South Carolina has much to offer any traveler, from fascinating educational experiences to exhilarating entertainment. Student groups especially look forward to a great time with loads of exciting opportunities to explore everything South Carolina has to offer. This state is committed not only to affordable student travel packages and adventures, but special ones that highlight the state’s commitment to new ways of teaching and learning, from Native American cultural centers to amusement parks.
Uniquely South Carolina
Students looking to learn in fun, engaging ways need travel no further than the East Coast State. Whether its history or industry, you’ll find a number of locations ready to give your student group a special experience.
Let’s start with Z, for once: Z for Zentrum, the building that serves as a museum, gallery and event center at BMW Headquarters in Greer. Groups can either take self-guided tours through the museum look back on the history of BMW’s production and innovation or sign up for a guided tour of the factory where current BMW models are made.
BMW car painted by artist Esther Mahlangu on display in the Zentrum on May 24, 2011. Credit: Visit Greenville SC
The entire York County is devoted to offering a unique way to explore history in all the residing areas. Historic Brattonsville illuminates plantation life in the 1800s as actors demonstrate what foods were grown and eaten and what day-to-day activities were performed by slaves around the plantation—portraying the African American history in a way seldom seen.
At Catawba Indian Cultural Center, learn about a historically marginalized demographic in a newly immersive way. Students taste traditional native dishes and learn native crafting techniques through basket making, bead work and flint-knapping classes. Enjoy some educational fun by attending a traditional Native American Dinner and Dance, or by learning about games young tribe children play.
There’s also the prestigious South Carolina Statehouse in Columbia. Students tour the building where the State Legislature actively discusses and passes legislation. Plenty of history, of course, has passed through these walls as well, as this building is a reconstructed and restored state house that was destroyed in an 1865 fire, at the close of the Civil War.
South Carolina Statehouse. Credit: Capital City/Lake Murray Country Regional Tourism Board
Take Time for Adventure and Team Building
South Carolina is brimming with and adventurous activities that will surely exhilarate everyone in your group. Get in on the action through canopy tours, amusement parks, zoos and national parks.
Camp Canaan in York County offers the Canaan Zipline Canopy Tour, where students zip through the treetops near the Catawba River. The camp offers day-long retreats and longer summer and day-camps. Either way, fun in the form of team building, bonding and wildlife education is always on hand for visitors to Camp Canaan.
Carowinds amusement park, right on the border between North and South Carolina, offers a fun time for students. Students can enjoy the thrilling new Fury 325 roller coaster and put an educational spin on things with physics, engineering, or marketing-based excursions complete with informational workbooks and packets provided by the park. Student bands and choirs can also look to perform at Carowinds during one of its many musical concerts and showcases.
State capital Columbia offers a number of enriching options for exploration, with its Riverbanks Zoo, which offers a zipline tour of the premises, and a Sky-Safari rope obstacle course in addition to traditional tours and animal-inspired activities.
Rope Course. Credit: Capital City/Lake Murray Country Regional Tourism Board
The nearby Congaree National Park offers the standard trails for hiking or canoeing, but also extra chances to learn more about maintaining the park. Congaree’s biodiversity, with some of the oldest hardwood forest growth in the country and nutritionally rich waters, make Congaree an excellent spot for a lesson focusing on our ecosystem. Educational tours led by park rangers teach students about topics ranging from wilderness conservation to what it takes to be a park ranger.
Large Bald Cypress Congaree National Park: Capital City/Lake Murray Country Regional Tourism Board
Fine Arts Shine in South Carolina
South Carolina offers many artistic and cultural attractions of a more relaxing pace that students can experience while recuperating from all those ziplines. Many of these attractions show just how hard South Carolina works to put young people, their education and their entertainment first.
Students enjoy all sorts of exciting shows and productions at Palace Theater in Myrtle Beach, with group tickets for school groups available at a discount rate. Interested in the backstage workings of a theater? Palace Theater provides workshops, tours, cast Q&A sessions and several performing opportunities in places like their grand lobby.
Narroway Theater in Fort Mill has the distinction of being called “The Broadway of Christian entertainment,” producing works focused on religious themes and stories. Live animals are trained and used in these original productions. Meals, often themed to go with performance, are offered with show tickets in group deals.
Columbia Museum of Art sets the stage for art appreciation and education. Guided tours are popular among student groups. Beforehand, teachers can specify whether they’d like the tour to focus on one part of the museum particularly. Collections vary in in style and subject from ancient Asian sculptures to sweeping romantic vistas of the American West.
Pearl Fryar Topiary Garden is another great option for students to enjoy some intriguing sights. The garden combines unique topiary structures with junk sculptures for a one-of-a-kind viewing experience. Garden creator, Pearl Fryar, wished to use his unique artistic skills to show underprivileged and marginalized kids that they have strength and talents.
Pearl Fryar Topiary Garden. Credit: Florence Convention & Visitors Bureau
So there you have it. South Carolina, like no other state, is devoted to providing students with amazing travel opportunities. Activities—both fun and educational, enlightening and exhilarating—await the curious student group looking to find fun in South Carolina. In a million little ways, South Carolina works to provide students their perfect, unique and memorable trip.
