Two posts in a day, who are they?! We’ve been sitting on this one for six months, so we figured it was about time. If you’d rather watch the guide (instead of read it), check out this video (watch time 12 minutes)…

We visited Greenville, South Carolina in March of this year with the goal of finding the most eclectic places to eat! What we didn’t realize was that Greenville is cold in March! The temperature was hovering between mid-forties and fifties. YIKES!

Since we were the greatest travel bloggers of all time and didn’t check the weather, our outfits were not 40˚ appropriate. Had we packed well we could have taken advantage of some of Greenville’s awesome outdoor activities.

Our B+B, the Swamp Rabbit Inn, had bicycles to rent and Greenville has beautiful hiking and biking trails to explore. Including the Swamp Rabbit Trail and Falls Park where you can find a real-life waterfall. Pretty epic, right?

The downtown area is also filled with local shops to explore. Or, if you’re looking for something in between shopping and nature activities, they have a great zoo.

One thing we noticed is that people in Greenville are super friendly! We were turning left (across traffic) to get into a parking lot, and a car actually stopped to let us in. It was wild!

If you’re looking for photo opportunities, you’ll love downtown Greenville! It’s lined with trees and fairy lights. Hello, Instagram!

Since we were looking for the best places to eat, we picked three of the best rated and most reviewed spots in town plus a fun one we really wanted to try (but not for the food…)! We did individual blog posts on all of these spots. Just click the name to read more.

First we needed to know where to find the best breakfast or brunch. Our top choice is Biscuit Head. They make everything from their biscuits to their maple syrup in house. They also have great coffee, sweet treats, an an atmosphere to match! The staff is super friendly and their biscuits are to die for!

Our second breakfast/brunch stop was made, not because of the food, but because of the interesting atmosphere. It was the Organic Cat Café. Y’all, Jenni loved this place so much she almost cried! It was magical. They have resident cats and cats you can adopt. On top of it all, they have delicious coffee and organic pastries and snacks to munch on.

Once we filled up on biscuits, coffee and cat cuddles, we explored the city and napped in the beautiful Swamp Rabbit Inn. It’s in the perfect location downtown, feels like home and if you bring in a big group, you can rent out the entire B+B! How awesome is that?

The next obvious question… where to eat dinner. We found two great options. Smoke on the Water and Sassafras Bistro. Both of them have absolutely delicious food.

If we had to pick our favorite, we’d go with Smoke on the Water because of the laid back dinner vibe and comfort food. There were families all around us and just an overwhelming sense of love and appreciation. The owner, chef and manager, Mike, told us that was the purpose of making the restaurant in the first place. He wanted somewhere where people could really get a taste of the South. A taste in the food AND the feeling or vibe of the restaurant.

Sassafras Southern Bistro was, just like Smoke on the Water, delicious! The difference was in the atmosphere. Instead of being a down-home, family hangout, it felt more upscale. Even the food
was elevated.

We felt like two classy ladies eating in Sassafras and would go back in a heartbeat!

We loved Greenville! We think it should be on everyone’s must-visit list. With that said, there are two major things that you should know before visiting…

SHOPS

The shops in Greenville’s downtown area are almost all local. There are local coffeeshops, boutiques, athletic stores, antique shops and more. We loved that! Since that’s the case, many of them close early.

On our first night in Greenville we went out to dinner at around six or seven o’clock and most every shop on the main street was already locked up and closed.

PARKING

Parking in downtown Greenville is limited, especially free parking. This isn’t uncommon in cities of any size.

Greenville has parking lining the streets. Some is metered and some is free (but with time limits). They also have parking lots that almost all come with a cost. Many of them are privately owned and cost anywhere from $5 to $10.