• Soak up a little luxury while relaxing at a Myrtle Beach or Charleston beach resort, such as the Wild Dunes Resort (website: www.wilddunes.com) on the Isle of Palms, or the golf resort of Kiawah Island (website: www.kiawahresort.com).

• Take a horse and carriage ride through the Downtown Historic District of Charleston (website: www.charlestoncvb.com), and enjoy the charm of this gracious southern town.

• Walk through a pre-revolutionary dungeon on the Charleston Ghost and Dungeon Walking Tour (website: www.charlestondungeon.com) as you explore the haunted old Historic District.

• Spend the day at the Riverbanks Zoo and Garden (website: www.riverbanks.org) in Columbia. Watch elephant training demonstrations, penguin feedings or bird flight demonstrations. The zoo has won many awards, including one for its toucan-breeding programme.

• Entertain the children at Myrtle Beach attractions (website: www.lovingmyrtlebeach.com/attractions) such as the Myrtle Beach National Wax Museum; Myrtle Beach Pavilion Amusement Park; NASCAR Speedpark; and Ripley's Aquarium.

• Stay in one of South Carolina's historic inns or bed & breakfasts (website: www.southcarolinabedandbreakfast.com), from old plantations to stately Victorian mansions, often nestled in gardens ablaze with flowering dogwoods and azaleas.

• Get wet on any one of the fun water rides at Myrtle Waves Water Park (website: www.lovingmyrtlebeach.com/attractions) and Wild Water and Wheels (website: www.wild-water.com) in Surfside Beach. The Family Kingdom Amusement Park (website: www.family-kingdom.com) boasts Swamp Fox, a legendary wooden roller coaster.

• Rent an old beach house on Pawley's Island (website: www.townofpawleysisland.com), once a refuge for colonial rice planters' families wishing to avoid malaria. Buy an original Pawley's Island rope hammock that is handmade in this area.

• Tee off on one of over 335 golf courses statewide. The Low Country offers more than 100 championship courses, several of which are frequented by renowned master players - the Kiawah Island Resort is ranked as one of the top courses in the USA.

• Visit Hilton Head (website: www.hiltonheadisland.org), considered a golfing and tennis paradise with its miles of dazzling white sand beaches, bike trails, beaches, tennis courts and some of the nation's premier golf courses.

See Contact Addresses for further tourist information