Fort Sumter Tours

We were rushed for time. You need to allow at least 2 hours from start to finish. Each way on the boat ride is 30 min and you spend 1 hour on the island. It is very regimented and they keep the tour moving. The boat ride was lovely and it was cooler inside the boat (we had a 93 degree day) a lot of history told and it was interesting. Bring water and put on sunscreen of you go in the summer. Wew it was a hot day

The actual fort was interesting as a history buff. The ferry ride over was very relaxing, but the revisionist history as told by the tour guide on the boat was a bit alarming. Some of the stories he told regarding the battles that took place at the fort sounded like he was making the confederate army to sound like the protagonist of the war. The stories could have been told without the obvious slant favoring the confederate army. I was left feeling uneasy about it.

This was good but not exceptional. Staff was friendly, we left on time and the presentation was informative but it got political. The ferry ride is about half an hour. There are bathrooms on board and you can buy snacks.

To me, the best part was the boat ride to the Fort and back. It was a beautiful day and the dolphins were swimming around the boat.
The fort was interesting to look around. It had lots of history. The museum was well done and enjoyable.
I think this could be a difficult tour with young children. There are tons of stairs and cliffs for them to jump off. Plus, you are not allowed to climb on the cannons. What kid doesn’t want to climb on a cannon?
Note: Your time at the fort is limited to an hour.

The boat ride was very nice, dolphins jumping off the bow and very smooth and relaxing. Not too much to see or do at the Fort, but a cool place to see once. On the trip back they serve beer and wine so again a cool 30 min boat ride. I love history so to me a great 2 hours spent, but my wife not so much. She was bored but liked the boat ride. Do this once if your in Charleston!

Excellent. Well put together tour. The boat ride in and out is a are talking tours while underway. The rangers gives you a narrative of the events that happened. The self guided tour itself on the island is very good with plenty to see. You really only need an hour or so out there to see. Money well spent. It’s a bucket list item. Once you do it, your good.

Disappointed in the tour as there isn’t much out there to see or history to read or marked compared to the history books! We enjoyed the boat ride more and more history was given on the boat really!

So much fun! We had a great time seeing the harbor. We loved the time at Fort Sumter and our ranger was just great! She did an awesome job detailing the moments there on the island. The boat ride back we had dolphins swimming with us on the front of the boat and they just capped off an awesome adventure!

Awesome American history lesson with tour of park, guided ferry ride, and fort self guided tour with its own museum about the history of the fort.
During the winter, there are limited tours. Our choices were 11am and 2:30pm. We arrived early and toured the park museum. Boarding for ferry began promptly at 10:45am and by 11am we were off.
Today was a sunny day, but cold with a good wind, so most of the crowd stayed in the protected area of the ship. We enjoyed the sunshine but we’re a bit chilled.
When we arrived at the fort, the hour passed quickly. We spent about 45 minutes outside and 15 in at the museum. .probably could have used more time inside, but a lot of the material was covered by the park museum.
Overall, a great piece of history. Pleasant staffing and clean bathrooms at both the fort and at the park museum. Highly recommend.

Great tour for history and non history buffs, the ride in the boat was fun with great sights to see, the tour guides on sight were fantastic, make sure you bring a light coat because weather can change while out there,. This is a must see if touring charleston.

As tours go this is one where you are pretty much on your own. When you enter the departure area there you leave though a rather nice lobby way that has a good number of pictures and various information about the history, events and battles of Fort Sumter.
The ship takes out of Charleston Harbor toward Fort Sumter. On your way there is a narration but really not all that much to see. The tour ship pulls into Fort Sumter where you are left off for a couple of hours to tour the fort. As forts go, this isn’t a very impressive one. The high walls and actually fortifications were pretty much broken down and destroyed during the battles and bombardments that took place. Though there is a museum within the Fort Sumter national monument, it really doesn’t contain all that much and though large not all that many relics of actual that I would perceive as being historical historically significant. Wondering around the fort itself, there really aren’t all that many descriptive plagues explain what you are actually looking at and for me, I became bored with it all rather quickly; possibly my expectations of what I was going to see were too high.
The tour ship itself is rather nice and the cruise on the water pleasant. It’s one of those tours I think everyone should do once, at least just to do it and see it, but overall it offered little I would want to return for or repeat.

There wasn’t so much to see at fort Sumter but the park rangers were very helpful and informative. The boat ride to and from the fort is about 35 minutes each way (it’s a fair sized boat but if you suffer from motion sickness be careful). I’d say the experience is worth the $ 19 you pay, but not much more.

Go back to the beginning of the Civil War you’re bored I ship it takes you around the harbor and important sites it’s about two hours total it’s only $ 19 and it’s a real educational experience you get to spend an hour on the island where Fort Sumter is located very interesting not the biggest fort I have visited but is the part of American history and I will recommend it for young and old and of course history buffs

Went on a dinner cruise that left from patriots point. The atmosphere was nice and relaxing and it was beautiful to cruise around the Ravenel bridge and the battery downtown during sunset. My only advice is not to order the steak. I ordered mine medium-​rare and it came out well done.

Pros: First shot of the Civil War occurred at this fort. Educational, humorous, and interactive discussions lead by Rangers.
Cons: One hour time limit on the island felt rushed.

Very educational and fun tour! Get a little boat ride with a history of the fort, followed by meeting park rangers on the «island». They give a history of how the fort has changed.

As it is a huge historical site, it was very disappointing. The boat ride was just a simple ride out, narrated with a little snack bar. The fort was average and the museum just shared the basic history of the fort. The gift shop was disappointing as it didn’t have a lot of the things you think it would such as snow globes and little statues. Other than that besides a couple of cannons and a observation deck there isn’t s whole lot.

We enjoyed this tour, including the boat ride. The boat was full, but not packed. It also had a floor with refreshments and the restroom was clean. It’s nice to be able to visit a piece of history. Plan to bring some sunblock.

Was very disappointed with Ft. Sumter. There truly is not much there and given the history and time since the destruction from the Civil War there could have been more to see and hear about.
The boat ride from the National Park Service was OK. It was a 40 minute ride out to the fort with narration along the way. Not a harbor cruise, per se, just some information as to what you were passing enroute. And it can be very chilly and uncomfortable out in the harbor, so recommend bringing a light jacket, especially on cool days. You are exposed sitting in plastic chairs unless you get seating in the one interior room that also has a snack stand.
The fort is just a small reminder of what it once was. The Park Service has a brochure with a layout of the fort when it was operational and that helps, but smack in the middle of the former parade grounds is a giant, black concrete coastal artillery emplacement left over from the two world wars. It is MASSIVE, dominating the fort.
A self-​guided museum in housed in the emplacement, which has historical information about the fort and the community. This is the highpoint of your visit. We did not visit the gift shop, also housed in the emplacement. Restrooms are available, also in the emplacement.
Fortunately the boat trip back was a bit shorter and we did score seats in the enclosed snack bar area.
Walking tours of the fort, more narration on the boat and additional information about the artillery emplacement would be welcome additions to the Ft. Sumter experience. I recognize that a lot of time and money are needed to better restore at least some part of the ruins. That effort continues and these boat excursions do contribute to the National Park Service efforts to get more done, so taking this tour was part of that effort.
For history buffs, you are there and you can envision the defenses of Charleston Harbor, so I am glad that I did the tour, but am disappointed that it was not more and better than my experience.

I had been meaning to check out Fort Sumter since moving down here about a month ago. The last time I tried to take a tour they were sold out. If you can, I recommend pre-​ordering tickets online. This is a great tour for a great price. You’ll spend about an hour on the fort, and it’s just enough time to look around, take some pictures, read the plaques, and talk to the park rangers.
There is a museum on the fort. I walked through it a little quicker than most people. It was a neat little museum, but there was A LOT of information to be read, and only an hour to see everything. Personally, I felt like it was more productive to get the abridged version from the rangers as we were walking around outside, though I know there were things in the museum that he didn’t cover.
If you go early in the morning or during the spring season, bring a light jacket. It gets a little chilly on the boat– especially if you sit on the top deck.
The park rangers are extremely knowledgable and very willing to share all of their knowledge. It’s obvious that they are passionate and love what they do.
This is something everyone should take a few hours to go see.

This is a good value for a ½ hour harbor, narrated harbor cruise out to the Fort. At the Fort, there is a Park Ranger with all the information, and, after that, visitors are pretty much free to explore the entire fort and island.
Among other things, you will see actual shells fired during the Civil War still lodged in fort walls, a great view of the harbor and history, and a great, informative museum. The experience really has the feel of being a time machine, taking you right back to where it all began.
Also, from different areas of the fort, you can see where Battery Wagner was. Battery Wagner was the fort the 54^th Massachusetts attacked that was depicted in the movie «Glory.» You can also see where Fort Moultrie was. That was the fort built during Revolutionary times with palmetto logs.
For the historian, this is a must visit when visiting the Charleston area. Here’s a tip for you: When visiting Charleston, stay in Mount Pleasant. Mount Pleasant is just across the bridge from Charleston, but close to both Patriot’s Point, (where you pick up the boat to the fort, and where you can visit the USS Yorktown), and Shem Creek, (which is a good, inexpensive, local’s hangout.) Everything is just a little more affordable in Mount Pleasant.

Did the dinner cruise with my mother. Friendly staff, beautiful surroundings, a little bit of history, dolphins, sunset, fireworks, and good food! After doing other dinner cruises, this one does not even compare! A must do if you are in Charleston!

Well worth the $ 18 spent to take this tour. I’m not a history buff by any means, but I thoroughly enjoy the 2 hours of scenic views and Civil War history.
We left from Patriot’s Place and enjoyed the boat ride over, as we saw views of downtown Charleston, the harbor and of grand waterfront homes in the distance in Mount Pleasant and Sullivan’s Island. We were on the island for about an hour, which was a nice amount of time to explore the museum and look off at the ocean in the distance on the top of the fort. There was an interpreter who provided a short, but informative history lesson of Fort Sumter and its role in American history.
I really like how the museum is laid out so that the exhibits were in chronological order of when they occured– from when the fort was initially built to the end of the Civil War.

This is how you get to Fort Sumter… unless you have your own boat!
Ticket price is clearly posted on their website (
) and at the Fort Sumter visitor’s center in Charleston located at Liberty Square (next to the Aquarium. You can buy tickets at the visitors center. When I took the ferry ride the prices were around $ 18 for an adult. There are senior and child discounts.
The trip to Fort Sumter takes around :30 minutes. Along the way out and back you have a fully narrated, pre-​recorded tour of Charleston Harbor highlights. There is ample room on all decks (our boat had three) and you can get a nice view if you head to the lower deck and go forward. Standing is allowed!
Once you’re on the fort grounds you have the option for a quick 10 – 15 minute Park Ranger-​guided history lesson. It’s really informative and I suggest you check it out! Then, spend the rest of the time on the fort to explore on your own.
notes:
–You may also access Fort Sumter from Patriots Point (USS Yorktown)
–Parking in Charleston (Liberty Square/​Fort Sumter visitors center) is available one block before the center for $ ¹⁄₃₀ minutes.
–Arrive EARLY! Purchase your tickets EARLY (if possible). Boarding starts 15 minutes prior to departure… so do you really want to be ‘that person’ who keeps everyone from leaving on time?!

Took a harbor tour one afternoon with a group of friends from work… Was a beautiful day on the water (about 2 ½ hours)…tour was packed… guide/​captain was a wee bit corny… but corny doable. haha…learned a lot about the area… dolphins were out in full force and played along the boat…
What a busy bay… and what a fun place to live!
Also took a dinner cruise… live music… lots of food… food was good… nice to have this to enjoy!
Only problem… and this was a big one… restrooms got full fast… and none were available later in the eve!

The our was excellent! Ferry tickets can be bought online in advance. The whole process was smooth, organized, and without complications. A must do in Charleston!

If you want to go to Fort Sumter, there are two options.
The first is to buy a boat (you can skip this option if you have a boat — feel free to take it out there whenever you like). This can get expensive, not just for the purchase, but for the maintenance and upkeep. Most people will probably not use this option just to visit a fort, but if you really like forts, and want to see this one, it is still there as a choice, and we’re all about choice, right (not looking at your, Affordable Care Act).
The second option is to take a ferry from the mainland — either Charleston proper or Patriots Point. Not much difference in departure point, other than a slight difference in travel time, which won’t really matter a whole lot. There are probably a few more people in line in Charleston, just because not as many people go over to Mount Pleasant — they are there, mind you, just not quite as many.
The lines themselves can get a bit long, especially in season, but the ride itself isn’t bad. Service is decent enough, but all you get is a ride to the island, which can seem pricey, especially if all you are doing is taking the family. Maybe it’s time to look into a boat purchase after all.
Note that this is only for the ferry — the fort itself is under a different review.

What a fun way to start the morning. Tours leave from Liberty Park. There is plenty of cheap street meter parking nearby ($ 0.25/20min). Arrive early or stay after your tour time as there is a museum at Liberty Park just to the right of the aquarium for you to explore. There is also a museum at the fort that you can explore when there. The boat ride takes about 30 minutes in each direction. During the drive there is a recorded narration that plays over the loud speaker. It gives you an explanation of what you are looking at and the significance of the rivers you are passing. Definitely take the chance to stand at the rail and take pictures as you drive, but if you want to sit there are plenty of chairs — mostly in the shade.
At the fort you have 1 hour. I was at first worried this would not be enough time. It is plenty! It is enough time to see the museum, walk and take pictures, and listen to the free 15 – 20 minute park ranger lecture when you first get on the island. Engage the park rangers at the fort in conversation — they are great with kids as I observed and very friendly and eager to explain things to you.