Gullah Tours on Hilton Head Island
Take a bus tour of Hilton Head’s Gullah neighborhoods or cross to Daufuskie with a Gullah guide, then book below.
Book a Gullah Tour
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Outside
Daufuskie Island History & Artisans Excursion
2 options — pick yours when booking
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Gullah Tour Companies
The Gullah are the descendants of enslaved West Africans, and the freed people who bought land on the Sea Islands after the Civil War kept the language, food and family compounds that make the culture. On Hilton Head the story is told in places, and these tours take you to them. Three businesses run Gullah tours on or from the island today.
70 Honey Horn Dr, Hilton Head Island, SC 29926
A narrated bus tour of the island’s Gullah neighborhoods with guides who grew up here before the bridge, about 2½ hours with a beach stop. It leaves from the Coastal Discovery Museum.
1 Shelter Cove Ln, Hilton Head Island, SC 29928
The History & Artisans Excursion takes about four and a half hours: a boat from Shelter Cove Marina, then a golf-cart tour of Daufuskie’s church, school, lighthouse and artists’ studios. It also offers a private day on Daufuskie with Sallie Ann Robinson.
Three hours around Daufuskie’s Gullah sites with a sixth-generation native, in an air-conditioned bus from the Melrose dock. It runs rain or shine, and the ferry from Hilton Head is booked separately.
Choosing a Gullah Tour
For the shortest route into the story, take Gullah Heritage Trail Tours. It stays on Hilton Head, rides through the neighborhoods where Gullah families still live, and stops at the site of Mitchelville, the freedmen’s town founded in 1862, now Historic Mitchelville Freedom Park. Its guides are Gullah, raised on the island before the bridge opened in 1956.
To see where the culture is still lived day to day, cross to Daufuskie Island. Outside Hilton Head’s History & Artisans Excursion is the all-in version: the boat, the golf-cart tour and the guide are one booking from Shelter Cove Marina. Sallie Ann Robinson’s Gullah Tour is the one to pick if you would rather spend the time with a Gullah guide who grew up on Daufuskie, and you are happy to book the ferry yourself; see the Daufuskie ferry page for times and the landing. The island itself is on the Daufuskie Island tours page.
Gullah Heritage Trail Tours also runs private and group tours by request, including trips to Penn Center on St. Helena Island and to Charleston, for a family, a reunion or a school group. Call (843) 681-7066 to ask. Before or after any of these, the Gullah Museum of Hilton Head Island is a short stop, and Beaufort is the nearest town with more Gullah history.
More on Gullah Culture and Hilton Head Tours
Gullah Geechee culture on Hilton Head: who the Gullah people are, their language and food, the Gullah Museum, Mitchelville, and Gullah heritage tours.
Hilton Head tours by air and land: helicopter and Segway tours, ghost and history tours, plus Gullah heritage, with links to boat tours.
Gullah Heritage Trail Tours: a narrated bus tour of Hilton Head's Gullah neighborhoods with native guides, from the Coastal Discovery Museum. From $25.
Daufuskie Island tours from Hilton Head: guided boat and golf-cart trips to the Gullah church, Mary Field School and art studios, plus tours on the island.
Gullah Museum of Hilton Head Island at 12 Georgianna Drive: tours Monday, Wednesday and Friday by appointment, $25 admission, and the Gullah Food Festival.
Historic Mitchelville Freedom Park, on the site of the first self-governed town of freed people in the US: free trail, exhibits and guided tours.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Gullah tours are there on Hilton Head Island?
Gullah Heritage Trail Tours runs a narrated bus tour of the island’s Gullah neighborhoods from the Coastal Discovery Museum. Outside Hilton Head runs a boat-and-golf-cart History & Artisans Excursion to Daufuskie Island and a private Gullah day there with Sallie Ann Robinson. Sallie Ann Robinson also runs her own three-hour Gullah tour on Daufuskie.
How long is a Gullah tour on Hilton Head?
Gullah Heritage Trail Tours takes about two and a half hours, with a stop at a public beach. Sallie Ann Robinson’s tour on Daufuskie is three hours, not counting the ferry. Outside Hilton Head’s History & Artisans Excursion takes about four and a half hours from Shelter Cove Marina.
Where does the Gullah Heritage Trail tour start?
At the Coastal Discovery Museum at Honey Horn, 70 Honey Horn Drive, Hilton Head Island.
Do I need to take a ferry for a Gullah tour?
Only for Daufuskie. Gullah Heritage Trail Tours stays on Hilton Head. Outside Hilton Head’s excursion includes the boat from Shelter Cove Marina. Sallie Ann Robinson’s tour starts at the Melrose dock on Daufuskie, and the ferry is booked separately.
Can I book a private Gullah tour?
Yes. Gullah Heritage Trail Tours runs private and group tours by request. Outside Hilton Head offers a private Daufuskie day with Sallie Ann Robinson and a private version of its History & Artisans Excursion.
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