Private carriage rides in Charleston
A public carriage seats up to 16 people on its benches, and some couples and families would rather have the horse to themselves. Three companies' private rides appear in these guides, from a daytime hour to a short evening outing. This page compares them and sorts out what changes when the carriage is yours. At the end, a family of four is priced both ways.
What private means on a carriage
On a public tour you share a covered carriage of up to 16 riders with other visitors, and the guide pitches the talk to the whole bench. A private ride puts your party in a smaller carriage with a licensed guide who talks only to you. The horses and the city rules stay the same. Three private options feature in our guides, and their prices differ more than their hours do.
Palmetto's private daytime hour
The main private tour on this site is Palmetto Carriage Works' daytime carriage at ~$250 per group of up to four. It starts and finishes at the Big Red Barn at 8 Guignard Street, a block from City Market, where you can use the bathrooms before you board. Up to four people sit, and children under 2 ride on a lap, so a party can reach six with two infants. Palmetto keeps smaller carriages for four for these rides, and its Viator listing also mentions carriages for up to eight if your group is larger.
Riders rate it highly. On GetYourGuide it holds 4.9 from 28+ reviews, and 92% gave it a perfect score. Reviewers describe anniversaries and couples' outings, including one booked for Valentine's Day. Another remembered a white horse named Boeing. Having the guide to yourself means you can ask about a house as you pass it or ride in quiet for a stretch.
A carriage and a guide for your party
Palmetto's private hour seats up to four in a smaller carriage with a licensed guide, from ~$250 per group on GetYourGuide. Compare the Viator price before you book, since the gap can be wide. Free cancellation runs until 24 hours ahead.
One carriage, two prices
The same private hour costs noticeably more on Viator, where it is listed at about $325 per group of one to four people. The Viator page has the larger review base, 4.8 from 374+ with 95% recommending it, and its travelers book about 28 days ahead on average, the longest lead time of any carriage tour we compare. Nothing about the ride itself differs, so open both listings for your date and take the lower figure. Book early for a spring weekend or a holiday.
Carolina Polo's private hour
The other private daytime option comes from Carolina Polo & Carriage Co. at 45 Pinckney Street. Its private historic carriage tour, from ~$300 per group of one to four, lasts an hour and scores 4.8 from 103+ Viator reviews, with 95% recommending it and bookings made about 22 days ahead. Its catch is the fine print. It sells on Viator only and costs more than Palmetto's private hour on GetYourGuide. You also check in with the attendant inside the barn and take the next available carriage at your chosen time, on a route a City of Charleston tourism official assigns.
A private carriage in the evening
For a date night, Palmetto's private evening tour, from ~$275 per group, keeps the guide for your party in the cooler air after dark. Its stops may include the Powder Magazine and the Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon, plus the Circular Congregational graveyard. It scores 4.8 from 67+ reviews on Viator. Its catch is length, since it lasts only about 30 minutes, which makes it the priciest ride per minute in these guides. The public haunted rides run longer for a single ticket each, and haunted and evening carriage rides compares all three.
What a private carriage does not change
- The route. The city's lottery decides which zone every carriage drives, private or not. Palmetto's Viator listing says plainly that landmarks are not guaranteed, so a request for Rainbow Row cannot be promised. Carriage routes and the city lottery explains the system;
- The check-in. Arrive 15 minutes early at the barn, as on a public ride;
- The tip. No listing includes it, and a private guide who spent the hour on your questions earns a fair one;
- The heat. On the hottest summer afternoons the city stops all carriages, so a private booking at noon can be cancelled too. Mornings and evenings are safer from June to September.
A family of four, priced both ways
Take two adults and two children. Four seats on Palmetto's public hour cost at most four times ~$50, and less with the discounted children's rates Viator shows. One private carriage on GetYourGuide costs ~$250 for the group, so the private hour comes out a little dearer than four full public seats, and well above them if you book through Viator. For the extra you lose the strangers and gain a guide who can pace the talk to your children. On Palmetto's private carriage a toddler under 2 also rides free on a lap, which helps the sums. The full sums are in what a Charleston carriage tour costs, and carriage rides with kids covers strollers and snacks.
Who should book one
- Couples marking an occasion. An anniversary or a proposal goes better without strangers on the next bench;
- Photographers. Your own frame, and a guide willing to slow the commentary while you shoot;
- Curious riders. Ask about the earthquake bolts or the side piazzas and get a full answer rather than a line for 16 people;
- Families with small children. Wriggling and questions bother nobody.
For everyone else, a public ride at ~$50 covers the same kind of streets for less, and the guide on a shared bench still takes questions between stops. If a seat on a public carriage is your plan, Old South's day tour has the largest review base of the tours we compare. Where the carriage tours start shows how to find each barn.