Things to do in St. Augustine

[ReneeA]

Our summer vacation plans are looking like a week in St. Augustine. Any suggestions on where to stay, places to eat, activities that are a must-do?

DH and I love historic cities, love tours, and always seem to do a ghost tour when we're in cities that have tales of hauntings. So we'll find a walking ghost tour, I'm sure. This vacation we plan to be more relaxing with hours of beach walks and lounging (this will be difficult since we love the high activity pace vacations typically). I decided a slower pace is in the cards after DH and I clocked 44.5 miles walking in 3.5 days in Vegas last month. I had shin splints for weeks after we got home! So beach lounges, here we come.

I'm thinking an oceanfront condo from vrbo. There will be 5 of us, 3 teens, so a hotel is out. I would like a condo with pools and hopefully lots of other tourists. My kids are extremely social and find friends every trip we go on to hang out with for the week. That seems easier to find in a large hotel/resort setting.

Any advice is welcome!

 

[dish rag]

No advice. You’ll get plenty from others. Just a nice place. We like to visit at least once a year. Usually stay on the beach side and Uber into town and back.

 

[Wendy31]

We love St. Augustine & visit at least twice a year - I've been going since I was a little girl.

We also stay on the beach in an oceanfront condo. Instead of St. Augustine Beach proper, we usually stay a little further down in the Butler & Crescent Beach areas. We enjoy the beach better - it's flatter w/o the sand drop off.

Our favorite restaurants are Salt Life & Black Fly on the island. Saltwater Cowboy's can a be a little hit or miss, but the theme-ing is so wonderful that it's absolutely worth a visit... especially for first time visitors. Sunset Grille is okay but not my favorite. Viola's on down the beach near the Crescent Beach area is a wonderful little Italian restaurant.

In town, we like The Columbian, Harry's, Ice Plant (especially brunch!), Prohibition Kitchen, & OC White's. Preserved, Collage, & Michael's Tasting Room get excellent reviews & are on our list to try.

On Vilano Beach, we love Cap's on the Water.

For lunch spots, Spanish Bakery in town is a must! There are also two taco shops on the island that we like. One is Osprey's Tacos, & I can't remember the name of the other one, but it's practically across the street from Osprey's. St. Augustine also has a great food truck scene. Crave Food Truck is our current fave.

There are some great coffee shops too as well as a wonderful French bakery & a Cousteou's Shake's & Waffles.

The Oasis on the island is a traditional, long-time lunch & dinner spot too.

Across from Salt Life on the island is a new hotel w/ a supposedly really good restaurant w/ great ocean views.

For activities, on the island, our 2 favorites are the Alligator Farm & the Lighthouse.

In town, Castillo de San Marcos (the fort) is a must, of course. The Pirate Museum is neat as well - it was designed by a former Disney Imagineer.

Lightner Museum is a beautiful museum! The Old Jail is a little kooky, but fun. The Spanish Quarter Museum & Grounds are interesting. I'm not a huge fan of the Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum.

Our favorite ghost tour is the Original Ghostly Walking Tour.

For boat tours, we LOVE Eco Tours!!

Marineland has undergone some renovation & redesign & is now a pretty neat facility - but w/o dolphin shows. Across the street from Marineland, there is a Sea Turtle Hospital & Rehabilitation.

Some "off the beaten path" kinda attractions are Washington Oaks State Park which is beautiful & Fort Mantanzas which is also really cool.

Fair warning - traffic in town can be quite congested! It's a smaller town w/ a huge influx of both new residents & tourists.

 

[ReneeA]

We love St. Augustine & visit at least twice a year - I've been going since I was a little girl.

We also stay on the beach in an oceanfront condo. Instead of St. Augustine Beach proper, we usually stay a little further down in the Butler & Crescent Beach areas. We enjoy the beach better - it's flatter w/o the sand drop off.

Our favorite restaurants are Salt Life & Black Fly on the island. Saltwater Cowboy's can a be a little hit or miss, but the theme-ing is so wonderful that it's absolutely worth a visit... especially for first time visitors. Sunset Grille is okay but not my favorite. Viola's on down the beach near the Crescent Beach area is a wonderful little Italian restaurant.

In town, we like The Columbian, Harry's, Ice Plant (especially brunch!), Prohibition Kitchen, & OC White's. Preserved, Collage, & Michael's Tasting Room get excellent reviews & are on our list to try.

On Vilano Beach, we love Cap's on the Water.

For lunch spots, Spanish Bakery in town is a must! There are also two taco shops on the island that we like. One is Osprey's Tacos, & I can't remember the name of the other one, but it's practically across the street from Osprey's. St. Augustine also has a great food truck scene. Crave Food Truck is our current fave.

There are some great coffee shops too as well as a wonderful French bakery & a Cousteou's Shake's & Waffles.

The Oasis on the island is a traditional, long-time lunch & dinner spot too.

Across from Salt Life on the island is a new hotel w/ a supposedly really good restaurant w/ great ocean views.

For activities, on the island, our 2 favorites are the Alligator Farm & the Lighthouse.

In town, Castillo de San Marcos (the fort) is a must, of course. The Pirate Museum is neat as well - it was designed by a former Disney Imagineer.

Lightner Museum is a beautiful museum! The Old Jail is a little kooky, but fun. The Spanish Quarter Museum & Grounds are interesting. I'm not a huge fan of the Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum.

Our favorite ghost tour is the Original Ghostly Walking Tour.

For boat tours, we LOVE Eco Tours!!

Marineland has undergone some renovation & redesign & is now a pretty neat facility - but w/o dolphin shows. Across the street from Marineland, there is a Sea Turtle Hospital & Rehabilitation.

Some "off the beaten path" kinda attractions are Washington Oaks State Park which is beautiful & Fort Mantanzas which is also really cool.

Fair warning - traffic in town can be quite congested! It's a smaller town w/ a huge influx of both new residents & tourists.

Thank you so much! Very helpful post. I'm so looking forward to it!

 

[Wendy31]

Thank you so much! Very helpful post. I'm so looking forward to it!

St. Augustine is a beautiful city with so much history!! She has part of my heart!

I hope y'all have a wonderful time!!

 

[Minnesota!]

St Augustine was on my bucket list for a long time and I finally got there in 2017. It was amazing...we are going back this year

We stayed in St Augustine Beach - quick drive to town.and away from traffic.

Best meal was at The Columbian... It's outstanding!

We crammed so much into 3 days...there is a ton to do! Loved through Greek church exhibit, the fort, the lighthouse, Fountain of youth, St John's Cty Pier, the alligator zoo, we did 2 trolley tours, etc.

Great town!

 

[DisneyMomx7]

Our kids go to college in St Augustine so we are there quite a bit. We’ve done both the Lighthouse Ghost tour and the trolley ghost tour ( with multiple stops) and had a great time with both.

Some of our favorite restaurants in St Augustine are A1A, Maple Street Buscuit Company, Grilled Cheese Gallery, Raintree and OC Whites

In St Augustine Beach we like Salt Life, Beach Comber, Mango Mango and Violas.

We stay in a condo on st sugustine beach- St Augustine Racquet and Ocean Club.

Hope you have a great trip!