Your experiences in St Augustine, FL?

[cruisnfamily]

I'm in the very beginning stages of researching a trip to St Augustine at the end of the summer with DH, DS8, DD11, and myself. DH and I went back in 1993 for a few days but I need a refresher. We'd like to combine sightseeing with a day or two on the beach. Here are my questions:

1)How long will it take us to see St Augustine? 2 days?
2)Any experiences with the "ghost tours"?
3)Any recommendations for a hotel directly on the beach?
4)Any advice, comments, or personal experiences of yours in St Augustine? What did you do to make it fun for your kids? What did you do that you felt was a waste of time/money?

Thanks so much!

 

[meandtheguys]

When we drive to Disney we always stop at the Castillo de san Marcos (sp?). OUr sons 9,7, and 4 love running around there!

Michelle

 

[Princess Dot]

As for a hotel on the beach, the Hampton Inn looked very nice. We stayed across the street from the Hampton at the Hilton Garden Inn (also very nice, but no breakfast included) and crossed the street to the Hamton Inn and the walked down to the beach. Even thought the hotel was on the beach it still was a bit of a walk down to the water. I thought it was a very pretty beach. The Hampton had some beach chairs with canopies and cushions in front of the hotel. The pool looked a little small and it was crowded even first thing in the morning. It was August though and very hot.

We enjoyed walking through the streets of Old town and the old restored village section where we toured the homes (kind of like a very very small scale Williamsburg). Our kids made candles in one of the buildings and they really liked seeing how people lived in the old days! We did not do the ghost tour so I can't comment. There is a Ripley's museum there too that looked cute, but we did not go.

I was not that impressed overall with St. Augustine, but friends of ours rave about it and they almost bought a vacation home there.We only spent a day there and it was really hot so maybe that influenced my opinion. The old fort looked cool, but we did not get there either! So many of the things to see charged seperate admissions that the trip was starting to add up to mucho $$ for what was supposed to be a stopover on the way to Disney.

I'm sure you'll have a great time!

 

[Poohbear123]

And yes we do the Ghost tours, and explore the Forts and check out the Antique stores. We stayed on the beach near Butler beach on A1A at the Holiday Inn. Fantastic hotel even serves breakfast in the room if you like, which I did. Last October we stayed in the Howard Johnson by the OLDEST TREE, and it turned out to be part of the trolly tour. OK room, but won't stay there again. Going again this year too.

 

[Stepharoonie!]

The Ghost Tours are AWESOME! I try to do it anytime I go up to St. Augustine. It's loads of fun. Kinda creepy, too

The horse drawn carriages are fun as well...they sometimes do ghost stories with the rides

 

[cruisnfamily]

Thanks guys!

Any more advice? I've been looking online and it's really hard to tell which hotels are on the beach and which are near it. Is St Augustine Shores what I want? Or St Augustine Beach?

Oh well, off to run some more searches.....I've got plenty of time.

 

[cruisnfamily]

Bumping up for the morning crowd.....Any words of wisdom?

Thanks!

 

[cruisnfamily]

One last try for any and all info on a trip to St Augustine with kids.

 

[ilovepcot]

Other than the beach, I can't see "little" kids enjoying St. Augustine. Perhaps there's stuff for them there I'm not aware of. Another thing, the old downtown area closes sooo early with the exception of bars and restaurants. A city ordinance, I'm told.

 

[cruisnfamily]

Originally posted by ilovepcot
Other than the beach, I can't see "little" kids enjoying St. Augustine. Perhaps there's stuff for them there I'm not aware of. Another thing, the old downtown area closes sooo early with the exception of bars and restaurants. A city ordinance, I'm told.

The kids are 8 & 11. The reason we're going actually is because my son(8) was reading about a couple of old historic villages and requested that we visit one because it sounded interesting. While we can't go to the ones he read about(too far) we can take a one or two day trip to St Augustine to satisfy his curiousity about "the olden days" and throw in a day or two at the beach to boot.

 

[cruisnfamily]

double post

 

[ilovepcot]

I'd be very proud and pleased that my 8 year old had shown such an interest in old historic villages! Here's wishing all of you a wonderful trip!!!