Charleston City tour...Bus or carriage...our opinion

We always like to do a guided tour when available to familiarize ourselves with a new area. We opted for the $18.00, 90 minute ';Doin%26#39; The Charleston'; tour which departed from the Visitors Center as it was the ';only tour recommended by National Geographic.'; The tour only had us and one other nice couple visiting from France. The tour guide welcomed us and we started our tour. A few minutes

into his spiel, he was clearly irritated at the French couple for whispering to each other, so he completely stopped, rolled his eyes, and waited for them to notice that he was waiting on them. What he was oblivious to, was the fact that the husband was trying to translate to his wife what was being said.

Our guide was unenthusiastic and had a well rehearsed spiel that included questioning the people on the tour. Well, we are not ';participatory'; type people. I figure we are on a tour to learn, not be asked questions. The other couple had a bit of a language barrier, so the responding was all up to us. We did respond maybe somewhat hesitantly, but each time our response was followed by

';Lively bunch'; ';not awake yet?'; and more eye rolling. I wish he had the courtesy to stop after not getting much of a response. We were instructed not to ask questions until the appropriate time. He would instruct us when it was this time.

This tour promises ';enhanced onboard video images, stories set to music, faces of people who made our history.'; That means there is a TV that will flash one picture of each museum that you can pay to tour later, or a picture of a historical figure.

When talking about the rise in the cost Charleston housing he commented routinely ';I couldn%26#39;t afford one on my tips';. Whatever! I can%26#39;t believe we were wimps and gave a tip. I couldn%26#39;t wait to get off the bus.

On the upside the bus is air conditioned.

We later passed the covered horse drawn carriage rides that departed near the open air market on Market Street. These guides seemed more enthusiastic and were able to go to areas that the bus could not go, and they were answering questions as they were asked. I am not sure of the cost, but if you don%26#39;t mind the

weather, I would recommend one of these tours. There were couple type carriages and large group carriages.

Charleston City tour...Bus or carriage...our opinion

Yikes! Thank you for sharing your experience with others. Marvin is the owner and tour guide for Doin the Charleston Tours and has been doing it for quite some time. There have been several ';comments'; made about this particular tour in the last couple of months that have not been in his favor. I will say that his sense of humor is a little harsh and he does seem to get easily aggervated. Which is no excuse for his actions while you were on his tour.

I hope that this one tour will not deter you from visiting Charleston again. For the next time there are multiple tour companies for both bus and carriage that I hope you will try!

Charleston City tour...Bus or carriage...our opinion

Thank you for letting others know about your experiences with this tour! I have taken it myself and Marvin is quite a character! As O%26#39;Melia stated, word is getting around about experiences similar to yours on this tour. For future reference, try Taylored Tours of Charleston, Charleston Tours, Talk of the Towne, or Charleston%26#39;s Finest Tours. They receive the BEST feedback. The carriage tours are nice, but I think of them as being more of a ride-even though you get some history. A lot of people do both! Hope that was the only bump in the road you encountered during your Charleston trip! Come back and see us...

I know that I certainly will never take this tour based on this review. I don%26#39;t want to spend money to be insulted or feel like I am a pest to someone who is supposed to be working for me, in essence. Afterall, the tours aren%26#39;t free! There are too many other tours to waste on this one. Thanks for the review. It was very helpful.