There’s real pleasure to be gleaned from driving in Charleston and its surrounding area. Far from the big cities and their tangle of freeways, life here moves at a gentler pace. The scenery helps – the blue of the sea to the east, the heritage buildings everywhere else. The nearby roads and bridges also open up a world of beaches and islands, ripe for exploration.

Many rules of the road in the US are common sense. Most importantly, the one to remember is to drive on the right-hand side of the road, overtaking on the left.

Speed limits differ by road type and area, with a top speed in Charleston and other towns and cities of 30mph. Interstates are the main motorways in the US, and in South Carolina they have a top speed of 70mph in rural parts, dropping to 60mph when they pass through built-up areas.

The I-26 is the main interstate serving Charleston, beginning close to the South Carolina Aquarium and running north out of the city to the airport and beyond – it will eventually take you to Columbia. Much of Charleston is on a peninsula, with the Ashley River to one side, the Cooper to the other.

The roads in the city are mostly on a grid system, so navigation is quite straightforward. King Street and Meeting Street are perhaps the two main north to south thoroughfares and pass by many of the sights. For west to east, look out for Calhoun Street and Broad Street in the Historic District. The latter is small and can be explored on foot – there are plenty of parking garages close by.

A charming feature of Charleston’s roads is the large number of horse-and-carriages, popular with tourists – you can slowly overtake these.

A hotbed of history – this is where the opening salvos of the American Civil War were fired. Charleston is, happily, honest about its past - much of it being built by slave labour. It has kept some of the best aspects of time gone by, especially the treasured buildings of the Georgian and Victorian eras. There’s a smorgasbord of things to see, places to visit and truly brilliant food to eat here.

From cotton to the Civil War

Slavery and Charleston’s prosperity were intertwined. It’s the cotton plantations that boosted the city’s coffers and helped it develop into the place it is now. If you visit Boone Hall – a plantation that is still active – you’ll see the old slave quarters, one of many places to learn about African-American culture in the area. In the city, the Old Slave Mart Museum is where humans were once sold to other humans, instructive but definitely sobering.

You can trace the earliest days of the Civil War here too, with Fort Sumter near the harbour where it all kicked off. The Fort was shelled repeatedly by the Union forces, and there are still guns that saw service in the stronghold’s defence in display.

The French Quarter

Compact and quaint, the Historic District of Charleston consists of two areas, cheek by jowl. Both the French Quarter and South of Broad give more than a hint of the antebellum past, while horses pull carriages around, mostly for the benefit of tourists.

There are old homes to visit here, many of them reminiscent of Gone with the Wind, with Calhoun Mansion a definite highlight. It’s stuffed to the rafters with elaborate furniture and objects d’art from around the world. The Heyward-Washington House was owned by a man who signed the Declaration of Independence – and George Washington once lived here… for all of a week. Head for Charleston City Market, open since 1804 and home to hundreds of stalls. It’s the place for handmade and local souvenirs.

A food revolution

The staid and secure old world of southern cuisine has been somewhat upset in recent years by a growing surge of locavore and slow food restaurants. They’ve focussed national attention on the city and visitors don’t just come for the old gas lamps and cobbled streets any more – many come to eat.

Create your own tour of the finest food spots here with Charleston car hire. Husk, located on Queen Street, is semi-legendary, and the place where the ‘New South’ was created. That said, there are still plenty of places to go the traditional route, with barbecue and fried chicken restaurants all over the city. Rodney Scott’s BBQ on King Street is the spot for pit-cooked chicken and slow-smoked hogs.

For seafood, head for The Ordinary. This former bank bills itself as the home ‘Fancy Seafood’ and it doesn’t fail to deliver on that promise. There’s an oyster bar, exceptional crab toast and a fish gumbo for a taste of classic Charleston.

Charleston car hire positions you perfectly for exploring all of the ins and outs of this central piece of African-American history.