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South Carolina State Capitol -

Designated the state capital in 1786, Columbia is the site of the landmark South Carolina State Capitol. Construction began on the building in 1851 but wasn't completed until the end of the Civil War, during the Reconstruction era. After walking the grounds and taking in the many statues honoring wars, generals, senators, and other public servants, take the free tour and admire the interior, distinguished by a network of impressive corridors and the ornate state senate and house chambers.

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South Carolina State Museum -

Columbia's excellent South Carolina State Museum is housed in the city's former Columbia Mills Building, itself listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Inside, visitors can learn more about the state's history, its culture, and the people who played a role in shaping and developing the region, including William Nash (1822–1888), an African-American barber, shoe shine, porter, waiter, and state senator who was instrumental in drafting South Carolina's Constitution of 1868.

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South Carolina Confederate Relic Room & Military Museum -

Located within the Columbia Mills Building, which dates back to 1896, is the fascinating South Carolina Confederate Relic Room & Military Museum. It's crammed full of artifacts from various military eras, pieces such as this powder horn from 1770. Exhibitions chronicle periods from the Revolutionary War to the War on Terror.

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Columbia Museum of Art -

One of the most prestigious cultural institutions of its kind in the Southeast, the Columbia Art Museum surprises and delights with its assemblage of Renaissance and Baroque art, which includes a priceless collection of European Old Masters paintings. A don't-miss exhibit is 'Nativity,' painted in 1475 and the only work of Sandro Botticelli displayed outside his native Italy.

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EdVenture Children's Museum -

Traveling with kids and looking to lighten the mood? Have fun at the wonderful EdVenture Children's Museum. This enchanting diversion is devoted to lots of interesting exhibit galleries, inventor's laboratories, pet care rooms, and other visitor amenities all designed to spark the imagination and curiosity of young minds. Grown-ups, too, can learn a thing or two.

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Riverbanks Zoo and Garden -

Lions, gorillas, and elephants are among the safari favorites waiting to greet visitors to this noted zoo, aquarium, and botanical garden. Other mammal species to look out for are alpacas and grizzly bears, while colorful flamingos, lorikeets, and toucans number among the feathered friends.

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Congaree National Park -

Situated 28 km (18 mi) southeast of Columbia at Hopkins is Congaree National Park. This will likely be your first encounter with South Carolina's great outdoors, and what an introduction! The park is a UNESCO biosphere reserve, designated as such for the largest tract of old growth bottomland hardwood forest left in the United States. The floodplain forest can be explored by following a boardwalk trail that snakes a path through this lush wilderness. It's also possible to rent canoes and kayaks from the Hampton Visitors Center for waterborne exploration.

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Charleston -

South Carolina's largest city is also its most alluring. With a historic hub of grand, well-preserved 18th- and 19th-century buildings, Charleston really does personify the romantic notion of the Old South, though its centuries-old plantation society veneer does conjure up images of its role in the American slave trade.

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Historic Charleston -

Historic Charleston exudes the gracious ambiance of the antebellum South. There are more than a 1,000 homes, properties, and churches from the period distinguishing this neighborhood lining tidy streets and overlooking well-manicured parks, among them Nathaniel Russell House (pictured), built in 1808 and recognized as one of America's most important neoclassical residences.

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Calhoun Mansion -

Another eye-catching historic Charleston property is Calhoun Mansion, a fine example of a baronial Italianate manor house and widely acclaimed as one of the notable post-Civil War homes on the Eastern seaboard. It was constructed in 1876 as the city's largest private residence.

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Charleston City Market -

It's not often you get to shop in a National Historic Landmark, but that's exactly what this famous old market is. This is the place to browse for locally made handicrafts and traditional food products. For an authentic souvenir, purchase a sweetgrass basket, a prized South Carolina Lowcountry product weaved by Gullah artisans.

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South Carolina Aquarium -

The lustrous moon jellyfish is just one of the amazing creatures ensconced in the South Carolina Aquarium. Set on the historic Charleston Harbor, the aquarium regales visitors with thousands of plants and animals, many of which are collected in the Great Ocean Tank, one of the deepest aquariums in North America.

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Sea Turtle Hospital -

South Carolina Aquarium operates the state's only refuge for sick and injured sea turtles. Rehabilitated turtles, like this loggerhead, are taken to a local beach and allowed to return to the ocean.

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Charleston Museum -

Established in 1773, this is one of the oldest museums in the United States. Exhibitions combine natural history with local history, the displays and collections including ancient Egyptian artifacts, Charleston textiles and silverware, 19th-century firearms, and rocks and minerals from around the world.

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Old Slave Mart Museum -

One of Charleston's more somber visitor attractions is the building where slaves were auctioned prior to the American Civil War. In use from 1859 until its conversion into a tenement dwelling in 1878, the market premises today serve as a museum and poignant reminder of one of the most shameful periods in American history.

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Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon -

The decorative interior of Charleston's Old Exchange belies its other function as a prisoner of war facility operated by British forces during the American Revolutionary War, when the building's basement served as a military prison to hold enemy combatants. Today, the Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon is open to the public, with tours providing a stark contrast between the ornate upper floors and the dimly-lit stone-clad lower levels. 

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Waterfront Park -

Charleston's Waterfront Park is where you can admire the iconic Pineapple Fountain. This beautiful and ornate water feature is symbolic of the old Southern legend where sea captains arriving home from their voyages would impale a pineapple at the gate of their home, which would signify to neighbors that they had returned from sea and were welcoming guests into their home.

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Myrtle Beach -

South Carolina is blessed with one of the finest bands of sand on the East Coast—Myrtle Beach. Besides its vast half-moon of golden granules, the destination is a magnet for revelers eager to take flight on the Myrtle Beach SkyWheel, an enormous Ferris wheel that takes visitors for 10-minute rides above the beach and boardwalk.

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Magnolia Plantation -

South Carolina is plantation country, and some of the oldest and best-kept estates are found in and around Charleston. Magnolia Plantation (pictured) is in America's oldest publicly accessed gardens, begun in the early 1700s. Middleton Place Planation is another venerated landscape.

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Drayton Hall -

To get an idea of the wealth plantation estates generated, cast your eyes on Drayton Hall, located 24 km (15 mi) northwest of Charleston. Set in expansive grounds, this is the only plantation house on the Ashley River to survive intact through both the Revolutionary and Civil wars. Built using slave and free labor, Drayton Hall, a National Historic Landmark, is open to the public.

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Colonial Dorchester State Historic Site -

Also found on the Ashley River is the evocative Colonial Dorchester State Historic Site. This settlement, first established in 1696, at one point featured 40 homes, a school, library, a monthly fair, church, and a fort. All that's left today is a collection of ruins that nonetheless provide a glimpse into South Carolina's colonial past.

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Fort Sumter -

Construction began on Fort Sumter in 1829 to protect Charleston from naval invasion. It was still incomplete in 1861 when the Battle of Fort Sumter took place, effectively the beginning of the American Civil War. The coastal garrison is one of the most significant sites in the history of the United States and is a hugely popular tourist attraction.

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USS Yorktown -

USS Yorktown is afloat with history. Launched in 1943, the carrier participated in several campaigns in the Pacific Theater of Operations during the Second World War and later served as a recovery ship for the Apollo 8 space mission. The vessel today is museum ship permanently moored at Patriots Point in Mount Pleasant.

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Hilton Head Island -

If your idea of rest and relaxation is to chill out in an attractive but low-key coastal destination, then Hilton Head Island is just the place to drop anchor. The flat environment makes it a favorite with cyclists who after peddling the numerous bicycling trails, which take in the Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge set between the island and the mainland, can loosen up in one of the harbor bars set along the boardwalk.

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Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge -

Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge belongs to a fabulous range of wildlife, the most iconic being the American alligator. But look closely and you'll also spy white-tailed deer and the nine-banded armadillo. Birdlife includes white ibis, wood stork, and the emblematic bald eagle.

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Huntington Beach State Park -

Actually, if birding is your thing, you need to hide out in Huntington Beach State Park. More than 300 species of birds are found here, making the destination an ornithologist year-round hot spot. If venturing here in winter, focus your binoculars on the magnificent roseate spoonbill.

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Brookgreen Gardens -

Combining a sculpture park with a wildlife reserve, Brookgreen Gardens at Murrells Inlet, south of Myrtle Beach, will appeal to art lovers and naturalists alike. Arrive here in December and the sculptures are transformed and brilliantly illuminated during the Night of a Thousand Candles festival.

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Game fishing -

If you're angling to partake in a bit of deep sea fishing, the eastern seaboard rewards sports fishermen with an ocean harvest of game fish, which congregate over numerous artificial reefs. Charleston and Hilton Head Island are the most convenient departure points.

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Caesars Head State Park -

Caesars Head State Park is mountain country and the domain of outdoor enthusiasts seeking communion with Mother Nature. For a jaw-dropping panorama of the park, head for The Overlook, with its impressive view of Table Rock.

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Gullah Heritage Trail -

Hilton Head Island is where you can embark on the Gullah Heritage Trail and discover a language and heritage of a nearly forgotten culture. The Gullah people of South Carolina and Georgia are the descendants of enslaved people from West Africa and can be found living on a strip of islands known as the "Gullah Geechee Corridor."

Sources: (History) (National Geographic) (National Park Service)

See also: What's of Note in North Carolina? 

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