St. Augustine

St. Augustine, Florida, is a city about midway between Jacksonville and Daytona Beach that grew from a settlement founded in 1565 by Pedro Menéndez de Avilés. The county visitors bureau calls it "the Nation's oldest continuously occupied European-founded city". The things to do in St. Augustine start at its stone fort, Castillo de San Marcos, which drew 598,070 recreation visits in 2025 by the Park Service's count.

St. Johns County, around the city, reports 346,328 people on its own site, and we could not read a figure for the city itself. We checked the figures below on 3 November 2026 on the pages of the National Park Service, the St. Johns County visitors bureau, the county government, the Florida Department of Revenue, NOAA, the National Hurricane Center and the attractions' own sites.

The city's own site, Florida State Parks, Flagler College's main domain, the Census Bureau and Daytona Beach's airport did not open for us, so each gap is named where it matters.

How many days do the historic district and Anastasia Island need?

Two full days cover the historic district and Anastasia Island by our own reckoning, and a third fits Fort Matanzas without a rush. The first day suits Castillo de San Marcos, St. George Street, the Colonial Quarter and the two former hotels on King Street. The second suits the island's lighthouse and state park.

Fort Matanzas has no ferry on Tuesday or Wednesday, and the Sunshine Bus does not run on Sunday. The Park Service's home page lists Castillo cannon demonstrations from Friday to Sunday, so a Friday and Saturday visit catches the guns and the boat.

Choosing a base comes down to parking. A room within walking distance of St. George Street avoids the garage and the meters. A room on Anastasia Island is nearer the beach and the lighthouse, whose parking is free, but the district then means a drive and a parking fee. We name no hotels and print no room rates, because we read none.

What does Castillo de San Marcos cost during the seawall works?

Castillo de San Marcos costs $15 per adult aged 16 or over during the works, and the ticket is valid for 7 consecutive days. Children 15 and under go free with an adult. The fee stations take credit and debit cards only, and the fees page says plainly that the park takes no cash.

The fort is not one of the 11 parks on the 2026 $100 non-resident list, so a visitor from abroad pays the same $15. From 2026 the Park Service keeps its fee-free days for US residents, so 11 November (Veterans Day) is not free for a foreign visitor. Our guide to national park fees for international visitors covers the $250 non-resident annual pass.

Construction on the seawall began on 27 July 2026 and is due to run to the end of 2027. On 3 November 2026 the park's alert said the fort stays open and "Some areas outside of the fort will be closed for safety." The alert names no areas.

Admission runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., seven days a week except Thanksgiving Day and 25 December, and the gun deck closes in thunderstorms. Cannon demonstrations run five times a day on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, says the home page. The things-to-do page says only "select days", so check at the fort.

Visits are lowest from mid-September to mid-November, and a busy Saturday averages 3,500 people. Ground was broken on 2 October 1672, and the fort was declared finished in August 1695. The Park Service calls it "the oldest masonry fortification in the continental United States".

How do you get a boarding pass for the Fort Matanzas ferry?

Boarding passes for the Fort Matanzas ferry are free and handed out only on the day, in person, first come first served. The place is the Fort Matanzas Visitor Center, and the Park Service stresses "NOT the St. Augustine city Visitor Center". Everyone needs one, babies included, and the park says "it is not unusual for all passes to be handed out before 11:00am". The monument is not on the 2026 $100 non-resident list.

The free boats leave hourly from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Thursday to Monday, with no service on Tuesday or Wednesday. A trip lasts about 45 to 55 minutes, and lightning or wind can cancel a sailing without notice.

The visitor centre stands at 8635 A1A South, about 14 miles south of the historic district, with limited parking. No public transport reaches it: the nearest Sunshine Bus stop is 4 miles north, at State Road 206 and A1A. The Park Service counted 653,152 recreation visits to the monument in 2025.

What is on St. George Street and in the Colonial Quarter?

St. George Street is closed to vehicles, and the county bureau describes it as the main street of the settlement's early days. The Visitor Information Center, at 10 S. Castillo Drive, is at its north end and has accessible restrooms. The bureau suggests weekday mornings to avoid the crowds.

The Colonial Quarter, at 14 S. Castillo Drive, is a paid two-acre site with a 35-foot watchtower, a live cannon demonstration, a blacksmith and a home "over 270 years old". It opens daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. except Christmas Day.

The quarter's own site priced adults (16 and over) at $14.99 on 3 November 2026, and seniors and military at $12.99. The bureau's page prints $15.99 for an adult.

What do Flagler College and the Lightner Museum show on King Street?

Flagler College and the Lightner Museum occupy two former hotels of 1888, at 74 and 75 King Street. The college's tour covers the ground floor of the former Hotel Ponce de Leon, led by student guides, and lasts 45 to 60 minutes from the main lobby rotunda.

The route passes the Rotunda, with its 68-foot dome, then the Courtyard, the Dining Hall with its Tiffany glass and the Flagler Room.

Tours depart daily, subject to campus activities, with tickets listed for 22 August 2026 to 9 May 2027. Leftover tickets go on sale at the Tour Gift Shop at 74 King Street. The college's shop showed us its price only in a foreign currency, so we print no dollar figure and name no start times.

The Lightner Museum fills the former Hotel Alcazar, commissioned by Henry Flagler and completed in 1888 to the design of Carrère and Hastings. The museum's page listed adults at $20 on 3 November 2026, seniors, students and military at $17, and ages 12 to 17 at $13.

The Lightner opens daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with last admission at 4 p.m., and closes on Easter Sunday, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day.

What do the lighthouse and the beaches charge on Anastasia Island?

The St. Augustine Lighthouse charges $17.95 for adults 13 and older, $15.95 for seniors 60 and older and $12.95 for children 12 and under, in its own ticket store on 3 November 2026. The 1874 tower has a 219-step spiral staircase. Children under 44 inches may not climb, and nobody may be carried.

The lighthouse opens daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. from 1 October to 28 February, and until 6:30 p.m. from 1 March to 30 September, with the last ticket 30 minutes before closing. Parking is free, and the site closes on Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.

Anastasia State Park costs $8 per vehicle with up to 8 people, $4 for a single occupant and $2 for a pedestrian or cyclist. Those figures are the county bureau's, because the state parks site blocked our read. The park has four miles of beach and lifeguards from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Its Coquina Quarry is where stone for the Castillo was mined.

Driving on the county's beaches needs a pass only from 1 March to 30 September, and none from 1 October to 28 February. A daily pass costs $15, or $5 for ADA holders and active-duty military, and a non-resident annual pass $125. The limit is 10 mph, four-wheel drive is "strongly recommended", and you drive at your own risk.

The county's ramps have their own rules: the Fort Matanzas Ramp is exit only, and the A Street Ramp shuts at 5 p.m. all year.

How do you see Nights of Lights without driving downtown?

Nights of Lights can be reached by the city's free Park & Ride shuttle on its set days, and the county bureau says the festival is "not a drive-through event". The festival runs every evening from 21 November 2026 to 18 January 2027 and is free. Now in its 33rd year, it hangs more than 3 million white lights over approximately 20 blocks.

The shuttle is not daily. The bureau gives 1 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays and most Sundays from 21 November to 2 January, then daily from 18 December to 2 January, with no service on Christmas Day. That is the county bureau's reading. The city's own page could not be read, and a private directory lists a different pattern of days, so confirm your date.

Shuttles leave from the St. Johns County Health Department, Broudy's Lot and the San Marco Lot, and drop at the Visitor Information Center. Light-Up! Night, on Saturday 21 November, has the lighting ceremony at 6:30 p.m. in the Plaza de la Constitución.

How do the $20 garage, the meters and the free STAR bus compare?

The Historic Downtown Parking Facility costs $20 per vehicle per entry from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and $5 per entry from 5 to 9 p.m., according to the county bureau's undated parking page. The garage has 1,200 spaces at 1 Cordova Street, next to the Visitor Information Center, and opens 24 hours a day. The bureau warns that rates may change on holidays and special events.

The garage's rates are not settled across sources. An older private listing for the garage, stamped January 2024, prints the $20 with no evening rate. The same private directory said in June 2026 that the $5 rate is not applied on Nights of Lights days.

City lots and street meters cost $2.50 an hour with a four-hour limit, paid by the ParkStAug app or at kiosks. Four hours therefore comes to $10, half the daytime garage rate. The Castillo's own lot also charges $2.50 an hour.

The STAR Circulator is free and runs daily from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., roughly every 15 minutes when traffic allows. It has three stops: the Visitor Information Center, Cuna Street at Avenida Menendez, and Cathedral Place between St. George and Cordova Streets.

The Sunshine Bus, the county's public transit, costs $2 one way or $4 for a day pass, in exact fare. The buses run from Monday to Saturday only, except on certain holidays.

How far are the Jacksonville, Daytona Beach and Orlando airports?

Jacksonville International (JAX) and Daytona Beach International (DAB) are each about 50 minutes' drive from the city by the county bureau's estimate, and Orlando International (MCO) about 90 minutes. The miles below are our own routing from the Castillo, and the times are the bureau's.

Miami and Key West are a long day or an overnight drive, and our page on Florida covers the rest of the state.

The JAX home page reports more than 7.6 million passengers in 2024, and its news items name Avelo, Southwest, Delta, Allegiant and Breeze. Those are news items rather than a route list, and none names an international route. DAB's own site did not open, so no airline is confirmed there.

No page we read prints a taxi, rideshare or shuttle fare from an airport. The bureau names two shuttle firms, Airport Express of St. Augustine and ECHO East Coast Transportation, without prices.

The US 1 King Street bridge over the San Sebastian River is the one road question we could not settle. The Sunshine Bus site says it was to close for about seven months from 13 April 2026, with a detour by US 1 and Malaga Street, and the Florida Department of Transportation's project page expects completion in spring 2027. On 3 November 2026 we could not confirm whether it had reopened.

Why is a St. Johns County hotel room taxed at 11.5%?

A St. Johns County hotel room carries 11.5% because three layers stack on stays of six months or less: Florida's 6% sales tax, the county's 0.5% surtax and its 5% tourist tax. Goods pay 6.5%. Both totals are our arithmetic from the Florida Department of Revenue's 2026 charts, whose footnotes carve out no city inside the county.

The room total sits below the 12.5% in Orlando and the 13% in most of Miami-Dade County. Our guide to sales tax in the USA explains how these appear on a bill. None of the attraction prices on this page says whether tax is included.

How hot is July at the St. Augustine Lighthouse, and when do storms peak?

July at the St. Augustine Lighthouse station averages a high of 91°F and a low of 74°F on NOAA's 1991 to 2020 normals. The station stands at 12 feet on Anastasia Island.

The station averages 62.4 days a year at 90°F or more, 50.64 inches of rain and no snow. August and September are the wettest months, at 7.18 inches each, and November the driest, at 2.32.

The Atlantic hurricane season runs from 1 June to 30 November and peaks on 10 September, with most activity from mid-August to mid-October, the National Hurricane Center says. St. Johns County Emergency Management offers an evacuation-zone map and the Alert St. Johns service. We could not read the city's own storm and flood notices, so this page makes no claim about flooding downtown.

The city keeps Eastern Time, and the clocks went back on Sunday 1 November 2026.