Things to Do in St. Augustine

Ticket Prices and Hours at a Glance

The table gathers the official adult prices and hours for ten attractions. Figures come from each operator or its managing agency, as named in the source column. Children's and senior rates are in the Price column where the sources give them.

Check each operator before you go, because hours shift with the seasons.

The Historic Core

Castillo de San Marcos at 1 South Castillo Drive is the anchor. The National Park Service calls it the oldest masonry fortification in the continental United States, begun in 1672 and finished in 1695 from more than 400,000 coquina blocks cut on Anastasia Island. Admission is $15 per adult on a pass valid 7 consecutive days, children 15 and under enter free, and the park is cashless. The average visit runs one to two hours. Cannon firing demonstrations run five times a day on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays according to the NPS, though Visit St. Augustine lists them on most Saturdays and Sundays at 10:30 and 11:30 a.m. and 1:30, 2:30 and 3:30 p.m., and the NPS demonstration page lists only select dates. Treat the schedule as variable and check the NPS calendar.

The full history, the sieges and the walls belong to the Castillo de San Marcos guide.

The Plaza de la Constitución was laid out in 1573 under Spanish Royal Ordinances and its Constitution Monument obelisk was built in 1813. Free concerts run in the gazebo on Thursday evenings from June through August. Beside the Plaza stands the Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine, whose parish was founded in 1565 and whose current building dates to 1793-1797, rebuilt after the fire of April 12, 1887. No admission fee is listed for the church.

St. George Street runs through the middle of it all, lined with shops and the Oldest Wooden School House at 14 St. George Street, which first appears on tax records in 1716. Visit St. Augustine lists school house admission at $6.95 for adults and $5.95 for ages 6 to 12. The street's own page is St. George Street.

Flagler's St. Augustine

Henry Flagler remade the town in the 1880s. His Hotel Ponce de Leon opened January 10, 1888 with 540 guest rooms, designed by Carrere and Hastings, and it is now Flagler College, founded 1968. The college's historic tours cover the ground floor only, the Rotunda, Courtyard, Dining Hall and Flagler Room, last about 45 to 60 minutes, and run Thursday to Sunday 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The Dining Hall holds one of the largest collections of Louis Comfort Tiffany stained glass in the world, and Visit St. Augustine counts more than 79 windows. The college tours page lists no price.

Across King Street, the Lightner Museum fills the former Hotel Alcazar, completed 1887 by the same architects. Its indoor pool was then the world's largest, now drained and home to Cafe Alcazar. Otto Lightner bought the building on August 20, 1947 and the museum opened in 1948. Admission is $20 for adults 18 to 64, $17 for seniors, military and college students, $13 for youth 11 to 17, and children 11 and under are free. It closes Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and New Year's Day.

Villa Zorayda at 83 King Street was built in 1883 by Franklin Smith as an Alhambra-inspired residence and is considered the city's first poured-concrete building, with audio tours from $15 per adult.

Free Sights and Free Tastings

The list below is everything the sources state as free. The biggest single free thing is the district itself: the Town Plan Historic District, designated a National Historic Landmark District on April 15, 1970, covers 113 acres and, in Wikipedia's main description, is bounded by Cordova, Orange and St. Francis Streets and Matanzas Bay. Roughly half its buildings predate 1925.

- Plaza de la Constitución, laid out in 1573. Free concerts in the gazebo on Thursday evenings June through August. - The Cathedral Basilica, founded as a parish in 1565. No admission fee is listed. - Mission Nombre de Dios at 101 San Marco Avenue, grounds open dawn to dusk. Pedro Menendez de Aviles landed there on September 8, 1565, and it was elevated to a National Shrine in 2019. Parking is free for religious visitors, others get the first hour free then pay through the Passport Parking App. - Fort Matanzas National Monument, 14 miles south. No fee for the park or the ferry, but free ferry passes are issued first come first served at the Visitor Center and are often gone before 11:00 a.m. Ferries run Thursday to Monday at 9:30 through 3:30. - St. Augustine Distillery at 112 Riberia Street, tours 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. seven days a week in a 1907 ice plant. Florida's Historic Coast describes the tours and tastings as free, though the distillery's own site states no price, so treat the free claim as third-party. - San Sebastian Winery at 157 King Street, tours and tastings daily. Its own site presents them as free, while Florida's Historic Coast says $5 including a souvenir glass. The sources disagree. - Sailbird Distilling Company at 228 W. King St., free tours with tastings Wednesday to Sunday per Florida's Historic Coast. - A free walking tour meets at Ponto Central, 10 S Castillo Dr., listed by Florida's Historic Coast for dates October 22 to April 19. - The Governor's House Cultural Center at 48 King Street, free admission, daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. - The St. Johns County Ocean Pier grounds and parking are free, and free public beach lots with restrooms and outdoor showers sit at the pier and on 11th Street.

For after-dark ideas including the ghost side of town, see the St. Augustine ghost tours page.

Horse-Drawn Carriage

The carriage is the classic format and the only one with a horse. Two private rides run from the corner of Cathedral Place and Charlotte Street. The Carriage History Tour is $175 per carriage for 45 minutes and blends history with family-friendly ghost tales, your party only. The Carriage Ghost Tour is also $175 per carriage for 45 minutes and rides past the Tolomato and Huguenot cemeteries, though the price does not include entry to either cemetery or to Flagler College. Both include free cancellation 24 hours ahead. Neither includes food, drinks or gratuities.

One practical note on horses. The city's carriage rules were rewritten in July and the full current text is not published, so the cutoff of 95°F (35°C) or heat index 105 (41°C) comes from a 2018 student article and a 2019 summary of the 2012 ordinance only. On very hot days, check with the operator before you book.

Golf Cart and Electric Cart

Four electric cart rides run year-round, three priced per person and one per cart.

- The Waterfront Golf Cart Tour is $32 per person for 1 hour in an open electric cart, from 150 Charlotte Street by the Plaza, with a certified guide driving and photos included. - The Guided Golf Cart Tour is $45 per person for 1 hour, up to 9 guests, from the north side of the Downtown Historic Parking Facility at 1 Cordova St. - The Private Electric Cart Tour is $200 per cart for up to 7 people, 90 minutes through the colonial walled city, meeting behind the Lightner Museum. It is the most reviewed ride on this site, and the minimum age is 7. - The Historical Tour, Free Parking is $48 per person for 1 hour in an open-sided electric vehicle for up to 10, from 134 Riberia Street at San Sebastian Marina, with all-day free parking included.

None of these enters any attraction. They are rides past the sights, with the guide narrating from the cart.

Trolley

The Hop-On Hop-Off Trolley is $41 per person for a 1 or 2-day ticket with 22 stops and the St. Augustine History Museum included, looping every 15 to 20 minutes from 167 San Marco Ave. A full narrated loop takes about 90 minutes. It is the format to choose when you want to hop off at the Castillo, the Fountain of Youth or the Old Jail and reboard later. For the holiday season, the Nights of Lights Trolley runs 40-minute caroling rides at $81 per private row of up to 4, and the Nights of Lights Electric Cart is a 45-minute small-group ride at $42 per person. Neither includes an attraction ticket. The trolley row comes with apple cider and sugar cookies, while the cart ride lists no food, snacks or drinks.

One more format exists that this site does not sell: Ripley's Red Train, a 60-minute narrated roundtrip departing hourly from 19 San Marco Avenue, booked online in advance, with 50% off for St. Johns County residents per Ripley's.

Lighthouse and Alligator Farm

The St. Augustine Lighthouse at 100 Red Cox Drive rises 165 feet above sea level, and the climb is 219 steps. Climbers must be at least 44 inches tall, children over 44 inches must climb under their own power, and carrying children in the tower is prohibited. Admission is $17.95 for adults and youth 13 and up, $15.95 for seniors and $12.95 for children 12 and under over 44 inches, with children under 44 inches free with a parent. Hours are 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. from October 1 to February 28 and to 6:30 p.m. from March 1 to September 30, with the last ticket 30 minutes before closing. A Lens Room Tour costs $500 per person.

At 999 Anastasia Blvd, the Alligator Farm opened May 20, 1893 and displays 24 species of crocodilians among more than 125 species. Admission is $36.99 for adults 12+, $21.99 for children 3 to 11 and $33.29 for seniors 65+ before tax, with AAA, military and seniors getting 10 percent off. Alligator feedings run at noon and 3:00 p.m. and summer hours extend to 6:00 p.m.

Anastasia State Park and the Beach

Anastasia State Park at 300 Anastasia Park Road covers 1,600 acres with four miles of oceanfront, open 8 a.m. until sundown. Entry is $8 per vehicle of up to eight people, $4 for a single-occupant vehicle and $2 for pedestrians and bicyclists. The park's coquina quarries supplied stone for the Castillo more than 300 years ago, which makes it the quarry that built the fort.

St. Augustine Beach charges $10 to drive on the sand from March 1 through September 30, with vehicle access at A Street and Ocean Trace. Free public lots with restrooms and outdoor showers sit at the pier and on 11th Street. Sea turtle nesting season runs May 1 through October 31, when glass containers, alcohol and unleashed pets are prohibited. The St. Johns County Ocean Pier at 350 A1A Beach Boulevard charges $2 for sightseeing on the pier, though the grounds and parking are free, and the fishing pier itself is closed for repairs until further notice.

Fort Matanzas

Fort Matanzas National Monument at 8635 A1A South, 14 miles south of town, is the only other coquina fortification in the world, completed in 1742, 50 feet wide and 30 feet high. Entry and ferry are both free, but ferry passes are required for everyone including babies and are handed out first come first served at the Visitor Center, and the NPS says it is not unusual for all passes to be gone before 11:00 a.m. Ferries run Thursday through Monday at 9:30, 10:30, 11:30 and 12:30, then 1:30, 2:30 and 3:30 p.m.

The NPS says the boat carries 30 people and the tour runs roughly 45 minutes. The only entrance into the fort is a 14-step staircase, and no pets, food or drink are allowed on the boat. The park is open 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily except Thanksgiving and December 25.