Sample Itineraries

Our tourism team works diligently to develop sample itineraries that appeal to people of all ages and interests.  Following is a list of sample itineraries highlighting the area attractions.  The sample itineraries are merely ideas.  You can customize your trip according to your group’s interest.

If you need help finding the people, places and things that make the Capital City/Lake Murray Country region unique, we encourage you to call our staff.  They are anxious to answer questions and help with special requests and needs.

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Make plans for a Guys Getaway!

  • Day #1 ~ Arrive in Capital City/Lake Murray Country. Check into a hotel of your choice and head to Downtown Columbia’s Vista for dinner and drinks at the Flying Saucer or Rust, Columbia’s own Whiskey bar.

    OR

  • Stay at a cabin at Dreher Island State Park, located on Lake Murray. Grill burgers, roast marshmallows and enjoy the fireside atmosphere by the lake. 


  • Day #2 ~ Depending on what you enjoy…

     

  • Spend the day with a fishing guide on Lake Murray.  Let an expert show you where the fish hide.
     
  • Try your luck on one of the 22 golf courses located in the region.  With such a large selection of golf courses, you are sure to find one that will suit you.
     
  • Consider canoeing or kayaking on one of the 3 rivers in the region, and/or enjoy a nature hike at the Congaree National Park (www.nps.gov/cong).
                     
  • After an eventful day, enjoy a sunset dinner at Dockside or the Rusty Anchor located on beautiful Lake Murray.

Girls Getaways!    For the Adventurous Girls 

  • A two night stay in the newly renovated Radisson hotel with the fabulous Select-Comfort beds.

  • Head to Saluda Shoals Park for a canoeing or kayak trip down the Saluda River. 

  • The River Chef will prepare lunch for your group on the banks of the river.  (www.AdventureCarolina.com). 

  • Spend the afternoon jet skiing on Lake Murray and end your day with a fabulous dinner at one of the many fine restaurants in the region. 

  • Start your second day hiking the trails of Saluda Shoals Park, on the edge of the river or try horseback riding in the park. 

  • Spend the afternoon at the SC State Museum.  This is one of the largest museums in the Southeast. Southern Living rated it in the top ten in the Southeast.

The Typical Girl Tour

  • Check into the historic Hampton Inn in downtown Columbia. You will find unique shopping areas of the Congaree Vista.  The Doors of Devine and Five Points are also nearby.  The area around your hotel is filled with everything from antiques to high fashion.  

  • Enjoy a girl’s luncheon with lots of restaurants to choose from.

  • The afternoon finds you touring the Governor’s Mansion and the USC President’s Rose Garden. 

  • Enjoy a performance at the Koger Center for the Arts and head back to your hotel.  

  • Start your second day with a trip to Newberry, SC, to visit Carter & Holmes Orchid Nursery.  This is the largest orchid nursery east of the Mississippi.  The guided tour explains how new orchids are grown from tiny spores. 

  • Stop at the Newberry Opera House for a backstage tour. 

  • After lunch visit the many antique shops of Newberry and do not miss Anderson’s Shoe Store.  On your way back, stop for a massage or more shopping in the Harbison area.

Birds, Bees, Flowers & Trees

  • Spend the morning browsing the Botanical Garden at the Riverbanks Zoo.  

  • Enjoy lunch and a nature lecture with a naturalist at Saluda Shoals Park.  

  • Board your bus for a trip to Carter and Holmes Orchid Nursery in Newberry- this is the largest orchid nursery east of the Mississippi. 

  • Enjoy your dinner on the Southern Patriot as you cruise beautiful Lake Murray, a 50,000 acre water playground.  Visit during the summer months and see thousands of Purple Martins return to their roosting site at sunset.  

Small Towns & Treasures

  • Start your visit at the Capital City/Lake Murray Country Visitor's Center. Visit the museum and exhibit hall and view species of fish that call Lake Murray home.  Enjoy refreshments as you watch a film of how the world's largest earthen dam was built. 

  • Board the bus for a ride across the dam to the town of Lexington.  Visit the Lexington County Museum.  Costumed guides lead tours of the complex which includes three 18th century cabins, two antebellum homes, an 1870 post house and the 1832 John Fox House, complete with nine rooms of authentic furnishings.

  • Travel the back country roads to Prosperity where you'll enjoy a good ole southern cooked lunch at the Back Porch Restaurant.

  • After lunch, visit Carter and Holmes Orchid Nursery- the 3rd largest orchid nursery east of the Mississippi River. Here your tour guide will explain how new orchids are cultivated from tiny spores and you will see the various growth stages.

  •  In Newberry- check in at the beautiful Opera House Hampton Inn.  Relax until it is time for dinner at one of the many wonderful restaurants in Newberry.

  • After dinner, enjoy the highlight of the tour- a performance at the Newberry Opera House which is only steps away from your hotel. 


Shop Until You Drop Tour

Visit any one of our shopping malls to find the perfect items that you have been searching for and then visit our unique, local shopping areas such as the Congaree Vista, The Doors of Devine, Five Points or Newberry's historic downtown.  You will have many dining choices for your lunch or dinner enjoyment.

Columbia Mall  
Columbiana Centre  
Congaree Vista  
Doors of Devine  
Dutch Square Mall  
Five Points
Richland Mall  

Sacred Sites 

  • Historic Columbia Foundation's Sacred Sites Tour: Experience the region's religious history on a walking tour of downtown churches and a synagogue.  The tours begins at the Capitol Building and continues to Trinity Cathedral, First Presbyterian Church, Washington Street Methodist Church, First Baptist Church, Bethel AME, St. Peter's Church and the Big Apple.

  • Lunch at the Big Apple  

  • See funeral and mourning customs at the SC State Museum through exhibits such as the African-American Memory jug and the horse-drawn hearse used in the 1920's.  Before funeral parlors, burial and bereavement was a much more personal and family orientated event.  

  • Dinner at New Orleans Restaurant overlooking the Columbia skyline.

Exploring the African-American Story

  • Historic Columbia Foundation's Trolley Tour of 25 African-American sites.  Included are the Big Apple, a popular nightclub for African-Americans from 1936-1938, the home of the Modjeska Monteith Simkins, a leader in the SC civil rights movement, site of Booker T. Washington High School built in 1916 as the only high school in Columbia for African American students. 

  • Tour the SC State Museum with the curator of African American History.  


Nature & Art

  • Historic Columbia Foundation Trolley Tour of Arsenal Hill including the Governor's Mansion; then to the USC Horseshoe including the USC President's Rose Garden. 

  • Columbia Museum of Art- Lunch on the Garden Terrace including a glass of Southern Ice Tea.

  • Guided tour of landscapes from the permanent collection and the Christian Thee Garden Room.  

  • Tour the 70-acre Riverbanks Botanical Garden which features formal gardens, scenic views and woodland trails.  

  • Spend the afternoon at the Saluda Shoals Park education center with a lecture by a park naturalist.  

  • Optional:  Congaree Owl Prowl 

Agricultural Tour

  • Start your day with a "Southern Farmers Breakfast" at Lizard's Thicket.

  • Travel a scenic, country route to Saluda County to visit a large cattle farm in operation. The county extension agent will be your guide.  Saluda County is noted for its many peach, cotton, cattle & produce farms.

  • Enjoy a "Southern Lunch" as you meet and chat with local farmers.

  • Travel to Harmon's Tree Farm for a guided Hayride Tour of this Xmas Tree Farm.  They also have hundreds of Xmas ornaments on display.

  • Reminisce about the "good ole days" at the Ballentine Farm Museum.  This museum offers visitors an opportunity to view farm tools and implements of yesteryear.

  • Travel to the Lorick Plantation House for relaxing refreshments and a Southern BBQ dinner.  The Lorick Plantation House (circa 1840) now houses the Lake Murray Country Visitors Center, but at one time was the site of a thriving plantation.

 

OTHER TOUR OPPORTUNITIES

The group tour coordinator can assist groups of 10 or more.  Individuals interested in the tour opportunities below should contact the attraction they are interested in. 
CARTER & HOLMES ORCHIDS

This is the 3rd largest orchid nursery East of the Mississippi.  Tour the greenhouses and learn how to grow beautiful orchids and foliage plants. Orchid plants are produced from seed and by tissue culture in the modern laboratory. Orchids, houseplants and foliage plants are available for sale.  (803) 276-0579

FACTORY TOURS

 

KRISPY KREME DOUGHNUTS

Tour groups walk through this doughnut factory where they see the process of doughnut making from beginning to end.  They see how the dough is mixed and how doughnuts are shaped, cooked, glazed, filled, decorated and packed.  A tasty treat is received at the end of the tour.  (803) 926-9943

S.C. EDUCATIONAL TELEVISION

SCETV is nationally recognized as a leader in educational telecommunications.  Groups touring SCETV are walked through the process of creating a television program, which includes scripting, graphic and computer animation, studio production, and distribution.  Groups visit SCETV Master Control where 32 channels of programming are delivered via satellite to sites across the state, nation and world.  (803) 737-3260

HISTORIC HEART OF COLUMBIA TOURS

The Historic Heart of Columbia is a walking tour that visits downtown historic sites, landmarks such as the University of South Carolina Horseshoe, the State House and Trinity Cathedral.  Learn about the city's founding in the late 18th century.  Count the iron starts on the State House walls marking where Union cannonballs hit the building in 1865.  Laugh at the antics perpetrated by USC students since the school's founding in 1801.  (The walking tours are seasonal and those interested should call for scheduled dates.)

Walking Tours

Featured each Tuesday, Historic Heart of Columbia walking tours last approximately 90 minutes.  Tours begin on the front porch of the National Advocacy Center at 6:30 pm and ends in the Congaree Vista, in time for dinner at one of the neighborhood's many restaurants.  You will be able to spend a pleasant evening after the tour enjoying tastes, sights, architecture, and ambience of this unique Columbia area.  As Columbia's trolley system makes frequent stops in the Vista, you are ensured a convenient ride home. Tours are $10 per person. Phone: (803) 252-1770, ext. 24. 

Historic Columbia Home Tours

Tours are conducted by the Historic Columbia Foundation Tuesday through Saturday 10 to 4, and Sunday 1 to 5. Admission fee charged. Tours begin at the gift shop on the grounds of the Robert Mills House and Gardens. Phone: (803) 252-1770, ext. 24.

Homeplaces, Workplaces, Resting Places: African-American Heritage Sites Tour (Driving Tour)

Tours are conducted by the Historic Columbia Foundation. From the Mann-Simons Cottage, home of Celia Mann, a free black mid-wife in antebellum Columbia, to the North Carolina Mutual Building, offices of the largest African-American-owned life insurance company in the United States, this tour explores houses, businesses, cemeteries, and other sites important to the African-American community. Comprised on 25 sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places, this tour features locations that illustrate important events and little-known facts about Columbia's African-American community from 1786 to the present. Along the way, visitors will pass the Modjeska Monteith Simkins house, home of the important South Carolina civil rights activist, the Big Apple, a former synagogue turned night-club, and Benedict College. By special arrangement, groups can tour the Mann-Simons Cottage. This tour is provided as a step-on service on your tour bus or trolleys may be rented for an additional fee. Trolleys have a capacity of 28 people.

HISTORIC TOURS SERVICE

Free driving and walking tours of Greater Columbia. Heritage education programs and heritage touring packages by reservation only - fees charged. Contact: Historic Columbia Foundation, 1601 Richland Street, Columbia, South Carolina, 29201  Phone: (803) 252-7742.

CONGAREE NATIONAL PARK - TOURS

Take a walk on the wild side the 1st and 2nd Saturday of each month!  The guided walks begin at 10am at the Visitor Center and last about 2 hours.  Each walk will have a different focus and is suitable for all ages and interests.  Guided canoe trips are offered the 4th Saturday of the month.  Reservations must be made by the 1st Saturday of the month.  Owl prowls are offered each Friday at dusk during the spring and fall months.  Call to make reservations 2 weeks in advance.  Phone: (803) 776-4396 ext.10.

GHOST TOURS OF COLUMBIA

Join the Ghosts and Legends of Carolina walking tours for a 90 minute narrated encounter with the region's spirit.  Tours depart from the north steps of the state house.  Reservations required.  Phone: (803) 765-1837.

KENSINGTON MANSION GUIDED TOURS

This 29 room, 12,000 square foot mansion is magnificent with its sky lighted dome and elaborate cornices and moldings. This home was built by Matthew Singleton, a wealthy cotton planter and reflects the life of pre-war southern aristocracy.  Guided tours are given: Thurs.-Sat. 9:30am, 11am, 1pm & 2:30pm.  A reservation must be made for 10 or more persons.  Fee: Adults $5.50; Seniors $4.50; Children over 10 $2.50; Children under 10 Free; School Groups Free. 

LAKE TOURS VIA SOUTHERN PATRIOT TOUR BOAT

There are a variety of cruises offered by the Southern Patriot.  Call the number below for reservations and specifics. Other private group tours/special events can be arranged by appointment.  Also, see the calendar of events section of this site for dates of specific cruises. Contact: Lake Tours, PO Box 227, Ballentine, South Carolina, 29002. Phone: (803) 749-8594.

COLUMBIA MUSEUM OF ART TOURS

 The Museum of Art offers guided tours: Thursdays 12:15-1:00pm; Fridays 1:00-1:45pm; Saturdays 1:00-2:00pm; Sundays 1:30-2:30pm.  Also, the Museum offers an Art Safari Family Tour the 1st Saturday of the month 10:30-11:05am. Phone: (803) 799-2810. 

RIVERBANKS ZOO & GARDEN ~ ADVENTURE TOURS

Behind the scenes tours put you in the shoes of Riverbanks Zoo's animal keepers!  All ages are invited to take a walk into the keeper's area and get a behind-the-scenes look into the wonderful world of animal care and training.  Adventure tours are offered on Saturdays only.  Most tours accommodate 1-8 participants. For advance reservations, email kmixon@riverbanks.org or call (803) 799-8717 x1110. 

SOUTH CAROLINA STATE HOUSE

Free tours are available at the South Carolina State House, the seat of South Carolina's legislative and executive branches of government.  Within these walls the General Assembly, comprised of the South Carolina Senate and House of Representatives, drafts the laws that govern our state.  The State House is 145 years old.  There are six bronze stars on the west and southwest walls marking where Union shells struck the building during the Civil War.  Tours are available: Mon.-Fri. 9-5pm; Sat. 10-5pm and the 1st Sunday of the month, 1-5pm. Phone: (803) 734-2430.