Conway’s riverfront, Huntington Beach State Park’s wildlife habitats and Charleston’s historic centre offer three very different reasons to leave Myrtle Beach for the day. Choose the outing for what you want to do, not simply how close it is. A short drive can lead to a full day among gardens and sculpture, while a compact waterfront town can leave you back at the beach later.
These six trips suit a same-day return by car. Conway and Georgetown favour walking, browsing and lunch, Brookgreen Gardens rewards a longer visit, and Wilmington combines a riverfront with a battleship. Charleston is the longest outing, best kept to its historic centre.
Choose a day trip by driving time
| Destination | Outward drive | Distance | Time away | Main draw | Adult admission |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conway | about 30 minutes | about 16 miles | Half day | Riverfront and Main Street | — |
| Huntington Beach State Park | about 31 minutes | about 20 miles | Half or full day | Beach and wildlife | $8 park |
| Brookgreen Gardens | about 32 minutes | about 20 miles | Full day | Sculpture and gardens | $25 |
| Georgetown | just under an hour | about 37 miles | Half day | Historic waterfront | — |
| Wilmington Riverwalk | about an hour and a half | about 73 miles | Full day | Riverwalk and battleship | $14 ship, plus sales tax |
| Charleston | about 2 hours | about 98 miles | Full day | Historic centre | — |
Georgetown is the choice for a town outing near the one-hour mark, and Charleston fits the near-two-hour question. The Wilmington drive ends at the Riverwalk, with a separate local drive to the ship. Conway is the shortest inland escape, whereas the similarly close park and gardens serve quite different interests.
Your accommodation’s position matters: starting north or south of central Myrtle Beach changes the journey. Allow room for traffic, parking and the drive back rather than treating the outward time as the whole commitment. For Wilmington and Charleston, set aside the day and keep the destination visit focused. For a relaxed lunch and a walk without a long return, choose one of the smaller towns.
Conway
Conway suits a half-day change from the beach, with a river walk followed by town browsing and lunch. Arrive by car at Riverfront Park and start beside the Waccamaw River. The Waccamaw Riverwalk makes the river, rather than the ocean, the focus of the outing and gives you a natural starting point before heading into town.
Main Street is the other part of the visit, with shops and restaurants in Conway’s compact centre. Give yourself time to browse rather than making the riverfront a quick stop before driving elsewhere. Lunch in town turns the walk and shops into an outing that does not need a major paid attraction.
If you are choosing between nearby small towns, Conway offers the inland river setting, while Georgetown brings a harbour waterfront and historic homes. Choose Conway when you want the shorter drive and an easy combination of outdoor walking and town time. Return to Myrtle Beach afterwards rather than adding another destination simply because the first visit was short.
Huntington Beach State Park
Huntington Beach State Park rewards a wildlife-focused half day, or a full day if you want to stay on the beach. Divide your attention between the preserved shore, salt marsh and freshwater lagoon. These different habitats give you more to look for than a beach stop alone, so leave time to pause and watch rather than moving straight to the sand.
Gareth Rasberry · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Edited
Atalaya, the historic house within the park, adds architecture to the outdoor visit. Treat it as a separate stop before settling into a long beach break, because its access window ends earlier than the park’s.
- Park hours
- Daily 6am–6pm, until 9pm during Daylight Saving Time
- Park admission, ages 5 and under
- Free
- Atalaya admission
- $2 ages 6+, free ages 5 and under
- Atalaya hours
- Daily 9am–4pm, until 5pm during Daylight Saving Time
- Name
- Huntington Beach State Park
- Location
- Murrells Inlet, SC 29576 Maps
- Essential fact
- A coastal state park near Murrells Inlet with beach, marsh habitats and Atalaya.
- Price
- USD 8 adults
- USD 5 South Carolina seniors
- USD 4 youth ages 6–15
3 more fares
Free children ages 5 and underUSD 2 Atalaya admission · ages 6 and upFree Atalaya admission · children ages 5 and under
Arrive by car from Myrtle Beach and decide whether this is principally a nature visit or a beach day. Combining the park with Brookgreen Gardens means shortening one of the visits. For wildlife watching, the house and unhurried beach time, stay here and leave the gardens for another day.
Brookgreen Gardens
Brookgreen Gardens earns a full day when you want sculpture, gardens, wildlife and history together. American figurative sculpture is the central art attraction, with human figures displayed outdoors among botanical gardens. Spend time looking at the works in their planted settings rather than treating the gardens simply as a path between exhibits.
The Lowcountry Zoo adds animal viewing, while the Lowcountry history displays give the visit a different focus from a conventional garden outing. If you prefer a shorter visit, concentrate on sculpture and gardens instead of trying to include every part. Drive here from Myrtle Beach as a destination in its own right, even though Huntington Beach State Park is nearby.
- Name
- Brookgreen Gardens
- Location
- Murrells Inlet, SC 29576 Maps
- Essential fact
- Gardens near Murrells Inlet combining outdoor American sculpture, botanical collections and the Lowcountry Zoo.
- Price
- USD 25 Adults ages 13–64
- USD 23 Seniors ages 65+
- USD 14 Children ages 4–12
Show 1 more
Free Children ages 3 and under
- Children ages 3 and under
- Free
- General admission validity
- Seven consecutive days
- Hours
- Daily 9:30am–5pm, until 8pm Wednesdays and Saturdays
Ticket validity lets you return separately for parts you have not explored, rather than squeezing the gardens and neighbouring park into a single day. Standard daytime admission requires no advance reservation. General Admission tickets are not date-specific, and you can buy them online or at the gardens.
Georgetown
Georgetown is the half-day choice for a historic harbour waterfront rather than an inland river town. Arrive by car at Harborwalk, then combine the waterfront with Front Street’s shops and restaurants. Walking beside the harbour and browsing the town give the outing two distinct parts without requiring another drive between destinations.
The historic homes around the waterfront add interest beyond the shops. Include Kaminski House as an exterior landmark, taking time to look at the house and its setting rather than building the day around an interior visit. Leave lunch for Front Street so you can pause in town before returning to Myrtle Beach.
Commercial Colortype Co · Public domain · Edited
Compared with the longer city excursions, this compact visit leaves more of your time for exploring and less for driving. Conway is the alternative if you prefer a riverfront and the shortest journey. Do not add both Brookgreen Gardens and Huntington Beach State Park to a Georgetown outing. Each has enough to occupy a substantial visit, and adding both turns a relaxed town day into a succession of brief stops.
Wilmington
- USS North Carolina adult, ages 12+
- $14
- Seniors, ages 65+
- $10
- Active or retired military and dependents
- $10 with military ID
- Youth, ages 6–11
- $6
- Children, ages 5 and under
- Free
- Accessible (ADA) admission
- $6 adults, $3 youth ages 6–11, one aide free
- Groups, 10+ paying visitors, one payment source
- $10 adults, $5 youth, ages 5 and under free
- Tax
- North Carolina sales tax applies
- Hours
- Daily 8am–5pm, including holidays
- Christmas Day
- Opens at noon
Wilmington suits a full day combining its historic Riverwalk with USS North Carolina across the Cape Fear River. Start on the downtown waterfront, where the Riverwalk gives you a view towards the battleship before you visit it. If you prefer town walking to naval history, keep the day centred on the riverfront and leave out the ship.
The drive from the Riverwalk to USS North Carolina is about 2.3 miles and takes about 7 minutes. Allow time to return to the car and park again, rather than treating the ship as the next stop on the same walk.
The battleship lets you explore a warship’s decks and interior spaces. For a stair-free visit, use the Visitor Center, Main Deck and accessible portions of its interior, plus the Memorial Walkway around the ship. Reaching the lower and upper decks requires stairs or ladders, so choose your visit according to what you can comfortably manage.
David Wilson · CC BY 2.0 · Edited
Charleston
Charleston needs a full day from Myrtle Beach, best devoted to a compact historic-centre visit. Begin at City Market for browsing, continue to Rainbow Row’s pastel-coloured Georgian houses, and make The Battery your waterfront stop. This combination brings together the market, distinctive streetscape and harbour edge without adding an outlying attraction.
w_lemay · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Edited
Drive to the centre and explore on foot once parked. Adding Fort Sumter, which involves a boat excursion, or attractions outside the centre takes time away from those sights and lunch. For a same-day return, keep the city visit focused rather than trying to cover all of Charleston.
An organised round-trip coach excursion is an alternative if you would rather not drive. Charleston Adventures is one example, offered on the dates available in its booking calendar. Its published excursion window is 6:30am–6pm. Passengers leave from a Myrtle Beach meeting point and are dropped in Charleston’s historic district, then collected at the same location about six and a half hours later for the return.
Sources & fact-checking
Checks against the sources below cover: fares and charges, opening hours, and services.
- Brookgreen Gardens — fares and charges
- Brookgreen Gardens — opening hours
- Day Trips to Charleston (Charleston Tours & Events and Adventure Sightseeing) — service
- Charleston Harbor Tours and Tour Management Services, Inc. — service
- South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism — fares and charges
- Battleship North Carolina — fares and charges
