St. Augustine, Florida is a fantastic place to visit and explore with your family. There are so many incredible sites and it is completely bursting with amazing things to do with kids! St. Augustine is our “Nations Oldest City,” being established in 1565, and its history is absolutely fascinating! In St. Augustine, you can explore incredible historic forts, see actual artifacts from real pirates that sailed these waters, drink water from the infamous Fountain of Youth and so much more!
St. Augustine, in fact, is so amazing that, even though we live approximately 4 hours away, my children’s elementary school takes every child there on a 4th grade fieldtrip so that they can all experience some of what this incredible historical city has to offer!
(For this amazing fieldtrip, we get on a bus at 5:30am and do not get back to the school until 10:30pm. And although this makes for a really LONG fieldtrip, it is so worth it! A huge thank you to teachers everywhere who go above and beyond to make these kind of experiences possible!)
Ok, so I got a little off topic there, but I’m just seriously impressed that my children’s public elementary school makes this fieldtrip happen every year. And what’s even more impressive is that on each of the three all-day long fieldtrips that I’ve gone on, (remember I have 3 kids and they each went in separate years) the teachers found different amazing sites every time for the kids to enjoy! On top of this, our family has also chosen to visit St. Augustine on several occasions on our own as well and we’ve discovered even more amazing things to do in this incredible historic city.
This is what I’d like to share with you here, so you can more easily plan your own amazing trip to St. Augustine in Florida.
Our 15 Favorite Things to Do in St. Augustine with Kids!
1. CASTILLO DE SAN MARCOS
The Castillo de San Marcos, located along the water in the heart of St. Augustine’s Historic District, is a must-see sight for any first time visitor. And this is one sight we’ve made sure to see each and every time we’ve visited. It’s that fun!
The Castillo de San Marcos, built in 1695, is the oldest European fort in the entire continental United States and it is the only surviving 17th century military site in the country. On top of this, the Castillo de San Marcos was built using a unique material called coquina (rock composed of shell fragments) and there are only 2 in the world constructed of this unique material!
Parking for Castillo de San Marcos
There is a parking lot located on the south side of the fort that costs $2.50/hour.
Or you can park in the Historic Downtown Parking Facility for a $15 daily flat rate. This parking deck can be accessed on West Castillo Drive. This deck is near most of the city’s top sights listed below and it is only about a 0.5 mile walk to the fort.
Tickets for Castillo de San Marcos
Tickets are available at the entrance station on the south side of the fort. Know that this is a national monument so if you have an America the Beautiful Pass it will be free. Otherwise it will be $15 for adults yet free for kids.
Highlights at the Castillo de San Marcos
- Walk across the drawbridge and enter through the fort’s impressive 14 foot thick walls!
- Visit the guard’s quarters, storage rooms, prison and more while you learn stories about what happened here. (Download the NPS app for a self-guided tour of the fort for more interesting stories and history.)
- Check to see if the fort is offering canon demonstrations. They used to do this all the time pre-Covid, but when we were there last, in December 2021, they said that they had stopped doing them since Covid. Hopefully they start this tradition again because watching the canon demonstration and ritual to fire it is really cool.
- Don’t miss the fort’s original bathroom! It’s right next to the modern bathrooms that guests use, yet the original bathroom has an incredible story behind it. It’s ingenious!
- Stand next to canons along the top of the fort and take in the view of the waters that this fort looks out over. It’s fantastic!
Time Needed to Visit the Castillo de San Marcos
We recommend about 1.5-2 hours to visit.
2. ST. AUGUSTINE PIRATE AND TREASURE MUSEUM
Located directly across the street from the Castillo de San Marcos is the incredibly fun St. Augustine Pirate and Treasure Museum.
Here, at the Pirate and Treasure Museum, you will step back in time 300 years to when pirates sailed these waters. You can see over 800 authentic pirate artifacts, from the 1600s to present day. This is one of the world’s largest collections of authentic pirate artifacts and definitely one of the top things to do in St. Augustine.
Pirate and Treasure Museum Highlights
- A Jolly Roger Flag from 1850! There are supposedly only 3 left in existence!
- Touch a 400 year old chest!
- Fire an interactive cannon!
- See personal artifacts from infamous pirates.
- View the World’s Only Surviving Pirate Treasure Chest!
If you are visiting with kids (young or old), pick up a Scavenger Hunt! My children loved trying to find specific artifacts and it really helped them become more engaged with each exhibit.
Time Needed to Visit the Pirate and Treasure Museum
We recommend 1-2 hours.
Traveler Tip: The Pirate and Treasure Museum is completely inside in an air-conditioned building. This makes it a great stop to get out of the heat on a hot and sunny Florida day.
Admissions Tip: To save on admission, you can pre-order tickets online, use the coupon found in the local attraction booklets around town, or buy your tickets onsite and get a discount by combining it with other attractions such as the Colonial Quarter that is next door. (Discussed next)
3. COLONIAL QUARTER
The Colonial Quarter’s, Colonial Experience Living History Tour is a 30 minute immersive experience that entertainingly tells the history of St. Augustine. Being the oldest permanent European settlement in North America, I found the history of how this city went from Spanish rule, to British rule to American rule fascinating. And our tour guide, Cooper, did an absolutely fantastic job! He was hilarious, engaging and extremely knowledgeable. This made it really fun for our kids too!
More Colonial Experience Highlights
- Learn about Blacksmithing and Leatherworking.
- Climb a 35 foot watchtower that overlooks the waters that the Castillo de San Marcos protected.
- See a life-sized replica of a ship that some of the settlers came across the ocean on. (I couldn’t believe how small it was!)
- Walk through a 270 year old house.
- Watch a live canon demonstration! (OK, no actual canon balls are used because that would be really dangerous, but it was still really cool to see, and it was really loud.)
- Sometimes they have a live musket demonstration, but they did not do this when we visited.
- In the Colonial Quarter there are also several restaurants serving British and Spanish cuisine as well as seafood.
Traveler Tip: The Colonial Experience Tour occurs only 4 times per day, so if you are interested in this tour, make sure you will be near here for one of the tour times.
Time Needed to Visit the Colonial Quarter & Living History Tour
We recommend allowing about 45 minutes to visit.
4. OLD TOWN TROLLEY TOUR
The Old Town Trolley Tour is amazing! This is a live, fully narrated, open-air trolley tour of St. Augustine, where you can hop on or off anywhere you’d like along it’s 23 stops across the city. Or your can simply enjoy the 1.5 hour full loop itself and relax your legs as you learn about the city and its historic sites. If you do happen to hop off, know that trolleys come to each stop every 20 minutes and then you can just hop back on. It’s so convenient!
So unfortunately I forgot to take pictures of the trolleys in St. Augustine but you can click here to see what they look like.
Some of the Old Town Trolley Tour Stop Highlights
- The Old Jail
- The Visitor Center
- The City Gates
- Colonial Quarter
- St. George Street
- Lightner Museum
- St. Augustin Distillery
- San Sebastian Winery
- Whetstone Chocolates Tasting Tour
- The Oldest House (Look down the alley here to see an actual canon ball still stuck in its wall! How crazy is that!)
- Castillo de San Marcos
- Fountain of Youth
I love how this trolley tour goes past and tells you all about practically every major attraction in the city. This tour was perfect for our kid’s school fieldtrips, it’s perfect if you are traveling with someone that has a harder time walking and it’s the perfect way to see the city for anyone who just wants a moment to rest their legs, yet still make the most of their time discovering more about St. Augustine.
5. THE OLD JAIL
The Old Jail is an amazing, interactive tour, filled with lots of humor and interesting stories about the history of the Old Jail and that of its “residents.” Here you’ll follow your “inmate” guide on an immersive journey into what life was really like here at the Old Jail. The “inmate” guides are extremely knowledgeable and they amazingly have found a way to tell almost every story about the jail and its prisoners in a slightly humorous manner. To me, this kept the mood light and it really helped keep this tour very family-friendly. The “inmate” guides also made a point to interact with all of the kids on the tour, which I appreciated, because this engagement really helped them more thoroughly enjoy this fun experience.
Our family (with kids aged 10, 13, & 14 years old) absolutely loved this tour! But do know that if you are traveling with younger kids, the guides will be talking about public hangings, criminals, their treatment and their not so great living conditions. I wanted to mention this since these topics could be something that your family may not be comfortable with for younger kids. If this is the case then you could always save this fun tour for when they’re older. Yet, overall I think that they did a fantastic job telling this jail’s story in a way that all ages could enjoy.
The Old Jail Tour Highlights
- Learn why this jail is Pink! And why its exterior looks so nice.
- Walk by the actual gallows used here!
- Check out where the Warden used to live onsite.
- Visit the Kitchen and see how the prisoners were fed.
- See the actual weapons and artifacts taken from the prisoners who came here.
- Stand inside real jail cells, to see what it must have been like. (These conditions would definitely make anyone think twice before breaking the law.)
Time Needed to Visit the Old Jail
The tour of the Old Jail takes about 30 minutes.
6. ST. GEORGE STREET
St. George Street is a 0.4 mile pedestrian only street that runs through the heart of St. Augustine’s Historic District. Lined with restaurants, shops, galleries, bakeries and more, this quaint street is one destination you’ll want to take some time to check out.
St. George Street Highlights
From the City Gates to the Plaza de la Constitucion, you’ll find fun attractions such as the previously discussed Pirate & Treasure Museum, the Colonial Quarter attraction, as well as sights like the Medieval Torture Museum and even The Oldest Wooden School House in the entire United States all along this historic street.
St. George Street is also a great place to eat, with so many delicious restaurants and snack shops to choose from, you’ll be sure to find something you like.
Traveler Tip: St. George Street can get very crowded. Visit in the morning or on a weekday if you are looking for a quieter stroll along this historic street.
Time Needed to Visit St. George Street
It takes less than 10 minutes to walk the pedestrian portion of St. George Street from one end to the other.
Time needed here depends on how much you like to trinket shop/ browse or if you are visiting some of the many attractions along this street or dining at one of the many restaurants here.
7. ST. AUGUSTINE LIGHTHOUSE & MARITIME MUSEUM
Located just 10 minutes from the historic portion of St. Augustine, on a barrier island, the St. Augustine Lighthouse and Maritime Museum a fantastic site to visit.
Step inside this beautiful, working 165 foot lighthouse and climb the 219 steps all the way to the top! This climb is quite a workout, but the view is so worth it!
(There are also really fun signs on the walls on the way up that tell you how many calories you’ve burned, fun facts about the lighthouse and stories from the keeper’s logs.)
Traveler Tip: There are 8 landings where you can stop and rest if you need to on the way up.
Important Information for Families: Children must be at least 44 inches to climb the lighthouse and they must be able to do so on their own power. (They can not be carried.) If you are traveling with a child under 44 inches, that child will have free admission and one adult will get half-priced admission.
More St. Augustine Lighthouse & Maritime Museum Highlights
- See the lighthouse’s Fresnel Lens up close at the top of the lighthouse. (The light is visible for 19-25 miles!)
- Visit the Keeper’s House. Here, don’t miss heading down to the basement for an exhibit about shipwrecks from the American Revolution.
- View shipwreck artifacts that are actively being conserved in the conservation lab.
- See small wooden boats being built by local volunteer boatwrights.
- Take a walk on a nature trail. (Pick up the scavenger hunt for this trail for kids.)
- For families, there is a small play area for children under 44 inches.
Time Needed to Visit the Lighthouse and Maritime Museum
We recommend allowing 1-2 hours to visit.
Admission Tip: Get your tickets online ahead of time and use the coupon code on their website (LH15) to get 15% off.
8. ST. AUGUSTINE BEACH
St. Augustine Beach is gorgeous!!! I love the sand, the waves and the beautiful sunrises! Located only 10 minutes south of the Lighthouse and Maritime Museum, St. Augustine Beach is a fantastic place to visit. And if you’re a sucker for gorgeous sunrises, like I am, we recommend grabbing a hotel near here for easy beach access to the first morning light.
We like to stay at The Best Western St. Augustine Beach when we visit. It’s great for families, it offers a free breakfast and it’s right across the street from the beach. (Being across the street from the beach makes it less expensive too.)
Having immediate access to this beach is phenomenal and I highly recommend staying out near St. Augustine Beach if you can!
9. SPANISH MILITARY HOSPITAL MUSEUM
Ok, first I have to say that I absolutely love this girl’s expression as she pretends her arm is being amputated. (She was in my son’s 4th grade class on their fieldtrip and was in no way actually scared, but she made this picture fantastic!)
The Spanish Military Hospital Museum is a great museum to learn about the history of early Spanish Colonial Medicine. On this 30-45 minute educational tour you’ll discover how apothecaries mixed up the “latest” medicinal cures from common herbs (many that are still used in medicines today!) You can see unique medical devices once used (and be thankful how technology has greatly improved them!) And you may even be the lucky volunteer that gets to participate in the doctor’s “cutting edge” techniques in a virtual surgery (as shown above.) The Spanish Hospital Museum was a great interactive experience, extremely informative and a lot of fun!
Now I will offer one piece of warning for families. Although I thought they did a great job making this topic and this tour kid-friendly, some kids may not do well with the idea behind some of the surgical techniques that used to be practiced, so discretion is advised. But overall, the kids in my son’s 4th grade class seemed to absolutely love hearing all about these early medicinal practices and I felt like we all learned a lot!
Time Needed to Visit the Spanish Hospital Museum
We recommend allowing at least 45 minutes to 1 hour to visit.
10. FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH & ARCHEOLOGICAL PARK
The Fountain of Youth and Archaeological Park is a 15-acre, waterfront historical attraction, where Ponce de Leon himself is said to have landed in 1513. And here, you can also take a drink from the legendary waters of the “claimed” Fountain of Youth. Now granted, drinking the water from the Fountain of Youth was a lot of fun, and I’m sure I look so much younger now…, but before visiting, I had no clue how much more there really was to do at this fantastic site!
Fountain of Youth and Archeological Park Highlights
- Walk through a native Timucuan Village. Learn about how they lived, a little bit about their culture and the role that they played in welcoming the first Spaniards to Florida.
- Watch a historic weapons demonstration with crossbows, a matchlock musket and the firing of an actual canon! (Check the times posted for the canon firing when you get there so you don’t miss it.)
- Visit the Navigator’s Planetarium where you can learn all about how sailors found their way across the vast ocean by using the stars to guide their way.
- Watch a fantastic blacksmith demonstration where we saw nails being made!
- And then there’s the beautiful wild peacocks that roam everywhere around the grounds. They even have a few white peacocks!
Time Needed to Visit the Fountain of Youth
We recommend spending at least 2 hours here (maybe 3) depending on how you time all of the different demonstrations and shows.
Location
The Fountain of Youth and Archeological park is less than 1 mile north of the Old City Gate and the Historic District of St. Augustine.
If you choose to visit the Fountain of Youth, know that the next attraction on this list, lies directly in front of it.
12. MAGNOLIA AVENUE
Magnolia Avenue is said to be “One of the Most Beautiful Streets in the entire United States!” Gorgeous 100 year old arching Live Oaks beautifully line this street, while delicately draped Spanish Moss simply glistens in the sunlight creating a truly beautiful sight.
Magnolia Street can easily be viewed before or after visiting the Fountain of Youth or from the Old Town Trolley Tour.
11. FORT MATANZAS NATIONAL MONUMENT
Fort Matanzas National Monument is a free fort, located just 20 minutes south of the historic section of St. Augustine. Built in 1742 out of coquina, (the same material used in the Castillo de San Marcos) this fort defended the southern approach to the Spanish military settlement of St. Augustine.
Fort Matanzas is an extremely fun place to visit. First, you can only see this fort by taking the short, free boat ride over to the island where it sits. And although this site is free, you will need to get a boarding pass at the Fort Matanzas Visitor Center (located where you park for this site) to reserve your spot on this boat. Currently, as of January 2022, tours to the fort run from Wednesday to Sunday, and the boat makes only six trips a day.
Fort Matanzas Highlights
- You get to ride on a boat to the fort!
- Climb up a ladder to the top of the fort for a great view!
- See the Officer’s Quarters, Soldier’s Quarters and canons.
- Have a personal national park tour guide for the hour that your small group from the boat visits this fort! (They are extremely knowledgeable and can answer almost any question you could have about the fort and its history.)
- We saw a dolphin swim right by us, while at the Fort. We were told that this is quite common. Hopefully you can see a dolphin here too!
- While waiting to take your boat ride to the fort, there are some great nature trails to walk and lots of wildlife. We saw an Osprey eating its fish breakfast, tons of little sand crabs, a whole flock of Wood Storks flying overhead and a big group of pink Spoonbills! It was amazing!
Traveler Tip: This tour is a very popular attraction, and the ferry seats fill up fast! So, if this looks like a site you want to see, I recommend going early since the tickets here are on a first come, first serve basis.
TOP SIGHTS ON OUR LIST FOR OUR NEXT VISIT
With limited vacation time and busy schedules, it’s so hard to see everything that’s great to see in a city, even with multiple trips. And it’s especially hard in a city that has so many wonderful sites like St. Augustine. That’s why I wanted to include the top-rated sights that are on our own personal list to go visit the next time we get a chance to visit St. Augustine. Maybe your family will see a sight below, that we haven’t been to yet, that makes it to your top list of things to do in St. Augustine.
12. ALLIGATOR FARM AND ZOOLOGICAL PARK
Located virtually across the street from the popular St. Augustine Lighthouse and Maritime Museum, the Alligator Farm and Zoological Park is another top thing to do in St. Augustine with kids.
Alligator Farm and Zoological Park Highlights
- This is the only facility in the world exhibiting living specimens of all 24 currently recognized species of crocodilian!
- There are 5 different Wildlife Presentations.
- Realm of the Alligator
- Scales & Tails Reptile Show
- Rainforest Review
- Florida’s Forest Friends
- Alligator Feeding!
- See Lemurs, exotic birds, sloths, Komodo Dragons and more.
- For adventurous individuals, you can even Zipline over Alligators!
Time Needed to Visit the Alligator Farm
If you would like to see all 5 wildlife shows, you would need to allow at least 4-5 hours to visit.
This site looks incredible and we can’t wait to go someday! And honestly, the only reason we haven’t gone here yet is because, being from Florida, we’ve seen A LOT of alligators. They hang out in the ponds by the trails we frequently walk. And so for our first few quick weekend visits to St. Augustine, we wanted to concentrate our time on it’s history and on sites that are different than we have easy access too. But this site will definitely be on our list for our next visit!
13. WHETSTONE CHOCOLATE TOUR
Visit St. Augustine’s “Original Chocolate Tour” led by Whetstone Chocolatiers. Here, you will be introduced to the history and making of chocolate and the Whetstone story.
On this 45 minute tour, you will learn the best ways to understand different types of chocolate, how it should be tasted and what to look out for. As you progress through the tour you will also discover how to pick out the flavors and texture influenced by such things as the type of cocoa used, and other secrets of the trade.
This would be the perfect tour for any chocolate lover and I can’t wait for our family to experience this top-rated tour as well.
14. LIGHTNER MUSEUM
Located in the heart of downtown St. Augustine, the Lightner Museum occupies the historic Alcazar Hotel, a Gilded Age resort hotel built in 1888 by railroad magnate Henry Flagler. Founded in 1948, the Museum is home to one of the premier collections of 19th-and early 20th-century fine and decorative art in the country. Furnishings, paintings, leaded glass windows, cut and blown glass, and natural history specimens from the Otto Lightner Collection are exhibited against the backdrop of the magnificent Alcazar Hotel. Visitors to the Museum are invited to participate in an immersive experience of art, architecture, and design from America’s Gilded Age.
The Lightner Museum is another top-rated attraction in St. Augustine that I can’t wait to visit! Honestly, the only reason we haven’t visited the Lightner Museum yet is because, with limited time, I felt that this museum might be better enjoyed by slightly older kids. And with so many amazing things to do with kids in St. Augustine we felt that this top-rated museum would be better experienced on a future trip.
15. ST. AUGUSTINE WILD RESERVE
At the St. Augustine Wild Reserve guests are given a tour by a wildlife professional, with an intro to each species & how the species arrived here. Visitors will get a close-up view of the exotic animals, and will venture closer to adult lions and tigers than they ever imagined. Meet amazing white tigers, orange tigers, golden tabby tiger, white lions, cougars, bear, servals, lynxes, leopards, hyenas, & wolves. The big cats are fed on the tours, and a bubble bath is set up for a tiger! At the tour’s end you will even get to howl with the wolves!
The St. Augustine Wild Reserve offers tours by appointment on Mon, Wed, & Sat at 2pm, and Sat. at 11am. They also offer a VIP tour Friday at noon. Email for reservations.
This tour sounds fantastic and it’s top-rated! I know I’ll be scheduling my appointment first thing the next time our family visits St. Augustine!
I hope you enjoyed this list of 15 Amazing Things To Do with Kids in St. Augustine, Florida and that you were able to find some fantastic sites to visit with your family.
Have a Great Trip to St. Augustine with Your Traveling Feet!
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