King Street

Without a doubt, King Street is by far the main shopping thoroughfare in the area. It’s unique not only for the fact that so many national name stores are lined up so close to each other, but because there are so many great restaurants of so many different types scattered in and amongst all the retail outlets, ideally positioned for when you need to take a break to rest and refuel.

Though I don’t necessarily recommend doing so—Charleston [1] has so much more to offer—a visitor could easily spend an entire weekend doing nothing but shopping, eating, and carousing up and down King Street from early morning to the wee hours of the following morning.

King Street has three distinct areas with three distinct types of merchandise: Lower King is primarily top-of-the-line antique stores [2] (most are closed Sundays, so plan your trip accordingly); Middle King is where you’ll find upscale name-brand outlets [3] such as Banana Republic and American Apparel, as well as some excellent shoe stores; and Upper King north of Calhoun is where you’ll find funky housewares shops [4], generally locally owned.