Classic Carriage Works

Was nice to ride around and enjoy the scenery with the knowlege to go with it. Ginger was our tour guide and magic was our horse. I had my 2 kids with me (even though the information was over their head they enjoyed the ride and petting the horse. They actually fell a sleep on the ride too).

The new slavery to freedom tour with Matt was INCREDIBLE! Our best experience in Charleston. He was so detailed and charismatic. I learned more in the hour with him than I did in any of my history classes in high school or college. Truly a mind blowing tour. You HAVE to do this.

Today we, went on the slavery to freedom tour with Matt and Berry it was so informative and interesting. I highly recommend it if you like history. Learned some interesting facts. He was so knowledgeable. One of the other guest pointed out that after he age his wife both graduated from South Carolina University that he learned more history about Charleston in a hour then all four years of college. He also explain about the care of Berry. It was my first tour in a carriage pulled by a horse and I was a little uneasy about it. Berry did amazing hardly needed to be directed. It was a wonderful tour.

What an enjoyable way to get a little Charleston Culture and History. Very professional horse carriage operation. Magic was our fearless leader.
Saw this HANDSOME guy upon exiting our carriage ride. What a beaut!
Can’t say enough good things about how they treat the horses and their fellow humans.
Interesting Fact: Their horses only work five to six days out of the week, and do an average of about three hours of work a day. The horses work six weeks in the city, and then get a three to six week vacation out at the company’s farm (where they can roam free and frolic).
Very knowledgeable staff gives you way more historical information that you thought was possible. This town just exudes culture and class. Thanks Classic Carriage Works for keeping it classy.

We were on a noon tour with Matt as our guide. What a pleasant experience! He was very knowledgeable of the history and tidbits of information that makes Charleston, well, Charleston!!! Edmond was our horse for the tour. He was well-​versed for the tour route for which we were assigned. As you begin the tour, the tour carriage checks in with a city starter who assigns 1 of 5 routes randomly based on the fall of a ping pong ball!!! We were on route #3! Great history and sights to see. Drove by Jestine’s Kitchen for some low country fried chicken! Walked through the Market Place before and after our tour. All must see spots.

Matt is flat out the best tour guide in Charleston! We enjoyed the Civil War tour and Matt’s knowledge and ability to make you feel like «you were there». Enjoyed Matt so much we returned later that day and took his general history of Charleston tour! You can roll the dice and hope… Or request Matt and be delighted! Rita & Bill from Braselton, GA

Our tour guide, Todd, was spectacular. He was extremely knowledgable about the area while also being very entertaining. Our horse, Franklin, was also very gentle and we were able to pet him after the tour. You can tell they take very good care of their animals. The carriage itself was a tiny bit tight but once we got rolling it was fine. Everybody seemed to enjoy the ride. We would definitely recommend Classic Carriage over the other carriage ride companies in the area based purely on the authenticity of their staff and their horses, and beyond, the tour was fun and informative and you can definitely tell that Todd enjoys teaching folks about the city.

I believe our guides name was Josh, our horse was a well-​behaved huge draft horse named Dakota. As someone else mentioned, your tour route is a lottery, the carriage checks in and is given a route to keep traffic flowing and abound backups. I enjoyed our guide, he was funny without being annoying and was very knowledgeable. He encouraged questions and I learned a great deal about Charleston. I highly recommend. Their brochure touts their excellent animal care. Book online and save $ 2

Such a great tour! Our guide was a female not sure of her name. She was extremely knowledgeable and really explained everything in an entertaining way. It was rainy the day we went and the staff gave us blankets to use during the tour. This tour was past the rainbow houses. Its good to know in advance that the city tells each carriage company what zone they can tour. They don’t find out until your already on the carriage, so don’t be let down if you don’t see everything. We got lucky and saw some really cool stuff. I feel like I was entertained and learned a lot. Also I picked this company because they take EXTRA good care of their horses. They get their temp taken and water between each tour. They can only work for x amount of hours and they get longer vacation time then me =) You can tell the horses are well cared for and that meant the most to me. Would definitely suggest this to family and friends!

There are several carriage tour companies in the area, but we blindly picked Classic Carriage Works because it offers tours every half hour (no advanced reservations required) and it’s affordable ($ 25 plus $ 5 discount with online promo code — just google it). Unlike the carriage tour in the big red barn, this one does not come with parking. We were able to find metered parking, which was less expensive than the $ 10+ nearby lots. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and the ride was pleasant, but he talked too fast and softly for me to really comprehend all the info (and I was sitting in the front row). Still, it’s a fun way to see Charleston and get a taste of the area and points of interest. Oh, I should note that the routes are a total lottery system. The carriage pulls up, and someone pushes a button that pops up a colored ball dictating the route. This is done so that the carriages aren’t on top of each other. I think the tour companies are all pretty comparable in value and information, so you can’t go terribly wrong for the price.

Fantastic! It was a very relaxing tour and Jess was an excellent guide. Our horse was called Magic, and he was just beautiful. It was great to see the horses looking so healthy and to hear about how well they are taken care of. I would highly recommend, a must do if you visit Charleston. The carriages are also covered which means no issues with rain or sunburn.

Couldn’t have asked for a better tour of Charleston. The horses seemed very well kept and nourished. I thought it was very neat how at the end they take you to the barn. It’s reassuring that they’re not mistreating the animals and shows the conditions they’re really in. The tour itself was very nice. Our guide answered all questions and was always pointing out POI’s. A very well rounded tour.

Simply the best, all I can say. Great deal. Everyone was courteous and accommodating. The tour was a no rush knowledge fiesta. Fun, factual and just a good time. We were out more than an hour and the heat didn’t bother me too much because of a nice breeze. Todd was just the best and answered all of our question. Except for a bored child trying to talk all the time, it was perfect. Thanks Todd!

After leaving the Charleston Market, my family saw a thing that said «carriage tickets sold here», so we bought 3 tickets. The guy who sold us the tickets was very nice and even let my son pet the horse. On the ride, the driver was very informative and seemed highly enthusiastic about sharing the historic area. Overall it was a very pleasant experience, and I would certainly do it again.

Worst 45 minutes spent in Charleston. My husband and I were about to sign up with another carriage vendor near the Market when a representative from Classic Carriage Works approached us, quite enthusiastically. He pitched us that we’d have their BEST driver, Eric. We subsequently learned that two young women on our tour had been promised they’d see Rainbow Row. Both promises were flat out lies: no Eric. No Rainbow Row. Instead, we were stuck with Route 3, which took us through back streets with garages. Our driver spoke in a monotone, was dull and uninteresting, unless you’re obsessed with only, and I mean only, the Civil War. No mention was made of any houses that we passed that had plaques on their walls. We saw the water for a nanosecond. There are other companies out there; don’t get conned like we were. Fortunately we’ve been to Charleston before so we know what’s there to see. I personally do not appreciate a sales pitch full of lies.

This is a wonderful way to get a more detailed view of Charleston. Our driver was very knowledgeable and entertaining. We saw parts of Charleston we never would have had we simply walked. Our carriage was full but we were perfectly comfortable and didn’t feel crowded at all. The mild weather is really conducive to this site seeing method.
A real MUST DO!!!

This was a fun tour. Our tour guide was very friendly. Before the tour started and the carriage was waiting in line to start, the tour guide introduced us by name to our horse and talked about his breed. (I wish I could remember his name, I think it starts with an E) He was relatively new to the business and just been brought in. He also explained about the regulation of tour carriages for the benefit of the horses and only a certain amount of carriages can be out at once, which dictates what route your carriage will take.
The tour guide was very informative and interesting to listen to. He was good at fielding on the fly questions and keeping us entertained.

Todd was a great your guide, explaining the Charleston history in a fun and informative way. Lots of good humor! Our tour took us past the Battery, down Rainbow row and throughout church and broad streets. The classic carriage ride experience was a great one and I would highly recommend this company to tourists who love a tour (and for those that don’t — my husband and I aren’t tourist type people and enjoyed the hour long ride). :)

This was such a nice tour — we had a private tour and our guide was Bob — he was chock full of knowledge and the whole tour felt like a conversation. He could answer all of our questions and still shared a tremendous amount of information about our great city.
Not cool thing? The parking lot! I’d sooner just park in a garage instead of dealing with the Charlie Foxtrot… whoooheeee. I also recommend making a reservation — we arrived at like 10:30 a.m. on a Monday and we couldn’t be accommodated until 12:30 p.m.

I was told that a carriage ride around Charleston was a must-​do for the first-​time visitor — and it was! We loved our ride with Berry the horse and tourguide Patrick on a Classic Carriage Works tour. It was a great overview of the peninsula and historic area.
Patrick was great about explaining how the carriage tours work in Charleston, so we knew what to expect when we approached the city booth to find out which of the four routes we would be taking. We got the route that took us past Rainbow Row and the Battery. Patrick was an excellent guide and worked well with Berry. He was extremely engaging, and had a lot of fabulous stories that made the route very interesting. He also offered to chat with us after the ride, while Berry was getting his post-​trip care and check to see if he would be leading another carriage around.
I think the carriage experience is very much dependent upon the tour guide, since their ability to engage the riders and tell the stories play a huge factor on the ride. Patrick made our ride an excellent one!