Cheraw is a small historic town in northeastern South Carolina, known for its well-preserved antebellum district and riverside setting, and its own airport, Cheraw Municipal Airport (HCW), is a general-aviation field without commercial car rental desks on-site. Travelers arriving privately or by other means and hoping to rent a car should not expect counters or pickup service at HCW itself; instead, the practical options are Florence Regional Airport, roughly forty-five minutes to the southeast, or the considerably larger Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina, close to two hours north, both of which maintain full rental counters from international and local companies.
Once you have a car in hand from either alternate, reaching Cheraw is a straightforward drive along well-maintained state and US highways through the Pee Dee region's flat, rural farmland and pine forest. The town itself, along with nearby Cheraw State Park and its lake, rewards a relaxed pace once you arrive, and the compact historic district is easily walkable after parking, so the rental mainly serves the approach and any onward regional travel rather than getting around the town itself.
Driving is on the right throughout South Carolina, and the routes connecting Cheraw to Florence and Charlotte are toll-free, generally straight and easy for any standard vehicle to handle. Rural stretches can be sparsely served by fuel stations compared to the interstate corridors near Charlotte, so it is worth topping up before making the final approach into Cheraw from either direction. Given the honest limitations of HCW as a general-aviation field, planning your rental pickup around Florence or Charlotte from the outset, rather than assuming service at the local airport, is the most reliable way to arrange a car for a visit to Cheraw. Either alternate handles the drive comfortably in an ordinary sedan, and the rural roads through the Pee Dee region stay quiet outside of local commute hours, making the approach itself an easy, unhurried part of the trip.