Direct Flights from Chicago to Charleston
Charleston · South Carolina
Nonstop service from ORD and MDW to CHS on American, Southwest, United. Here's the schedule at a glance — plus what to do once you land.
Which airports fly this route
Chicago has 2 airports with nonstop service to Charleston. Fares differ by airport — each row opens that exact search on Kayak.
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- Find flights ↗ORDCHSChicago O'Hare International
- Find flights ↗MDWCHSChicago Midway International
How rare is this nonstop?
46 cities have a nonstop to Charleston, Chicago among them.
How long to go to Charleston for, from Chicago
2h in the air, 761 miles — a Friday-evening departure still leaves you most of the evening in Charleston. Two nights works.
With roughly 6 departures a day, you are not tied to one flight: if a meeting overruns or the weather turns, there is another one behind it.
About Charleston
Charleston is the largest and oldest city in the state of South Carolina in the United States of America. Its historic downtown is on a peninsula formed by two rivers, the Ashley and the Cooper, flowing into the Atlantic, and protected from the open ocean by surrounding islands. Charleston was captured in the American Civil War without much property damage, so the historic part of town has buildings that are hundreds of years old. The current downtown skyline, with practically no tall buildings due to the city's height restriction ordinance, is dominated by church steeples and the stunning Arthur Ravenel cable-stay bridge over the Cooper River. The city is a major port on the eastern seaboard of the U.S. and a popular destination for domestic and international tourists.
Summary from Wikivoyage (CC BY-SA).
Top things to do in Charleston
- Fort Sumter is an incomplete sea fort at the mouth of Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, where the battle that sparked the American Civil War took place.
- USS Yorktown (CV/CVA/CVS-10) is one of 24 Essex-class aircraft carriers built during World War II for the United States Navy.
- H. L. Hunley, also known as the Hunley, CSS H. L. Hunley, or CSS Hunley, was a submarine of the Confederate States of America that fought in the American Civil War.
- USS Laffey (DD-724) is an Allen M. Sumner-class destroyer constructed during World War II, laid down and launched in 1943, and commissioned in February 1944.
- The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston, located in Charleston, South Carolina.
- The Charleston Museum is a museum located in the Wraggborough neighborhood in Charleston, South Carolina. Established in 1773, it is the oldest museum in the United States.
- The Cathedral of St. John and St. Finbar was the first Roman Catholic cathedral in Charleston, South Carolina. The cathedral followed the first Roman Catholic Church in Charleston, St. Mary's, founded around 1800.
- The South Carolina Aquarium, located in downtown Charleston, South Carolina, opened on May 19, 2000.
- The Old Exchange & Provost Dungeon, also known as the Custom House, and The Exchange, is a historic building at East Bay and Broad Streets in Charleston, South Carolina.
- Mepkin Abbey is a Trappist monastery in Berkeley County, South Carolina, United States.
- Magnolia Plantation and Gardens is a historic house with gardens located on the Ashley River at 3550 Ashley River Road west of Ashley, Charleston County, South Carolina.
- The Gibbes Museum of Art, formerly known as the Gibbes Art Gallery, is an art museum in Charleston, South Carolina.
Attraction descriptions from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA); place data from Wikidata (CC0).
Charleston weather, compared with Chicago
17° warmer than Chicago on average across the year, on daytime highs:
- January
- Charleston 60°F · Chicago 31°F · 29° warmer
- April
- Charleston 77°F · Chicago 59°F · 19° warmer
- July
- Charleston 91°F · Chicago 84°F · 7° warmer
- October
- Charleston 78°F · Chicago 62°F · 16° warmer
Charleston is the steadier of the two, moving 31° between its coldest and warmest months where Chicago moves 53°.
Average daily highs, 1991–2020 station normals from Meteostat (CC BY 4.0), measured at each city's airport.
Planning a trip to Charleston
- Best time to visit
- The best time to visit Charleston is October–April, when daytime highs are a comfortable 60–78°F.
- How long to stay
- Charleston rewards a longer visit — a full week lets you explore its many sights, from Fort Sumter, USS Yorktown (CV-10), and H. L. Hunley and beyond.
Frequently asked questions
- Is there a direct flight from Chicago to Charleston?
- Yes — you can fly nonstop from Chicago (ORD, MDW) to Charleston (CHS) on American, Southwest, United.
- Which airlines fly nonstop from Chicago to Charleston?
- American, Southwest, United fly nonstop between Chicago (ORD, MDW) and Charleston (CHS).
- Which Chicago airport has nonstop flights to Charleston?
- You can leave from 2 Chicago airports: ORD (Chicago O'Hare International) on American, United; MDW (Chicago Midway International) on Southwest.
- How many nonstop flights are there from Chicago to Charleston?
- There are about 6 nonstop departures per day (roughly 42 per week) from Chicago to Charleston.
- How far is Charleston from Chicago?
- Charleston is about 761 miles from Chicago by air.
- What is there to do in Charleston?
- Popular things to do include Fort Sumter, USS Yorktown (CV-10), H. L. Hunley, USS Laffey (DD-724), and more.
More nonstop destinations from Chicago near Charleston
Airports near Chicago
The closest other departure airports to Chicago — each opens up more nonstop destinations.