This aristocratic colonial port boasts beautifully restored antebellum homes, quaint old churches and lovely hidden gardens. So many churches dot the streets of Charleston that the city has been nicknamed ‘The Holy City’. Some of the most historic among them include the First Baptist Church, French Huguenot Church, St Philip’s Episcopal Church and the Unitarian Church. Popular attractions include Cabbage Row, which was the inspiration for America’s first opera, Porgy & Bess. Charles Towne Landing is an unusual park located on the first permanent English settlement in South Carolina. Visitors can take a guided tram tour of the original 1670 fortification or board a replica of a 17th-century trading ketch and explore 11km (7 miles) of pathways through beautiful English park gardens. The Market Hall, a National Historic Landmark in a Greek Revival style, houses the Confederate Museum. Other attractions include Middleton Place, America’s oldest formal English garden; Magnolia Garden; Boone Hall Plantation; Drayton Hall; the Charleston Museum; the Cold War Memorial at Patriot’s Point Naval and Maritime Museum; and the Spirit of South Carolina, a replica tall ship docked at the north end of Union Terminal Pier.