Charleston has a dynamic nightlife , albeit one that's geared toward tourist revelers, with a wide choice of music venues, clubs and bars , especially around the market. Ask at the visitor center about its many festivals, or pick up the free weekly Citypaper .
There are also lively bars out at the Isle of Palms and Sullivan's Island.
Spoleto Festival USA (tel 843/722-2764), an international arts festival inspired by its Italian namesake, runs for seventeen days each year from May to June. Its funkier sibling, Piccolo Spoleto (tel 843/724-7305, ), runs concurrently, featuring many regional artists and free performances, as well as infusing the city with a carnival-like atmosphere.
October's Moja Arts Festival (tel 843/724-7305, ) celebrates African/Caribbean theatre, dance and film, with all events free or low-priced.
Blind Tiger Pub 38 Broad St tel 843/577-0088. Local bar away from the market area with hidden entrance and busy beer garden.
Club Tango 39 John St, entrance in alley adjacent to Embassy Suites tel 843/577-2822. Hugely popular multilevel dance club, open Thurs through Sat.
Cumberland Grill 26 Cumberland St tel 843/577-9469. A nice bar and sandwich shop that puts on blues, bluegrass, rock, reggae and folk.
Henry's 54 N Market St tel 843/723-4363. Flash bar, with live music, serving appetizers, seafood and sandwiches.
Horse & Cart 347 King St tel 843/722-0797. Grungy bar/café, with over 100 beers and live music (of all genres) every night.
Mandalay King and Wentworth streets tel 843/577-7600. Trendy and very popular brewpub serving creative Thai dishes in a metal and glass decor.
Music Farm 32 Ann St tel 843/853-FARM. Best place in Charleston to see regional and national touring bands.
Vendue Inn 23 Vendue Range tel 843/723-0485. Busy rooftop bar and restaurant with great views over the city.
Charleston is ideal for walking tours ; the visitor center has details on scores of them.
Charleston Strolls (Mon-Sat 9.30am; $16; tel 843/766-2080) leave from the Palmetto Café at the Charleston Place Hotel , 130 Market St, and from Mills House Hotel , 115 Meeting St, thirty minutes later.
Civil War Walking Tour sets out from Mills House Hotel (March-Dec daily 9am; $15; private tours also available throughout year; tel 843/722-7033).
Architectural Walking Tours of Charleston run two two-hour tours - the morning tour covering the eighteenth century, the afternoon tour the nineteenth (Mon & Wed-Sat 10am & 2pm; $15; tel 1-800/931-7761); both leave from 173 Meeting St. In the fall, the Preservation Society, 147 King St (tel 1-800/968-8175), organizes candlelit tours, visiting private old homes, with free tea and wafers (Sept & Oct Thurs-Sat 7pm; $35).
Much of Charleston's beauty is owed to the black slaves who built it, and there are two good black history tours :
Al Miller's one- and two-hour van tours leave from the visitor center, and include material on slave uprisings, the Civil War and the lives of the freed slaves ($10/15; tel 843/762-0051).
Gullah Tours spice their tours with Charleston folktales told in gullah (by appointment only; call for times and prices tel 843/763-7551).
Horse and carriage tours, led by Carolina Polo and Carriage Company ($17, discount given on advance reservations; tel 843/577-6767), leave from the market, providing a lively but leisurely sixty-minute overview of the town.
Schooner Pride (mid-March to Oct; $18; tel 843/559-9686) offers two-hour cruises around the harbor in the afternoon and at sunset. Among several trolley tours available,
Gray Line of Charleston (tel 843/722-4444 or 1-800/423-0444) offers entertaining and informative 75- and 90-minute Historic Charleston Tours ($15/$17) that depart daily from the visitor center.
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Charleston Nightlife 
