Columbia: South Carolina's capital

At the confluence of three major rivers, Columbia remains the capital of South Carolina and home to its main state university.

The downtown, capital of South Carolina State, is comfortably walkable.

The South Carolina State House, with visible bullet scars still present on its facade from the Civil War, dominates the downtown imposingly.

A few minutes away, the Riverbanks Zoo and Garden, among America's highest-rated zoos, also houses extensive and well-maintained botanical gardens along the Saluda River.

Continuing towards the campus, you visit the historic University of South Carolina, with its celebrated Horseshoe surrounded by elegant nineteenth-century buildings.

Towards evening, the vibrant Five Points neighbourhood comes alive with restaurants and bars much frequented by the large local student community.

The South Carolina State House still displays six bronze stars marking the exact points where Union artillery struck during the city's great fire of 1865.

Columbia was founded in 1786 specifically as a new state capital in a central location, replacing Charleston to make government more accessible to the entire state of South Carolina.