St. Augustine is the United States’ oldest town. But don’t think that just because it’s old, it doesn’t have anything to offer the modern traveller. In fact, St. Augustine is a unique mix of old and new, historic buildings and modern dining, old ships cruising under new bridges, new family games played on old sand beaches. And with these old and new worlds meeting, it’s no wonder that you’ll find such a unique blend of things to do in St. Augustine. Whether your staying for a day, a weekend, or a week, check out our list of things to do in St. Augustine to plan your own Florida vacation.
About St. Augustine
St. Augustine is the oldest continuously inhabited town in the United States. Founded in 1565 by Spanish explorers, it was passed between Spanish and British hands until Florida was officially added to the United States in 1819. Also, it was Florida’s first capital city.
This history makes a visit to St. Augustine quite unique as the Spanish influence is visible everywhere. It’s a bit of history that is often overlooked in U.S. history and unseen in U.S. architecture. In every story told the colonial British our the “bad guys” and the Spanish are the heroes.
St. Augustine is now a popular vacation destination along Florida’s east coast. It is a short drive from other popular vacation destinations in Florida, like Orlando and Kennedy Space Center.
Things to Do In St. Augustine
Trolley Tours
Cost: $40/person | Time: All day
We love a good hop-on-hop-off tour. And in St. Augustine, these were dressed up as a trolley train! Which really added to the charm of town. This was a great way to get to know St. Augustine and was one of the first things we did. The driver of the trolley provides audio commentary on each stop as you pass by. The tour guides are well trained and full of fun facts about the 22 stops along the way.
While we do recommend this to everyone, the traffic in downtown St. Augustine is bad, and this includes for the trolleys. In other cities, we’ve used hop-on-hop-off tours as a means of transportation. However, this transportation was so slow, we walked places faster. So be cautioned against using this as a means of transportation. The tour is great but the transportation is slow.
While we recommend spending a full day hopping on and off, the full uninterrupted tour takes about 1.5 hours.
Carriage Rides
Cost: $85/carriage | Time: 1 hour
Carriage rides are popular in St. Augustine, especially around sunset and early evening. Horses are often decked out in light up harnesses. Certain carriage rides will provide you with commentary while others will just drive about in a romantic fashion. In this town full of history, these carriage rides really help you to imagine life in historical St. Augustine.
Ghost Tours
Cost: varies | Time: varies
As the oldest town in the United States, must obviously be the most haunted. So if you are great with ghouls and ghosts, the ghost tours are some of the most popular things to do in St. Augustine. After sundown, you’ll see ghost tour vehicles lining up along the river to pick up avid ghost spotters. These tours typically take folks around the old forts and graveyards, plus a few old houses and hotels. You can get riding tours, where you drive by the haunts and hear about the ghosts. Or you can take walking tours which encourage you to feel the otherworldly presence. However, neither tour style guarantees any ghost sightings – you have to get lucky for that.
St. Augustine Lighthouse & Maritime Museum
Cost: $15/person | Time: 1-2 hours
This is a very popular things to do in St. Augustine. Partly because of the history of the lighthouse and partly because climbing the 210 steps to the top will give you the best views of St. Augustine. While at the lighthouse you can walk the historic grounds and learn about shipwrecks in the area. For an additional fee, you can also come back at night for a guided ghost tour.
Old Jail and Oldest Store Experience
Cost: $35/person | Time: 2 hours
You can spend money to be put in jail. And while we didn’t do that here, we’ve done jail experiences in Melbourne, and it was fun. The Old Jail Tour takes you though the St. Augustine’s jail, which was designed to look like a hotel so as not to scare off the tourists. Right next door is the Oldest Store, complete with charlatans trying to sell you all manner of historic goods. These performers do an excellent job taking you back in time with their antics.
Castillo de San Marcos National Monument
Cost: $15/person | Time: 1 hour
The Castillo de San Marcos is a historic fort right next to downtown St. Augustine. This beautiful fort is built from a rare limestone made of shells and sits right along the water. The fort can be seen as you enter town and is the top thing to do in St. Augustine; partly because it’s so easily accessible and partly because it is a full crash course in St. Augustine history.
This National Monument is staffed by some amazing people dressed in period costumes – make sure to ask them questions. While visiting the Castillo de San Marcos is designed so you can take a self-guided tour, however the staff are very informative and can answer all of your questions. Or if you can, time your visit along with one of the many period demonstrations that take place throughout the day, like canon firing.
Don’t forget to walk down the street from the fort to see the old city gates which lead into St. George Street.
St. Augustine Distillery
Cost: FREE | Time: 45 minutes
The St. Augustine Distillery is one of the best distilleries we’ve been to. First, it’s a free semi-guided tour. You enter and walk at your own pace through the informational signs. If you have questions, don’t worry, they have stationary tour guides along the route so you can ask them. Next, this tour includes tastings! But not gross tastings of straight liquor, but delicious cocktails made with the distillery’s mixers (also for sale). As with all tours, you end in the gift shop where you can buy the liquors, mixers and swag. But don’t forget to stop at the bar in the gift shop for a few more samples.
San Sebastian Winery
Cost: FREE | Time: 30 minutes
Right down the street from the St. Augustine Distillery lies the San Sebastian Winery. If you didn’t get enough liquid libations from the distillery, the winery also has a free walking tasting/tour. You can also choose to upgrade your tasting for a few extra dollar to include some of the higher end wines that they serve.
Anastasia State Park
Cost: $8/vehicle | Time: half day
If you don’t have beachfront accommodations, consider spending a day on the beach at Anastasia State Park. The beautiful beach here is a great spot to lounge and go swimming. There are also trails and bird watching which are popular in the park.
Beach Day
Cost: varies | Time: half day
Even if you don’t visit Anastasia State Park, check out one of the other public beaches in St. Augustine. There are plenty of rental places where you can rent beach gear. Or you can just lay on the beach and enjoy the sun and the beach breeze.
Fort Matanzas National Monument
Cost: FREE | Time: 2 hours
Fort Matanzas is one of the most interesting things to do in St. Augustine. First, you can explore the trails that are on Anastasia Island. These trails wander through the marsh and coastal hammock. This trails help you explore the ecology of the area. Next, you can take a ferry across the Matanzas River to the fort. Here, you’ll get to partake in a discussion from one of the knowledgable staff and then explore the reconstructed fort. You do need to get your ferry tickets early. They only are given out day of and are generally sold out by early afternoon.
Henry Flagler Buildings
Cost: FREE | Time: 15 minutes
In 1885, Henry Flagler got it into his mind to turn St. Augustine into a tourist town – and he did. Part of this was building his large resort and part of this was just the influx of new buildings and money that he put into the town. Some of the buildings he (paid to have) built are still standing today and they are impressive. You can tour some of them or just wander around outside and admire the architecture.
Lightner Museum
Cost: $17/person | Time: 1-2 hours
Set in a Henry Flagler building, the museum is a great place to see art and artifacts from the gilded age. There is no shortage of beautiful art to look at in the Museum, however, don’t forget to look at the building itself which is a work of art in itself.
Scenic Cruise
Cost: varies | Time: varies
St. Augustine is situated behind barrier islands along the waterfront. As such, it makes for a perfect place for a scenic cruise. And with the history of St. Augustine, we think a pirate ship cruise makes for a great evening activity. Get in the vibe of old town with a pirate cruise. Or if that isn’t your style take a party cruise with drinks.
Pirate and Treasure Museum
Cost: $18/person | Time: 1.5 hours
Learn all about the nautical history of the waters around Florida at the Pirate and Treasure Museum. This is an amazing thing to do in St. Augustine for families. There are dress up options and interactive exhibits that kids will love.
Oldest Wooden Schoolhouse
Cost: $6/person | Time: 15 minutes
Take a tour of the oldest schoolhouse in America. This building dates from the early 1700s and provides visitors with a glimpse of what life was like for students in Spanish Colonial times.
Visit the Fountain of Youth
Cost: $20/person | Time: 1 hour
At the Ponce de Leon Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park you can explore the rumored site of Ponce de Lean’s landing. This working archaeological site allows visitors to see the artifacts that have been gathered and replicas of the historical Spanish settlement. And don’t forget to take a drink from the famous Fountain of Youth. While it hasn’t provided anyone with immortality yet, who knows, you may be the lucky one.
Alligator Farm
Cost: $34/person | Time: 2 hours
While we didn’t visit the alligator farm, one of the top things to do in Florida is see an alligator. And if you’re not taking a trip to the Everglades, this may be a good opportunity to see one. Kids and families will love this attraction which includes not only alligators but other wildlife.
When to Visit St. Augustine
St. Augustine, like other Florida destinations, is a great vacation destination for the Spring and Fall. During these months, temperatures will be warm without being overbearing. As St. Augustine is far north on Florida’s east coast, the months of September, October, April and May are considered the best months to visit. Spring is the most popular time to visit due to Florida being a popular Spring Break destination. While, St. Augustine is not overly popular as a party destination for Spring Break, it is a very family friendly destination and can get busy around school age Spring Breaks.
Christmas is also a popular time to visit St. Augustine as the city goes all out for decorations and celebrations.
Getting There and Around
St. Augustine is close to two large airports: Jacksonville and Orlando. Orlando, being a popular tourist destination, often has very inexpensive flights. From the airport, you’ll need a rental car or you’ll need to take a shuttle. Taxi’s or ride shares are prohibitively expensive between these airport towns and St. Augustine.
We found a rental car to be very useful in St. Augustine. While we were in the historic section of town, we did not need a vehicle. However, lots of the fun things to do in St. Augustine are near the beach and outside of the historic downtown. As such, it was nice to have a rental car to get around. Taxis, ride shares, and rickshaws are also present in St. Augustine as ways to get around town. Bicycle rentals are also popular in the downtown area.
Downtown St. Augustine has a lot of traffic, and confusing traffic patterns. Therefore, the best way to get around downtown is by walking. Several downtown streets have actually been converted to walking only paths. So walking is your most efficient way of getting around and the only way to get access to all of downtown.
Where To Stay In St. Augustine
Staying in downtown St. Augustine can be tempting; everything is in walking distance and there are tons of things to do in the downtown area. However, there is also the beach! Beachfront accommodations are often similarly priced to downtown accommodations. So choose which is most important to you. We stayed at a beachfront hotel and were able to watch the sun rise over the beach. Beachfront areas are also very walkable and have plenty of places to eat.
If you want to save money on accommodations, you’ll need to stay outside of the main St. Augustine tourist areas. This will save you money, but you will loose time and you’ll have to drive everywhere. And did we mention traffic can get bad?
What To Pack For St. Augustine
Don’t forget your bathing suits and some quick dry towels. Even if you are a not big fan of swimming, these gorgeous white sand beaches will at least tempt you to dip your toes.
You’ll also want some really good walking shoes. Even if you get rides from place to place, you’ll undoubtedly do some walking, especially downtown. So opt for comfort over style.
I hope this has helped you to plan your own Florida vacation with all of these amazing things to do in St. Augustine. If you have any questions or suggestions, please leave them in the comments sections below.
