Middleton Place
Middleton Place
4.5
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Monday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Tuesday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Thursday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Friday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Saturday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Sunday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
About
Middleton Place National Historic Landmark is home to America’s oldest and most important landscaped gardens. Began in 1741, the historic site today encompasses 110 acres including the Gardens, House Museum, Stableyards, and Eliza’s House. Together they tell the inclusive history of all who lived, worked, and died here. The stories of the Middleton family including two Founding Fathers and generations of enslaved people are interwoven throughout the property. Visitors have opportunities to experience those stories with both guided or self-guided tours.
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See what travellers are saying
- feifeidadBoston, Massachusetts94 contributionsBeautiful place to visitWhat a beautiful place! We visited in Feb and the temperature was 58 degrees. But the garden was already decorated with blooming magnolia and camellia flowers. We saw at least 10 alligators lying around the banks of the river or ponds. The slavery history and stories were fascinating and heavy hearted. We took the garden tour and the history tour, both of which were free. Highly recommended!Visited February 2024Travelled with familyWritten 22 February 2024
- Amy LMinnetonka, Minnesota16 contributionsA beautiful place with a rich historyI really enjoyed this spot. Beautiful scenery and flowers weren't all out yet, but the greenery, live oaks, turtles and gators and the river as the backdrop were outstanding. highly recommend the 40 min story telling of the enslaved at the plantation. Our presenter was so well spoken, it was very moving. The restaurant on site is fantastic!Visited March 2024Travelled with familyWritten 10 March 2024
- Susan LDurham, North Carolina516 contributionsGorgeous in mid-March!Simply beautiful! We went in mid-March and the camilias were still in bloom and the azaleas had just started to come out. Gorgeous! We didn't get the 'combo' tickets for the gardens and house because the "house" was destroyed and so the building you go into is a small outer building that survived. We spent about 2 hours at the site and we did take advantage of the garden overview tour which was free and lasted about 30 mins.Visited March 2024Travelled as a coupleWritten 15 March 2024
- ycarneyVero Beach, Florida389 contributionsAn incredible experience!I cannot say enough about these gardens. We toured the gardens and grounds on our own, and although we spent hours there, I'm sure there was lots we didn't get to see. The place is absolutely magnificent. Just walking around makes you feel at peace and totally as one with nature. There were birds and alligators, not to mention the incredible trees and foliage. They do such an incredible job maintaining the miles of paths and walkways. We also had the opportunity to be among sheep, and actually could touch the since they walked among us in another area of the gardens. What a wonderful experience which I would recommend to anyone whether you are alone or with friends or family. A must see.Visited April 2024Travelled as a coupleWritten 11 April 2024
- AdaWinston Salem, North Carolina2 contributionsGreat experience!The best part of our visit to Middleton Place was the Beyond Slavery presentation. Gary did a great job of presenting the plantation's role in slavery in a factual and unbiased manner. The lady introducing the house tour was extremely helpful. The docents in the house were friendly and informative.Visited April 2024Travelled with friendsWritten 16 April 2024
- Reed BRichmond, Virginia23 contributionsMiddleton Place Is A Must!!!!After walking all over Charleston for 2 days, we decided to drive 30-40 minutes to Middleton Place. I am so glad that we did! The beauty is spectacular here. We toured the gardens on our own and did a 30 minute house tour. Lots of walking paths. You will see beautiful gardens, wildlife, Spanish moss, huge live oak trees and lakes. Make sure to eat lunch at the restaurant that serves a delicious, low country buffet. Amazing fried chicken and service. We also enjoyed touring and learning the history of the Middleton family. If you want to go off the beaten path and enjoy nature for a day- go to Middleton Place.Visited May 2024Travelled as a coupleWritten 3 May 2024
- Howard PChevy Chase, Maryland34 contributionsFabulous Visit, Beautiful Place, Great DocentWonderful Visit to Middleton Place. Beautiful grounds and gardens, a story (good and bad) about one of the prominent families of the South, and we had a fabulous docent. Jerry spent 45 minutes filling us with tales about the family, the enslaved people and the place of beauty where it all happened. A great visit! Plus there is a good restaurant, reasonably priced. Go! You will truly enjoy your day!Visited May 2024Travelled with friendsWritten 4 May 2024
- Robin S35 contributionsBeautiful Place and Enlightening TalkThe grounds were stunning and it was a great example of southern plantation living. The Slave Experience lecture was fabulous. The speaker is so gifted - a great communicator and story teller. Middleton Place doesn't gloss over slavery - it tackles the topic head on with a realistic, accurate perspective. They acknowledge it as a dark part of our history that needs to be talked about.Visited May 2024Travelled with friendsWritten 6 May 2024
- NeillibinLa Mesa, California470 contributionsAmazing plantationAmazing property, could have spent all day visiting. Great tour of the house, knowledgeable staff gave lots of information. Beautiful gardens, loved the meticulous upkeep. The grounds are fabulous. Had the buffet lunch, enjoyed it very much.Visited May 2024Travelled as a coupleWritten 29 May 2024
- Debra JSouth Dakota189 contributionsWell worth the trip from CharlestonThe gardens are truly beautiful. We did the garden tour, which packed a lot of information into a half hour. We also did the house tour, which probably would have benefitted from an actual guide but was still interesting, and the docents on each floor were quite knowledgeable. The "Beyond the Fields" lecture was a highlight. Jerry did a fantastic job explaining how slavery was integral to the global economy, and how the consequences of slavery persist today. I appreciated that there was so much acknowledgement throughout of the enslaved people who built and maintained the plantation.Visited June 2024Travelled with familyWritten 29 June 2024
These reviews are the subjective opinion of Tripadvisor members and not of TripAdvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
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Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
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4.5
4,430 reviews
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2,835
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322
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sdb273
12 contributions
Oct 2023 • Couples
Of all the things we did in Charleston, this was our favorite (and the others were all good). The grounds are beautiful and peaceful; there are no bad views anywhere. We opted for the general admission which included some free tours; we did the Guided Garden Tour and the Beyond the Fields: Enslavement at Middleton Place. Both were well done and interesting. Lunch at the restaurant was very good though the menu is somewhat limited, and the buffet is a bit expensive. The views from the restaurant, however, cannot be beat. We did not visit any other plantations in Charleston, so we can't compare Middleton to the others, but we enjoyed this one very much.
Written 19 October 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Kevin W S
San Clemente, CA2 contributions
Jun 2024 • Family
The Middleton plantation was absolutely fantastic. I would suggest going as early as you can in the morning to avoid traffic and the lines for tickets. We visited the gift shop the restaurant which was very good and the air conditioning worked fantastic. We also walked the grounds and paid extra For the family house. Better than I expected with very prepared and knowledgeable guides. The artisans like the woodworker tell you the stories of the old days and really enjoy their jobs. A great walk back through history and definitely a sightseeing tour not to be missed at least one time. Thanks again. Kevin Smith. Realtor Southern California.
Written 6 July 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Farfromhomes
Clarksville, MD82 contributions
Dec 2024 • Couples
We visited during a very rainy day and had the front garden to ourselves. Even though December isn't a month where there are a lot of things blooming, there were some winter plants like pansies that were blooming, and the grounds were still very picturesque.
Unfortunately, due to the heavy rains, most of the garden paths were flooded, looking like moats around gardens. So you had to walk on the grassy embankments and hop over narrower rivers of water to get to areas of the plantation you want to see.
The animals (sheep, chickens and ducks) were free-roaming in the front (or is it back?) yard, which was surprising and welcome feature to see.
With general admission ticketing, visitors can visit the out buildings (kitchen replica, etc) that all have interpretive signage and exhibits. There was also a grounds tour that was at 11:00, but we decided to stroll around on our own rather than travel in a clot of tourists in the rain.
Unfortunately, due to the heavy rains, most of the garden paths were flooded, looking like moats around gardens. So you had to walk on the grassy embankments and hop over narrower rivers of water to get to areas of the plantation you want to see.
The animals (sheep, chickens and ducks) were free-roaming in the front (or is it back?) yard, which was surprising and welcome feature to see.
With general admission ticketing, visitors can visit the out buildings (kitchen replica, etc) that all have interpretive signage and exhibits. There was also a grounds tour that was at 11:00, but we decided to stroll around on our own rather than travel in a clot of tourists in the rain.
Written 31 December 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
marz
Massachusetts5 contributions
Jun 2023 • Friends
2 of my friends and myself took the Middleton Place with lunch tour with Pineapple Tours yesterday. For what we saw the tour was good the lunch not so much. The tour guide for Pineapple Tours and the person who greeted us when we arrived advised that we were on a schedule and needed to be at the house and restaurant at least 5 minutes before the time as they were very strict about the schedule. We were a little early for both, the issue is it took us 45 minutes to get served our meal and the quiche was cold and the shrimp and grits was warm. We were fearful of sending it back as we didn’t know how long it would take to get it back. Needless to say by the time we finished our lunch we needed to head back to the bus. Our driver was very apologetic and explained that he had notified them well in advance of our arrival so there should not of been any issue. We spent $91 for this trip and didn’t see half of what was promised very disappointing,
Written 19 June 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
OneHappyCouple2007
Las Vegas435 contributions
Aug 2023 • Couples
After looking at all the reviews online, I actually found a better deal by going to the Drayton Hall website where I was able to find a combo tour of both Middleton Place and Drayton Hall at a 25% discount.
So, after picking our day we showed up to a near empty Middleton Place. Staff were very friendly and eager to answer any questions we had. Middleton Place offers several guided tours that are free of charge. The house was not open on Monday so we just enjoyed all the gardens and history. After taking all of Middleton Place in, we headed down the road 5 miles to see what Drayton Hall had to offer. Even though Drayton is much smaller, you get to what the house looked like back in 1784. Charles Drayton did a great job of keeping notes in his diary, which allows us now to look back in history.
Just so you are aware, if you plan to visit, it will easily take you around 5 hours to see both venues (and that is without getting lunch) so plan ahead.
We truly enjoyed visiting both Middleton Place and Drayton Hall and hope to incorporate some of their beautiful garden themes at our own home. ;o)
So, after picking our day we showed up to a near empty Middleton Place. Staff were very friendly and eager to answer any questions we had. Middleton Place offers several guided tours that are free of charge. The house was not open on Monday so we just enjoyed all the gardens and history. After taking all of Middleton Place in, we headed down the road 5 miles to see what Drayton Hall had to offer. Even though Drayton is much smaller, you get to what the house looked like back in 1784. Charles Drayton did a great job of keeping notes in his diary, which allows us now to look back in history.
Just so you are aware, if you plan to visit, it will easily take you around 5 hours to see both venues (and that is without getting lunch) so plan ahead.
We truly enjoyed visiting both Middleton Place and Drayton Hall and hope to incorporate some of their beautiful garden themes at our own home. ;o)
Written 26 August 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Debra J
South Dakota189 contributions
Jun 2024 • Family
The gardens are truly beautiful. We did the garden tour, which packed a lot of information into a half hour. We also did the house tour, which probably would have benefitted from an actual guide but was still interesting, and the docents on each floor were quite knowledgeable. The "Beyond the Fields" lecture was a highlight. Jerry did a fantastic job explaining how slavery was integral to the global economy, and how the consequences of slavery persist today. I appreciated that there was so much acknowledgement throughout of the enslaved people who built and maintained the plantation.
Written 29 June 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Kathleen
Pittsburgh, PA287 contributions
Sept 2024 • Couples
We took all the tours offered! It was well done and we had a very enjoyable day at Middleton - it is worth the trip. They do acknowledge the slave past, but having visited plantations extensively in the deep south, there are other plantations that do a better job presenting the slave experience and reckoning with the past.
Written 5 October 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Sara J
1 contribution
May 2022
The grounds are absolutely stunning and there are enough tours and exhibits to keep you busy for a good chunk of the day. However, the house tour costs extra and is NOT worth it. One guide gave a quick summary of the family outside the house, and then inside another guide talked about the family portraits in the hall. After that we were set loose to tour the house ourselves. I can see why they did that--the house is not very big and it would be impossible for a whole group to look at most of the rooms at once. However, I don't feel like I got much out of the tour, and the most interesting parts (the photograph of the ruins before the earthquake knocked them down, the photos and details about enslaved people who worked on the plantation) were available in other parts of the grounds that were open to general admission.
Also, while the tour guides made sure to always acknowledge that the wealth and grandeur of Middleton Place was only made possible because the family owned slaves, I felt like they often fell short of imparting what their lives were like. We attended the Beyond the Fields: Enslavement at Middleton Place tour and it was rambling and far-ranging. It often went on tangents that had nothing to do with the slave trade and the experiences of enslaved people.
Also, while the tour guides made sure to always acknowledge that the wealth and grandeur of Middleton Place was only made possible because the family owned slaves, I felt like they often fell short of imparting what their lives were like. We attended the Beyond the Fields: Enslavement at Middleton Place tour and it was rambling and far-ranging. It often went on tangents that had nothing to do with the slave trade and the experiences of enslaved people.
Written 2 May 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Cristi67
Evans Mills, NY50 contributions
Apr 2022 • Couples
Absolutely stunning! We visited in the middle of a very stormy, windy rainy day and yet were still not disappointed. Definitely recommend taking the tours because you’ll learn so much and further appreciate your visit. The house tour was short and very informative. If you skip this tour you’ll miss the opportunity to see/hear some amazing history. Our incredible garden tour guide was not only highly informative but he also braved the weather with us and didn’t cut his talk short one bit. Be sure to wear walking shoes that you don’t mind getting a bit muddy on rainy days. We visited Magnolia the next day and were struck by how very different the two gardens are and how glad we were that we did both. The market had hot beverages that warmed us up after and light lunch & snacks had we wanted those too.
Written 4 April 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Rubicon_Johnny
Myersville, MD248 contributions
Mar 2022
Middleton Place was a wonderful stop on our Charleston vacation this March. We planned ahead and scheduled a private VIP tour which included a carriage ride on the grounds, a credit towards lunch at the restaurant, and tickets to the house tour. The carriage ride was fantastic and we really learned a lot from our tour guides during the ride. The Middleton Place house tour is interesting, but not absolutely a must see, and the same for the restaurant. It was tasty, but also priced a bit steep for the quality and options that are served. Perhaps the best thing about Middleton Place are the gardens. The gardens are absolutely breathtaking and massive. If you visit Middleton Place but don't spend at least 2/3 of your time taking in the gardens, then I'm afraid you may have missed out on the best part.
Written 12 March 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I’m going with 2-3, if you can tour the house @ the beginning of your visit. Then browse the gardens, then do the outside tours of workmen/trades, especially important the slave quarters, then end at gift shop/market area.
Written 5 April 2023
Will we need a reservation for lunch on Wednesday, February 21?
Written 10 February 2023
I agree with the others --- It's not likely necessary to make a reservation because it is a less crowded time to visit. But you could call ahead the day before
Written 15 February 2023
The base tour price- does that not allow you to enter/tour the residence? Is it grounds and exhibits only, but does not include entry into the house?
Written 10 October 2022
Entry into the small house museum required a separate ticket.
Written 14 October 2022
Did I read that correctly 120 USD per person?
Written 26 July 2021
$26 per adult, $15 for students over 14 with student id, $10 kids 6-13 and free if under 5. If you stay at the Middleton Inn, you get free admission (might check on this one - they may have a limit per room or something...) You can eat at the restaurant without a tour of the place...
Written 1 August 2021
How much time should we allow to see everything here?
Written 23 May 2021
Did I miss the beautiful camellias blooming?
Written 14 April 2021
Sorry for the late response. They were all bloomed when we were there. So I’m sure they have finished. Was a beautiful sight fir sure!!!
Written 3 May 2021
What about elderly that cannot walk well - riding tours?
Written 17 February 2021
I didn’t see any riding option however much of the paths are flat; I believe a wheelchair could easily be used.
Written 18 February 2021
unknown check website but sure service animals allowed...very important there is wildlife and farm animals loose on property as it is still working farm, so be advised accordingly.
Written 17 August 2020
I am bringing my grandson who is eight and very interested in history, what would be the best tour for him?
Written 8 February 2020
Thanks for reaching out! For a child this age the part of the property that may be most interesting is the stable yards where artisans in costume interact with visitors and explain the various tasks that would have been the responsibility of an enslaved person. Those tasks would include blacksmithing, carpentry, animal care, making pottery and sewing or repairing textiles. The House Museum tour would be the second suggestion, though note that tour participants are almost always adults rather than young children. But if your grandson has an understanding of early American history that's a bit beyond that of most kids in his age group, he may well find some of what he learns to be of interest.
Written 10 February 2020
If you only want to walk the property and view gardens us there an admission fee?
Written 9 January 2020
Yes there is an admission fee but you can walk around freely. If you want to see the famous sculpted terraces, you head for behind the left side of the main house.
Written 10 January 2020
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