My family is planning a cruise and we will be porting in Charleston on Christmas Day. We've done similar cruises and the last time we're in Key West on Christmas Day (Highly recommend). Because Charleston isn't exactly Key West, I was wondering if there will be shops and restaurants/bars open. Any other suggestions for thing you think we must see in Charleston would be much appreciated.
Thanks in advance
Posted Aug 8, 2022, 12:15 PM UTC
As the holiday gets closer, there's usually a list posted by the Holy City Sinner page about restaurants and bars that are open on Christmas. I got blasted in this page several years ago for asking the same thing. I usually don't get enough time off work right around Christmas to go home and don't have family here, so I wanted to go be around people at least instead of being alone on Christmas. Anyway, I spent a few hours for two recent Christmases at the Recovery Room in downtown. It's a dive bar with an eclectic crowd, and it was a blast both times. Not exactly next door to the port, but walking distance.
Waffle House for the win.
A handful of restaurants will be open for brunch and other dinners, but your best bet is to just walk or bike around all day, stopping-in at places you find open. Many of the churches have services dedicated solely to music and you should definitely check out Charleston Place’s Christmas train set. The Cistern at College of Chas’n has a neat lights display once the sun goes down, but all the houses around town will be decorated and are actually better viewed in daylight.
I recall having a lovely Christmas lunch at Ansons. Charleston will be quiet but beautiful
The hotels will be open and decorated beautifully! They have great restaurants in the hotels in the historic district. Walk around and see the decorations and the beautiful homes and buildings. I hope you have a great visit.
It's an uber ride from downtown but Old Village Post House does a great Christmas Lunch. Our family has made it a yearly tradition to head over there for a drink around lunch just to get out of the house.
I've found that a lot of Chinese restaurants are open on Christmas. That probably doesn't help you much, but it works great for me to get lunch before heading out to the relatives for Christmas dinner.
I'd personally micro dose some mushrooms and walk around the battery
Micro dose?? Such a trendy thing I’m hearing yoga pantsed soccer moms saying. Trip ballz
Sometimes it's fun to just get a little trippy instead of getting faced
😀 Can we be friends? 🤣
Waffle House
To be completely honest with you, there really isn’t much open in Charleston Christmas day. Those places that are typically aren’t open long. If you can’t find any places open, I’d walk around the souther point of downtown. The Battery / White Point Gardens and the 100+ year old homes are pretty cool looking. There’s also an art district and while they may be closed, theres quite a bit on display in the windows.
There’s quite a few pocket neighborhoods that have their own appeal so I’d also suggest walking around most places below Calhoun St.