Last updated: September 2026
North Myrtle Beach was the middle chapter of our US East Coast road trip this June, sandwiched between Charleston and Richmond on the way up to Washington DC. We had four nights here, which turned out to be exactly the right amount of time: long enough to properly settle in, short enough that we didn’t run out of things to do.
If Charleston was the cultural highlight of the trip and DC was the big-city finale, North Myrtle Beach was the exhale in the middle. We were based in a gorgeous holiday rental with a private pool, ate dinner on the deck most evenings, and let the pace slow right down. With a 17-month-old, that’s sometimes exactly what a trip needs.
In this guide:
Where to stay Things to do Where to eat Getting there Destination score
👉 Don’t have time to read the whole article? Browse North Myrtle Beach holiday rentals on Vrbo, or search things to do with GetYourGuide.
North Myrtle Beach vs Myrtle Beach: what’s the difference?
They share a name but they feel like quite different places. Myrtle Beach is the bigger, busier destination: a high-rise strip with a famous boardwalk, the SkyWheel, arcades, amusements, and a lot of commercial noise. It’s fun, but for us is more of a day trip location.
In contrast, North Myrtle Beach sits a few miles up the coast and has a fairly different atmosphere. It’s quieter (although there’s still plenty of beachfront hotels), has more residential areas right near the sea, and the beach is less crowded. There’s no boardwalk (which is a shame) but the overall feel is much more suited to families looking to relax.
Why North Myrtle Beach works well with kids
- The beach is the main event: long, wide, and gently shelving. Very manageable with a toddler, and we found it much less crowded than we expected for gorgeous weather in June
- Holiday rentals are brilliant here: we had a deck overlooking a private pool, a full kitchen, and space to spread out, which with a toddler makes a real difference to how the evenings feel
- There’s enough around to fill four or five nights: between the beach, the nature walks, day trips into Myrtle Beach proper, and the Calabash seafood run, we never found ourselves scratching around
One watch-out: the heat and humidity in June is real, same as Charleston, with 32°C+ days. Plan outdoor things for the morning where possible – it’s just too hot to do walks any later in the day!
Where to stay in North Myrtle Beach with kids
For families with young children, North Myrtle Beach is a self-catering destination first and foremost. Private rental homes with pools are widely available, reasonably priced for what you get, and make the whole trip feel more relaxed: somewhere to decompress after beach days, pools to lounge around while the toddler naps, and no restaurant scramble once the kids go to bed.
We stayed in this three-bedroom home, and it was one of the best rentals we’ve stayed in anywhere. It sits in a quiet residential area one block from Main Street, which meant we could walk to Music on Main on Thursday evenings or pop over the road to the playground. The house has a private heated pool on the back deck, a large fully equipped kitchen, a washer/dryer, and plenty of space.
If we went back we’d probably stay there again, but if we had to choose somewhere else we’d look in the Cherry Grove area at the northern end of North Myrtle Beach. Vrbo has a good selection of rentals there including homes with private pools close to the pier. For the wider North Myrtle Beach area, browse all Vrbo rentals here.
As with Charleston, we hired toys through BabyQuip, which delivers and collects directly from your accommodation. It made the mornings and evenings so much easier, and with a fresh set of toys to investigate and a ride-on toy to obsess over, R was happy to entertain himself while we actually sat down for five minutes. If you haven’t used BabyQuip before, our full write-up on hiring baby equipment abroad is worth a read. Our local host, Carly, not only dropped off some chalk and bubbles for R to keep but also gave us some great local recommendations!
Best family hotels in North Myrtle Beach
If you’d prefer a hotel, the better options here tend to be condo-style resorts with full kitchens and separate living spaces rather than traditional hotels. A few worth knowing about:
North Beach Resort & Villas is the most complete resort on this stretch of coast. It sits on a 7.5-acre island between the Atlantic and Whitepoint Swash, with a large Caribbean-themed pool complex including multiple pools, a lazy river, private cabanas, and a swim-up bar. Accommodation ranges from hotel suites to full multi-bedroom villas with kitchens. The on-site steakhouse, 21 Main, is well regarded if you get a child-free evening.
Prince Resort sits right next to Cherry Grove Pier at the quieter northern end of North Myrtle Beach. Two-bedroom suites with sofa beds make it a good pick for larger families or those travelling with grandparents. There’s a rooftop pool with good coastal views, a family pool, and a lazy river.
Ocean Creek Resort is a gated oceanfront property with wooded walking paths, tennis courts, multiple pools, and a private beach club. Two-bedroom villas with full kitchens are available, and the atmosphere is quieter and more secluded than the Ocean Drive resorts. It sits right next to Barefoot Landing.
Browse all North Myrtle Beach hotels.
Things to do in and around North Myrtle Beach
The beach
Start here and come back often. The beach at North Myrtle Beach is wide and sandy with calm enough water for paddling at the edges. We went in the mornings before the heat peaked, which worked well around R’s schedule and meant we had space before the day-trippers arrived.
One evening we took chairs down and had dinner on the beach, which was one of the best things we did the whole trip. Parking is free after 5pm in many areas around North Myrtle Beach, which makes an evening beach trip very easy to pull off. Full details on free parking areas here.
Cherry Grove Beach
North Myrtle Beach covers several distinct beach communities, and Cherry Grove at the northern end is one of the most popular. It has its own pier and a slightly quieter stretch of coastline. Worth a visit if you want to explore a different part of the coast during your stay.
Music on Main
If you’re there on a Thursday evening, don’t miss Music on Main. It’s a free outdoor music event on Main Street and it’s great fun for all ages. There’s a relaxed festival atmosphere with food vendors, and R was completely in his element with the music and the people-watching.
Vereen Memorial Gardens
A lovely free nature walk through woodland and along the marshy waterfront. Parking is free on site and the trails are flat. It’s quiet and calm, a nice counterpoint to beach days, and we spotted plenty of birds along the way.
Heritage Shores Nature Reserve
A similar feel to Vereen and another good option for an easy walk. One practical note: parking is here and requires payment via an app or phone number rather than a meter, so worth downloading the app or having the number ready before you arrive. See my parking photo above for a head start – these signs are everywhere just with different location codes.
McLean Park
A small park with a walk around the pond and a playground. Nothing elaborate, but it’s free!
Barefoot Landing
Very touristy, but it’s a nice setting and worth an hour or so. The highlight for us was the saltwater taffy shop, which makes for excellent and affordable souvenirs to bring home. There’s also a carousel that sadly wasn’t open.
There’s also Alligator Adventure at Barefoot Landing, a large reptile and wildlife attraction that comes up a lot in recommendations for the area. We skipped it having seen plenty of alligators in the wild at Magnolia Plantation in Charleston and on our Florida Keys trip back in December, but it looks good for families who haven’t had that fix elsewhere.
Myrtle Beach boardwalk
About 20 minutes south, the Myrtle Beach boardwalk is worth a visit for a change of scene. It’s flat and pram-friendly, with the ocean on one side and a mix of amusements, food stalls, and shops on the other. The SkyWheel is hard to miss on the skyline. We went for a morning wander rather than making a full day of it, which felt about right. Parking can be pricey right by the boardwalk, but we found free parking at this restaurant area nearby and walked from there. Myrtle Beach is best experienced in doses from a North Myrtle Beach base rather than somewhere you’d want to stay.
EdVenture, Children’s Museum of South Carolina, Market Common
Also in Myrtle Beach, our trip to EdVenture was a gifted press visit and a nice break for the afternoon South Carolina heat. With a full supermarket, dentist, and other activities, it brought R a lot of enjoyment!
If you’ve also been to the Children’s Museum of the Lowcountry in Charleston, this one is slightly smaller and I’dsay more geared towards older children. That said, for younger toddlers it’s a solid hour activity, and the Market Common area itself is pleasant for lunch or a coffee afterwards. We spent another 45 minutes choosing some books to take home in the fantastic children’s area of Barnes & Noble across the road!
Murrells Inlet
We didn’t make it to Murrells Inlet but it came up repeatedly as a recommendation, particularly for seafood and a more relaxed waterfront than Myrtle Beach proper. About 25 minutes south, and worth adding if you have a fifth night.
Mini golf
We didn’t tackle any of the courses with a 17-month-old, but it would be remiss not to mention it: this stretch of coast takes mini golf very seriously. There are eight courses in North Myrtle Beach alone, and they are not your average put-putt. Think lava-themed courses with erupting volcanoes, pirate settings, jungle layouts with dinosaurs, and full theatrical productions built around 18 holes. For families with kids from around 4 or 5 upwards it’s a big part of why people come here, and worth factoring in if you’re visiting with older children or a mixed-age group.
Where to eat in North Myrtle Beach
We self-catered most evenings, but here’s where we ate out and what we’d recommend.
- Hoskins Restaurant on Main Street has been there since 1948 and is a proper local institution. We used it for takeout one evening and the food was great: home-cooked Southern classics at very reasonable prices. It also works well as a sit-down dinner.
- Melt on Main Street for ice cream. We went more than once.
- Calabash, North Carolina is about 15 minutes over the state border and very much worth the drive. There are dozens of seafood shacks and restaurants dotted around. We went to Captain Nance’s for lunch which was delicious and very family-friendly: fried shrimp, hushpuppies, coleslaw and the like. Proper Southern seafood at very reasonable prices.
Getting to North Myrtle Beach from the UK
There are no direct flights from the UK to Myrtle Beach, though the regional airport (MYR) is served by some US domestic routes. The most practical approach from the UK is to fly into Charlotte (roughly 2.5 hours by car) or Atlanta (around 5 hours), or to combine it as part of a wider East Coast road trip as we did, flying into Atlanta and working your way north.
If you’re driving up from Charleston, Georgetown is worth a lunch stop on the way. It’s a small town on the river with a pretty waterfront and a very relaxed atmosphere. We stopped here on the drive up and loved it. It sits about 45 minutes from both Charleston and North Myrtle Beach, so it falls neatly in the middle.
You’ll need a car. North Myrtle Beach isn’t walkable beyond the immediate beach area, and most of the best activities require driving. We’d recommend searching with Discover Cars to compare rates.
North Myrtle Beach as part of an East Coast road trip
This stretch of the South Carolina coast works really well as a mid-trip beach break on a longer East Coast route. Here’s how our full itinerary looked:
- Lake Oconee, Georgia (1 night after landing in Atlanta)
- Charleston, South Carolina (3 nights)
- North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina (4 nights)
- Richmond, Virginia (1 night)
- Washington DC (2 nights)
For more inspiration on US East Coast routes, our family road trip ideas post covers several options we’ve done or would do.
Our North Myrtle Beach family destination score
1. Getting there: ⭐️⭐️
No direct UK flights. Best reached by car as part of a road trip, flying into Atlanta or Charlotte. Search Discover Cars for hire car rates.
2. Pramability: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The beach itself requires a bit of effort with a pram, and the nature trails are better with a carrier for the narrower sections. The boardwalk in Myrtle Beach is flat and easy, as is Market Common. For general day-to-day movement it’s a car-based destination rather than a walking one.
3. Adult fun factor: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
It’s not Charleston for food or DC for sights, but that’s not really the point. If you want to sit on a beautiful beach, eat excellent fried seafood, and actually decompress in the middle of a busy trip, North Myrtle Beach delivers that very well. Music on Main and the Calabash dinner were personal highlights.
4. Cost: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Very good value overall. Holiday rentals are reasonably priced for the space you get, the beach is free, Vereen Gardens and McLean Park are free, and Calabash seafood is extremely affordable for what you get. The children’s museum and Myrtle Beach attractions add cost, but the baseline is low.
North Myrtle Beach with kids: FAQs
North Myrtle Beach itself, rather than Myrtle Beach proper. It’s quieter, more residential, and the beach is less crowded, while Myrtle Beach’s boardwalk and SkyWheel are only 20 minutes south for a day trip. Within North Myrtle Beach, we’d point families towards the Cherry Grove area at the northern end for a slightly quieter stretch near the pier.
North Beach Resort & Villas is the most complete option, with a Caribbean-themed pool complex and a lazy river. Prince Resort suits larger families with two-bedroom suites near Cherry Grove Pier, and Ocean Creek Resort is a quieter, gated option next to Barefoot Landing. Most of the better family options here are condo-style resorts with kitchens rather than traditional hotels.
For us, a holiday rental. We stayed in a three-bedroom home with a private pool a block from Main Street, and having a full kitchen and separate living space made a real difference with a toddler. If you’d prefer a hotel, the condo-style resorts along the coast give you some of that same space and self-catering flexibility.
Yes. The beach is wide, sandy, and gently shelving, which makes it easy going with a toddler, and we found it far less crowded than we expected. The trade-off is that you’ll need a car to get around, since it isn’t a walkable destination beyond the beach itself.
We had four nights, which was exactly right: long enough to properly settle in, short enough that we didn’t run out of things to do. If you want to add Murrells Inlet for a seafood dinner, a fifth night would give you a bit more room.
Got questions about North Myrtle Beach with a baby or toddler? Drop them below or find me on Instagram @LittleBritsAbroad.
Allie, Jack & R x
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