Discover Columbia

Columbia is located in the center of South Carolina at the junctions of Interstates 20, 26 and 77. It is South Carolina's most populated city, the state capital, the county seat of Richland Country . It is the home of the University of South Carolina's main campus, and the site of the South Carolina State Fair every October. Part of Columbia also extends into Lexington Country.

Columbia was settled by Europeans in the early 1700s and chosen to be the site of South Carolina's new state capital in 1786. It was chartered as a town in 1805 and as a city in 1854. Columbia was named for Christopher Columbus, and it was South Carolina's first planned city (wide streets arranged in a grid pattern) and the second planned city in the United States (Savannah was the first). Despite this, Columbia did not have a single paved street until Main Street was surfaced in 1908.

Getting There

Transportation
Columbia Metropolitan Airport is served by Delta, Comair, Continental, United and US Airways. Alamo, Avis, Budget, Hertz, and Thrifty all have airport outlets. Many of the airport area hotels provide courtesy shuttles. Unless your stay in Columbia is for a convention based at a particular hotel, a car is pretty much a necessity. It’s a difficult town to get around in on public transportation alone.

By Bus
Central Midlands Regional Transit Authority (CMRTA)
Central Midlands Regional Transit Authority runs the local bus service throughout metropolitan Columbia.

Columbia Trolley
The Central Midlands Regional Transit Authority (CMRTA) runs the Trolleys Monday thru Friday with Daytime service from 7:30 am to 5:30 pm and Evening service from 5:30 pm to 11:30 pm.