planning a trip to Charleston and are looking for a tour that's both educational and fun, don't hesitate--Brian is the absolute best. Highly recommend!

Book it! Wow! Our guide Fin was a former History teacher and he was amazing! Great storytelling and super knowledgable! Found myself getting goosebumps as he wrapped up our "journey back in time" with the story of the start of the Civil War. Tour was a little over 2 hours and worth every minute!

Brian from Charleston Sole Walking Tours was simply amazing. He was a wealth of knowledge which kept us captivated for the entire 2+ hrs tour of Charleston. He was funny, charming and took the time to answer every single question. His own long family history in the Holy City gave him a perspective that no other tour guides could. He showed us all the most important sites in the city and much more. I would 100% book him again. Thank you so much Brian.

Fin was completely amazing! He is extremely knowledgeable about Charleston history, but is also an excellent story teller. Fin wove facts and dates and personal stories into our tour, and graciously and patiently answered our many questions. My wife and I really and truly enjoyed our time learning about Charleston's fascinating history as told by Fin. He was a wonderful tour guide! Highly recommended!

Brian was awesome! He was informative and very friendly. I was the only one on my tour so he specifically asked if there was anything in particular that I wanted to see or learn about. 10/10 and would 100% recommend!

This was a last minute decision and so very happy we did it! It was fabulous!! Brian was so very knowledgeable about everything in the area. His vast collection of facts was quite impressive! He was pretty much able to answer most all questions thrown at him. I would highly recommend this tour, you get such a better understanding and appreciation of the architecture and rich history of Charleston!

Brian is one of the best city guides I've ever had the pleasure of following - this time in Charleston, SC. You can leave the tour route to him or ask for specific themes. He can do it all. He interacted with each person on the tour and was willing to give us the basic facts AND also cover the quirky history of areas. Great guide and nice guy.

Brian was phenomenal and filled with stories of Charleston history and American history. A group size of 10-12 Brian asked where everyone was from. Surprisingly, Brian was also well versed in New Jersey history as well.. and Canadian.... and Boston. Brian's brain is massive and the type of guy who is very passionate about what he does. Not a boring tour guide at all! Definitely someone you would want to grab a beer with and pick his brain. There is not an item in Charleston that Brian doesn't know the history. Whether doors, trees, or roads. Brian knows it all. I will definitely take the tour again with more friends.

Fin, was a great tour guide. He was enthusiastic about Charleston, very knowledgeable and created a tour that was immersive and engaging. He really made the experience A Plus. I highly recommend this walking tour!!!

Brian was our walking tour guide and he was EXCELLENT. Born and raised in the area and very knowledgeable about the history and local color. Highly recommend this walking tour as one of your activities.

EXCELLENT!! Brian is so incredibly knowledgeable about Charleston History, he was just fascinating to listen to. He also was able to connect the participants in the group (NJ and NY in our group) state history with Charleston history. The walk was easy, although very humid our day, and very capable to do for all ages. Brian also gave history of buildings, theaters and restaurants. Brian is a born and bred Carolinian who also added he personal recollection of growing up in the local area. I highly recommend this walking tour. Brian was offering so much more information than other tours (both carriage and walking). Don't pass this tour by. It's DEFINITELY worth it. Thank you for making it personal, interesting and historical.

Had an engaging, fun tour with Brian last week in Charleston. He texted me early that morning to let us know we would be the only ones on the tour (we managed to visit Charleston in their only down period of the year!). I thought he may have to cancel and said as much. He assured me not only would the tour happen but that he'd meet us at our hotel. The tour itself was informative and interesting. It was a great introduction to the history and people of Charleston. Really personable guy - we had a great time.

Absolutely outstanding experience! We toured with Fin at 9:45am, who was super energetic and informative. He asked where everyone was from, and if he had the chance he referenced our cities in the tour. We weren't prepared for how humid it was going to be, but we did stop about halfway through for a bathroom/water break. The tour was outside, but masks were still required in City Hall if you went in for the break. Definitely recommend bringing a drink if you have time before! Fin was ready to answer any and all questions that our group had, and knew so much about the history and architecture of the city. Definitely recommend this tour!

Fin was a great tour guide. He brought history to life as we strolled through the historic district of Charleston. As a former history teacher he was accustomed to public speaking and the tour was top notch.

Brian is a great historian and an entertaining guide. His knowledge is diverse and he loves the history of Charleston!

Brian was the most informative and knowledgeable tour guide I have ever experienced. I learned so much of Charleston's history, as well as stories about each place we saw. Nice small group of 5. Truly enjoyable experience and Brian knows most of the locals as he makes the effort to engage with them and learn their story and experience. He can focus the stories on your interests as well.

We had the opportunity to do this walking tour during our visit to Charleston earlier this month, and it was a great decision. The tour covers all of the key places in the historic part of the old city and our guide (Brian) was very knowledgeable about historical information. He shared a great amount of insights that made the tour very enjoyable. Also, the tour was scheduled for 2 hours, but ours lasted about 2 1/2 hours. Highly recommend it.

Wow! Brian was a wonderful guide. He takes you through the city of Charleston and offers up the "standard history" but as a Charleston native with family history, he has plenty of personal stories. Right before starting the tour, he asks if there is anything we are particularly interested in learning about. What makes him a great guide was how observant and intuitive he was. An example: I was particularly curious about a few plants, before I could turn to get his attention he was next to me already offering up the information I was looking for (and more!). I highly recommend his tour over the other businesses. You know exactly what you're getting with Brian-a personal and historic tour of the city of Charleston.

My husband and I had never been to Charleston before and really enjoyed our History, Culture and Architecture tour in March 2023. The guide was very knowledgeable and was able to answer a variety of questions that the group had. He worked to make the information relevant to all of us, by asking where we were from and adding information that applied to those locations.

Highly recommend! Brian was amazing. Our two hour tour lasted 2:45 and was interesting an informative. As locals, doing a staycation, we were pleasantly surprised at how much we learned! Loved being able to step Into history by entering a lot of the buildings/sites.

History buffs will LOVE this tour. Brian is a living breathing walking history encyclopedia. Names, dates, specific details - he can recount it all with incredible storytelling. The tour brings you thru historic Charleston, which is BEAUTIFUL. I attended solo and was welcomed and accommodated as a last min add on. I would have liked a short overview/timeline of where we were headed and what sort of things to expect to hear about. Everything covered was so interesting and informative. I had to really concentrate to keep the people, battles, years, etc straight in my head (I also was a C student in history so this is likely a reflection of my history retention abilities and def not the tour). Loved that our group was smaller (5 people total) compared to some of the others we saw that had 10-15 people. We collectively walked maybe like 2 miles (?) but it's at a comfortable pace with lots of stops. Total tour time was 2.5 hrs. I would definitely recommend Brian and Charleston Sole, especially if you're on a short visit thru Charleston like we were.

Charleston native, Brian, is the owner and tour guide. If you prefer a small group (no more than 8-10), where you can hear what your guide is explaining, he's your guy. Passionate and knowledgeable, he crafts his tours to his guests interests. Very personable and thorough.

I visited Charleston for the first time for my friend Maka E.'s bachelorette party over Memorial Day weekend. I didn't know much about the city, and was glad we started our trip off with an educational Saturday morning tour with Charleston Sole. Our tour guide Brian was knowledgeable and friendly, and he did a great job taking us through the streets of the city. I don't know Charleston well enough to describe our route with any confidence, but we must've done some kind of sensible loop. We covered a lot of ground, anyway, and ended up close to where we started. It was a nice little workout, at least for a couch potato like me, and some of it in some real southern heat. Every minute was worthwhile. Charleston is an old, storied place, and was once one of the largest cities in the US, after Boston, New York, and Philadelphia. I'm not an American history buff, but I definitely wanted to learn a thing or two before leaving town, and this was an efficient way to do it. We visited a lot of cool sites--notably, we spent some time inside the beautiful St. Michael's Church and the Nathaniel Russell House garden, which featured a cool horizontally swinging bench called a joggling board. We also used the bathrooms in the State Capitol, and walked down the waterfront, ending at the lovely Rainbow Row. Brian talked the entire time, filling us in on interesting history, pointing out various buildings and other sites of note. This was my first time taking any kind of formal tour in the South (not counting the Coca Cola Museum in Atlanta), and it was interesting to see the way our tour guide dealt with the shameful history of slavery. (We later took a tour at McLeod Plantation, so I now have two data points here.) I was glad to see that Brian didn't shy away from the subject. The tour included a stop at the Old Slave Mart Museum, a place where human beings were sold for money, and Brian even noted that the end of slavery was not that long ago, a historical truth that many seem loath to acknowledge. (For obvious reasons, he didn't comment on the present political climate, but it's real easy to connect the dots between slavery and, say, mass incarceration, or our current president launching his political career by questioning the qualifications of our first black president.) If you're visiting Charleston, I'd highly recommend booking a tour with Charleston Sole, particularly if you're only in town for a few days. It was a great introduction to the city, and I was glad we got some knowledge early on in our trip.

This is a great tour! A perfect way to see and learn about Charleston. Thanks Brian.

We booked a walking tour with Charleston Sole and Brian was our guide. He was super helpful from the time we booked the tour - answering our phone call and questions prior to the day, to the day of where he had amazing knowledge of the city and surrounding areas. The tour covered the full history of Charleston and was respectful of the less glamorous aspects which we really appreciated. Highly recommend the tour! Thanks, Brian!

This was fabulous, laid back walk through Charleston history. Our guide, Brian was very knowledgeable and gave us a ton of information on various topics of Charleston history. It was a great way to begin our stay in Charleston.

-Charleston is nice Brian was nice and Expected to see some of the water front art The houses were very pretty Liked the Licquor store Did not understand the borage of mixed up stories about the history of Charleston Would have been great if Brian took his wealth of scattered facts and brought to life a few compelling stories to remember.

Our tour with Brian was the best part of our trip to Charleston. He is incredibly knowledgeable and charismatic-- very easy to listen to for two hours! He is full of not just facts, but stories that really provide a great picture of the history of Charleston... from colonial times to the present. No matter what your interests are, I'm sure Brian would have information to share. We would absolutely recommend this tour to anyone of all ages and interests!

We had an incredible time touring historical Charleston with Fin. He made our trek enjoyable while providing us with an abundance of historical information about Charleston, the sights we passed by, and anything else he could think of! Some of the churches were open during our tour, so we luckily got to go inside and look around, which added an additional half hour to our walk :) I highly recommend using the services provided by Charleston Sole! This was a great way to explore and learn about the city. And Fin also provides great restaurant recommendations!

Fin was great. He was a wealth of information and encouraged questions...which we had a few. Highly recommend this tour.

Brian was AWESOME! I highly recommend this tour of Charleston. My research before vacation had this as one of the best options for a waking tour, but to be honest it was the best tour of any kind that we could have done. Despite being mid July and 90 degrees, Brian makes sure to keep us moving, in the shade and in a few air conditioned areas. To be honest we probably would have still really enjoyed the few hours without that. We managed to see and hear about almost every key fact and place in Charleston's history. Whilst I don't know everything about Charleston I do imagine that 98% is a proper amount of history covered! Brian had anecdotes about almost everything and had actually done so much of his own research on different topics to not only make the tour more interesting, but he knew so many things you wouldn't get from a tour book or regular guided tour. Not too many questions were asked, but upon arrival he asked everyone's specific interests and tried to hone in on them during the walk. The girls with us were into horse back riding and theater and he did his best to highlight stories or people that associated with those. Worth every penny and the 2 hours of your morning. Make sure to bring some cash to tip at the end!

We came to Charleston for a mother and daughter/sister weekend. It was our first time experiencing Charleston and Brian's tour was great to show us some of the sights and give us some history. Brian was very engaging and we enjoyed the tour very much!

Brian's walking tour came highly recommended and he did not disappoint! His ability to place the history of Charleston in context to what was going on in the country and other parts of the world, was so informative, especially the interesting details we not always taught in history class. His love of Charleston shone through and we appreciated him sharing his charming hometown with us!

Brian was great. He knows everyone and he is extremely knowledgeable about Charleston's history. He has lived here all his life and has done extensive research. The tour focuses on the homes/architecture and their occupants....owners and visitors and history. He shares Charleston's history through its people. He is also well versed on the botanical side for those who are interested in the tree and plants throughout Charleston.

Very informative tour. Our guide was great. We had a small group which was perfect. Would definitely recommend.

What a great experience my cousin and I had with Charleston Sole Walking Tour. It started off with me making an error on the day of our tour. I didn't realize I made a mistake until I received a message asking if we couldn't find the location. I then realized I booked Friday instead of Saturday and the person that assisted me was so helpful and let me reschedule for the next day. Fin was our amazing guide and he just returned from some time off and was so happy to be back and you could tell. Not only was he happy, but people on the route were so happy to see him too. Fin was full of so much historical knowledge of Charleston, had a great personality and kept everyone engaged. I was so thankful our group was small as it made it more personal and we all left as friends. I will definitely recommend Charleston Sole Walking Tours.

We just did a two hour walking tour with Brian and it was fantastic! Kind and knowledgeable, he knows the city and helps you understand the history. We did this tour 7 years ago and it was a highlight of our trip... Brian delivered again with fresh knowledge and great experiences! Highly recommend.

Our kids are studying the Revolutionary War in school and we set up this tour to focus on related Charleston history. What a great time! Fin was extremely knowledgeable and did a great job keeping the kids engaged. We'll be back.

We moved to CHS a year ago. In that time, we have taken advantage of several tours to get to know our new hometown. THIS by far was the best one! It was fun of great information and history. Brian was easy to work with to set-up the tour; and Finn was delightful to tour with! I'd only recommend this to friends and family going forward.

I have been on several walking tours of Charleston, but this tour offered a great deal of new-to-me information because of our knowledgeable tour guide, Brian. He asked people in our group what our interests were (architecture, for example) and he focused on these interests. It was evident Brian is a true historian as he offered interesting facts that one would not read in a history book. It was an enjoyable, leisurely-paced tour that I highly recommend.

Great walking history tour of Charleston. Highly recommend to get close up overview of history and architecture. Excellent tour guide!

Brian was very knowledgeable and more importantly, very interesting to listen to. He discussed a wise variety of topics ranging from building styles, streets, war history, past notable people and present residents. I highly recommend this tour.

This was a terrific walking tour of Charleston! Brian was very responsive to our initial inquiry regarding the tour and his tour partner, Fin was an excellent source of information. The tour and conversation was casual and fun. I highly recommend Charleston Sole Walking Tours.

Excellent tour. Great combination of history and architecture. Highly recommend.

Brian is a gifted storyteller and historian. If you wish to learn about the families, politics and historical milestones that influenced Charleston's evolution, this is the tour for you. Enjoyable learning experience and definitely worth the money. You will not be disappointed.

We had a great walking tour with Brian. He gave us so much information about the history of the city, the inhabitants, the architecture, etc. He didn't shy away from slavery and we learned some things we didn't know prior. This walking tour inspired us to then visit the Nathaniel Russell house and Middleton Plantation to learn even more about the interwoven history. We were glad we did the walking tour early in our stay so that when we were walking around the city after we recognized many of the places. Our tour was about 2 1/2 hours.

Fin is a longtime Charleston resident & history teacher who is expert in his knowledge and fully committed to providing an enjoyable and enlightening learning experience. He's very responsive to questions...highly recommended!

Very informative and enjoyable. Have a new frame of reference for Charleston. Finn did a great job sharing small details that the city has done such a fantastic job of preserving, details that bring the past to life.

This was an incredible experience! Fin was knowledgeable, friendly, and a wonderful guide. He was perfectly on time, kept a good pace, and was full of tidbits of information not available outside of the walking tour. Highly recommend!!!!