Drayton Hall

Definitely purchase the guided tour ticket so that you can enter the house. This building is frozen in time and is meant for you to appreciate the architecture and design. Tour guide was very knowledgeable and moved at the perfect pace. After the guided tour, we were able to walk the grounds and listen to the audio tour. There is also a small building with artifacts that was really cool. There is also a gift shop, clean restrooms, and parking was easy. I would definitely advise bringing water and sunscreen for the outside part of the tour. If you are allergic to wasps, bring your EpiPen as there are many wasps near the excavation area and a few were also in the house.

Paid $15 on Groupon ahead of time vs. $29. The grounds are extremely well kept and the tour was pretty interesting! We went on a Thursday around 9:15 and there was hardly anyone there. If youre into history I would highly recommend it. They also have a cute gift shop, a short video to watch and a little museum and artifacts. Super interesting.

Impressive preservation of true colonial America plantation home. Over 400 years old built by John Drayton. Very , very interesting stories and architecture with tremendous touches or skilled artisan finish work. The trust is doing an admirable job of preserving a colossal home that was neglected for about 100 years after the first 2 generations passed away. You get a good sense of the lifestyle and work of an indigo and rice plantation. Well constructed and comfortable ticket office, gift shop, museum and working conservation laboratory on the property. This plantation is worth your time if history is an interest of yours. FYI, children would be bored to tears.

Take the guided tour inside the house. The audio tour across the grounds is OK too, but we preferred the live guide. It’s a beautiful property with a lot of history. Go in the spring rather than the heavy heat of summer, the breeze coming off the water makes for a wonderful walk during the day. If you have the energy take the combo tour with one of the other local plantation properties.

Our group of 7 enjoyed our tour. We arrived a few minutes late after our 10:00 a.m, tour, but they accommodated us and changed our time to 11:00 am. We were able to watch a short 7 minute video of the history of Drayton Hall, browse through a few artifacts, walk through the gift shop, and enjoy the beauty and solitude of the grounds. We enjoyed going through 3 floors of the plantation. Susan, our guide was very informative and we appreciative her historical knowledge.

Drayton Hall is beautiful and is filled with rich history of slave life and family heritage. It's worth it to take 1-2 hours out of your day to enjoy the property! The entrance fee is $32 dollars. It is $18 for ages 7-15, and ages 7 and under are free. You save $3 if you pay online. The extensive driveway and parking lot is not paved and was pretty bad for potholes last February. We arrived about 5 minutes after the 4:00 o'clock tour, and the staff were kind enough to take us to our tour group via a golf cart. If you want to see the inside of the plantation, you HAVE to take a guided tour. The guided tour lasts about 1-1.5 hours and is extremely detailed with many points of interest and knowledgeable tour guides. Parking may be an issue if busy, but there is an auxiliary lot so you should be alright. After your tour is complete, there are some small cottages to explore on your own, a gift shop, and a small museum. Out of all the things to do in Charleston, Drayton Hall should be towards the top of your list. We had a good time! (Please note: I am transferring my reviews from Yelp to Google, meaning you may also see this review on Yelp. I visited this business February 2026).

We had a lovely and informative time here. Compared to other historical sites with buildings, Drayton Hall is kept up well, but not refurbished into looking like it did in the past. They have really great tour guides as well as an interesting self guided tour of the grounds. The grounds go right up to the Ashley River and are full of Live Oak trees and flowering bushes. If you are a history buff, the typed out diary entries of Mr Drayton that are in a binder inside the house are fascinating. They give a real insight to the day to day life of his enslaved peoples, domestic helpers, deaths, and holidays. There is a small museum with an informative video as well as several artifacts. I recommend calling ahead to find out about special events, special pricing, and specials for locals.

We were lucky enough to go on Free Community day. The house is beautiful, the archaeological dig was super cool. Well priced gift shop and easy walk around grounds to see river and lovely grounds. Lots of great history. Staff so great!