Things to do in Greenville
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Greenville
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Mild spring weather, blossom, Drive baseball from April and the city's greenest trail season.
Hot and humid with afternoon storms. Counter with lakes, splash pads, evening baseball and Shakespeare in the Park.
The other best season, with euphoria in September, Fall for Greenville in October and mountain foliage after.
Quiet and mild cold with the best hotel value, ice skating on Main and the easiest restaurant reservations.
What's on
- Artisphere Mother's Day weekend, May
A top ranked juried art festival filling Main Street. Book rooms early that weekend.
- Greenville Greek Festival May
The locals' food festival at St. George Greek Orthodox Cathedral.
- TD Saturday Market on Main Saturdays, May to October
Upstate farmers and makers close a stretch of Main Street on Saturday mornings.
- euphoria 17-20 September
Greenville's food and wine festival with 30 plus ticketed events and visiting chefs.
- Fall for Greenville 9-11 October
Tastes, tunes and taps down Main Street with 60 plus restaurants and seven stages. The hardest hotel weekend of the year.
- United Community Ice on Main December to January
Outdoor ice skating at Village Green in downtown Greenville through the holiday season.
Best things to do in Greenville
Falls Park on the Reedy
A 32 acre downtown park where the Reedy River falls below the curved Liberty Bridge.
Mice on Main
Nine tiny bronze mice hidden along Main Street turn a downtown stroll into a scavenger hunt.
Peace Center
Greenville's performing arts home for touring Broadway, symphony and ballet on the river.
Fluor Field at the West End
A 5,700 seat ballpark modelled on Fenway, home of the Greenville Drive in the West End.
Greenville County Museum of Art
A free museum at Heritage Green holding a major Andrew Wyeth collection and Southern American art.
The Children's Museum of the Upstate
Hands on exhibits and Reedy River water play pitched from toddlers to about age ten.
Greenville Zoo
A compact 14 acre zoo in Cleveland Park, best known for giraffes and a giraffe feeding encounter.
Unity Park
A 60 acre park with themed playgrounds, a splash pad, wetlands and The Commons food hall.
Where to stay in Greenville
Downtown, Main Street, West End and Falls Park
first trip, walk everywhere
Hotels, restaurants, Falls Park, Fluor Field and the Peace Center sit inside about a mile.
North Main and Heritage Green
quieter downtown base
Beside the museum and library campus, a short walk north of the Main Street core.
Village of West Greenville and Augusta Road
repeat visitors and budget
Galleries and The Anchorage in an arts district a mile west of downtown.
East Greenville, Hartness enclave
spa resort weekend
A resort enclave in a 500 acre community with a preserve, 20 minutes from downtown.
Think twice about
- Woodruff Road and Haywood Mall corridor
Car locked mall sprawl with punishing traffic. Basing there means driving and parking for everything downtown offers on foot.
- White Horse Road motel strip
A run down run of budget motels and truck traffic west of downtown that feels bleak at night and serves no visitor purpose.
- Interstate exit clusters on I-85 and I-385
Interchangeable and unwalkable motel clusters. Cheap rooms there are priced for the location they are in.
Best restaurants in Greenville
Scoundrel
A narrow Main Street French bistro from a Greenville chef who cooked at Per Se and Noma.
Halls Chophouse
The celebration steakhouse on Main Street, known for prime cuts, shareable sides and polished service.
The Anchorage
An eclectic small plates restaurant in the Village built on local sourcing and a changing menu.
Jianna
Modern Italian and an oyster bar on a wraparound deck directly overlooking Falls Park.
Soby's
The downtown New South institution for she crab soup, shrimp and grits and Sunday brunch.
Jones Oyster Co.
A brick seafood shack off Main for East Coast oysters, lobster rolls and hush puppies.
Nose Dive
A Main Street gastropub for elevated comfort food, brunch and a basil bourbon smash.
Sully's Steamers
Steamed bagel sandwiches stuffed and served molten at student friendly downtown prices.
Outdoor things to do in Greenville
Prisma Health Swamp Rabbit Trail
A paved river greenway from downtown Greenville about ten miles north to Travelers Rest.
Paris Mountain State Park
A mountain state park 15 minutes from downtown with 17 miles of trails and a swimming lake.
Caesars Head State Park
A 3,215 foot Blue Ridge overlook and trailhead for the Raven Cliff Falls suspension bridge hike.
Table Rock State Park
A strenuous climb of about 2,000 feet to a bare granite summit above Pinnacle Lake.
The Preserve at Verdae
A Willard Byrd championship public course on rolling foothill terrain inside Greenville.
Paris Mountain Country Club
A friendly semi private course founded in 1938 on the slopes of Paris Mountain.
BMW Performance Center
BMW's American driving centre in Greer for M Schools, off road courses and hot laps.
Flying Rabbit Adventures
A three storey aerial course of about 58 challenges and a zip line beside the Swamp Rabbit Trail.
Best hotels in Greenville
Grand Bohemian Lodge Greenville, Autograph Collection
A lodge style luxury hotel on the bluff directly above Falls Park with a spa and terraces.
The Westin Poinsett
A restored 1925 grande dame hotel on Main Street with a chandeliered historic lobby.
Embassy Suites by Hilton Greenville Downtown Riverplace
All suite rooms by Falls Park with breakfast included and the UP on the Roof rooftop bar.
Aloft Greenville Downtown
A design forward pet friendly hotel by ONE City Plaza with a lively bar and patio.
Hyatt Regency Greenville
A large atrium hotel at the top of Main Street beside Heritage Green and NOMA Square.
Modal
A modern hostel style stay on Augusta Street with private rooms, a coffee bar and free parking.
Hotel Hartness
A serene 73 room luxury hotel with a spa inside a 500 acre community and nature preserve.
Is Greenville expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | $95 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | $170 a person |
| Splurge | $380 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Peace Center: a few days ahead
- BMW Performance Center: weeks ahead
- Scoundrel: weeks ahead
- Halls Chophouse: weeks ahead
- The Anchorage: weeks ahead
- Jianna: a few days ahead
- Grand Bohemian Lodge Greenville, Autograph Collection: weeks ahead
- Hotel Hartness: weeks ahead
- Reserve Scoundrel, The Anchorage and Jianna's deck days to weeks ahead for weekends.
- Book rooms first for Fall for Greenville, Artisphere, graduation and parent weekends.
- Check Pretty Place Chapel's schedule the week you go, because weddings close it.
Is Greenville safe?
- Downtown has no encampment zone and Main Street and the West End are busy, lit and patrolled into the evening.
- Reedy River rocks below the falls are slippery and are how visitors get hurt.
- Summer thunderstorms arrive fast at Table Rock and Caesars Head, where you are the tallest object.
- Dial 911 in an emergency.
Greenville travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Woodruff Road traffic can turn a five mile errand into an hour, worst in December.
- A few park facing Main Street restaurants charge for the view where the kitchen does not match it.
- Falls Park at midday on a summer Saturday is the crowded version of a great park, so go at 8am instead.
Getting around Greenville: public transport and more
- Walk the downtown core, where Falls Park, Main Street, the West End and Heritage Green sit inside about a mile.
- Use the free downtown trolley loop linking the West End, Main Street and County Square parking.
- Ride the Swamp Rabbit Trail as transport to Unity Park, Cleveland Park and Travelers Rest.
- Drive for Paris Mountain, the BMW Center and the mountain state parks, and never rideshare up a mountain expecting a ride back.
Who Greenville suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Great |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Good |
| Families | Great |
| Bachelorette parties | Great |
Make Greenville your trip
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