Booking choice: The Downtown Charleston Food Tour, from $110 per person. Check dates Tour details
Charleston's food tours look similar on paper: two and a half to three hours on foot, a small group, a handful of tastings. The prices are close too. What separates them is what they include, who pays full price, and whether you would pay less by booking somewhere else.
Prices below are the from-prices per person on Viator in October 2026, checked against the operators' own sites where they publish one. They move with the season, so the checkout total is the one that counts.
The quick answer
Expect $80 to $111 per person for a standard walking food tour on Viator. The Downtown Charleston Food Tour is from $110 on Viator and $95 on the operator's own site, with the same 24-hour free cancellation. On top, budget a 10 to 20% tip for the guide, any alcohol, and parking at about $1 per 20 minutes in a city garage.
How much does a food tour in Charleston cost in 2026?
A standard walking food tour costs $80 to $111 per person on Viator; a chef-led morning with lunch and wine is $250, and a bar walk without food is $35.
Every price in this table is per person. The private tour is a per-person price too, for a private group with a minimum of two adults.
| Tour | From (per person) | Time | What the price covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Downtown Charleston Food Tour | $110 | 2.5 h | Tastings at 4 restaurants, a meal for most; water |
| Secret Food Tours, French Quarter | $89 | 3 h | A listed menu plus a secret dish |
| Bulldog Tours, Savor the Flavors | $111 | 2.5 h | Food tastings and bottled water |
| Streets and Eats tasting walk | $95 | 2.5 h | Three tastings; soft drinks and iced tea at the sit-down stop |
| Private food and history tour | $94 | 3 h | Four courses at three restaurants, your group only |
| Sweet treats walk | $80 | 2 h | Bakery and dessert tastings |
| Lowcountry cooking class | $99 | 2 h | Ingredients, coffee or tea, and what you cook |
| Chef Forrest Parker | $250 | 4 h | Walk, cooking demo, lunch with wine pairings |
| History and Hops (21+) | $35 | 2 h | One small snack; drinks paid at the bar |
Got a date in mind? The flagship walk cancels free up to 24 hours before, so holding a spot costs nothing.
Check dates for the Downtown Charleston Food TourIs the Downtown Charleston Food Tour cheaper if you book direct?
Yes. Charleston Culinary Tours lists the walk at $95 per guest on its own site, against $110 on Viator, and both cancel free up to 24 hours before.
That is $15 a head, or $30 for a couple. The tour page on the operator site also says the price covers all taxes and the servers' tips at the restaurants; only the guide's tip is extra. If the price is what decides it, book direct. Viator is worth the difference if you want every booking and its reviews in one app, or you are already holding other Charleston plans there.
Either way it is the same tour, the same four restaurants and the same guides. Our Downtown Charleston Food Tour review covers what the walk is actually like.
Is Secret Food Tours cheaper on Viator or on its own site?
On Viator. The French Quarter walk is from $89 there, while the Secret Food Tours site lists it at $104.99.
Here the usual rule flips. The operator's site describes six stops in three to three and a half hours, with an optional upgraded drinks package. One catch on Viator: confirmation can take up to 48 hours, so do not leave it to the last evening of your trip.
Printed menu, 2,391 reviews and a lower price than the operator's own site. Book it a few days ahead to get the confirmation in time.
Explore the Secret Food Tours French Quarter walk Tour detailsWhat costs extra on a Charleston food tour?
The guide's tip on every tour, alcohol on almost every tour, and parking if you drive downtown.
- The guide's tip: excluded on every listing here.
- Alcohol: on the Downtown Charleston Food Tour it is sold at most stops; Bulldog, the private tour and Streets and Eats sell drinks too. Chef Forrest Parker's lunch includes wine pairings, and the Upper King Street walk lists a Bloody Mary and Prosecco on its menu.
- Parking: the City of Charleston's garages charge $1 per 20 minutes with a $24 daily maximum, per the city parking page.
- Getting there: the free DASH shuttle covers the City Market and Waterfront Park, so you may not need the car at all.
How much should you tip a food tour guide in Charleston?
10 to 20% of the ticket price, which is the range Charleston Culinary Tours gives as the common gratuity in the city.
On the $95 direct price that is about $9.50 to $19 a person; on the $110 Viator price, $11 to $22. The operator FAQ is clear that tipping is up to you and that guides appreciate it. Restaurant servers are already covered on that tour, so you are not tipping twice.
Bring a few small bills or check whether your guide takes app payments at the start. Nobody likes the awkward card hunt on the last corner.
Do children pay less on Charleston food tours?
Not on the Downtown Charleston Food Tour, where everyone with a seat pays the same price; some other listings do have child bands.
Charleston Culinary Tours sells one ticket for all ages and does not recommend its tours for under-8s. Secret Food Tours books children aged 3 to 12 and youths aged 13 to 17 separately from adults. The sweet treats walk has a child band for ages 0 to 10. Streets and Eats sells adult tickets from age 8 and says children need a paid ticket to get food and a seat. Bulldog Tours only takes travelers aged 12 and over.
Ages and diets for every tour are in food tours with allergies and kids.
Traveling with kids aged 10 or under? The sweet treats walk has its own child band.
Check dates for the sweet treats walkHow much food do you get for the money?
On the bigger walks, roughly a meal: Charleston Culinary Tours calls it a meal for most, and the Upper King Street listing promises bites that add up to a full meal.
The operator suggests a light lunch or none before the tour, and a late dinner booking after. Most reviewers agree: one guest wrote that the food across the four stops was "definitely equivalent to a full meal". A minority disagree. One guest in September 2026 found the portions sampler-sized and felt the walk was overpriced at about $100 a head.
Streets and Eats is smaller by design, with three tastings, two of them grab-and-go. The sweet treats walk is dessert, not dinner.
What do the pricier options get you?
Privacy, cooking or a chef: the private tour starts at $94 per person for at least two adults, the cooking class is $99, and Chef Forrest Parker's morning is $250.
The private tour is for your group only, with four courses at three restaurants and most of the time spent indoors, out of the heat. Charleston Culinary Tours also runs private versions of its own walk, from $520 per group when booked direct. The cooking class has you make buttermilk biscuits, pimento cheese and a Huguenot torte. Chef Forrest Parker's four hours combine a 90-minute walk, a demo of three recipes and lunch with wine at Bistro a Vin, for guests 21 and over (older teens with parents are the exception).
Want a chef rather than a guide? A 90-minute history walk ends in a cooking demo and a wine-paired lunch.
Explore Chef Forrest Parker's walk and lunch Tour detailsFrequently asked questions
How much is a food tour in Charleston?
Most walking food tours cost $80 to $111 per person on Viator in 2026. A private tour starts at $94 per person for at least two adults, and a chef-led walk with lunch and wine costs $250.
Is the Charleston Culinary Tours food tour cheaper direct?
Yes. The operator lists the Downtown Charleston Food Tour at $95 per guest, against from $110 on Viator. Both cancel free up to 24 hours before.
Are drinks included on Charleston food tours?
Water is, on most of them. Alcohol is sold separately on almost every walk; Chef Forrest Parker's lunch includes wine pairings, and the Upper King Street walk lists a Bloody Mary and Prosecco.
Do you tip on a Charleston food tour?
Yes, the guide's tip is never included. Charleston Culinary Tours says 10 to 20% of the trip cost is the common gratuity in Charleston.
Ready to book
Choose your tour
Free cancellation up to 24 hours before on every option. Prices are from-prices in USD and move with the season.
Downtown Charleston Food Tour
- Tastings at 4 local restaurants, enough for a meal for most guests
- A local professional guide, about 2.5 hours on foot, up to 12 travelers
- Meets at 184 East Bay Street; ends within 3 to 4 blocks of the start
Secret Food Tours: French Quarter
- Listed tastings: pulled pork taco, corn bread, she-crab soup, pecan cluster
- Benne wafers, shrimp and grits and the tour's Secret Dish
- Small group of up to 12 travelers with a local guide
Bulldog Tours: Savor the Flavors
- Tastings such as stone-ground grits, pralines, collard greens, benne wafers and barbecue
- Bottled water and a local professional guide
- Meets at 18 Anson Street; ends on Market Street
