Three day Itinerary

First off, I have been lurking around the forum for a little more than a month and would like to say ';Thanks!'; for all of the wonderful information that I have gained by reading all of the suggestions.

Now for the important part, my Wife and I will be visiting St. Augustine for 3 days in early July (weekday visit, after the 4th of July). I keep reading that it takes at least 3 days to truly experience what the city has to offer.

It is easy to say ';Don%26#39;t miss the Alligator Farm.'; or ';Make sure you tour the College.';, but with never being there before, I can not begin to imagine how much time it will take to experience the ';must see'; locations.

So, would any of the ';locals'; like to go out on a limb and put together an itinerary for a 3 day visit that would highlight the best that the city has to offer?

Thanks in advance for all of the help.

Kurt

Three day Itinerary

Mahoney did such a thing with his post of Things to do and see in the Old City. I am bumping it to the top of this page. Have your wife read thru it and pick what intrigues her most. Very simple for you as we don%26#39;t know what you and your wife truly like. You should have no trouble seeing much of what intrigues you on the list in three days if you get early starts (and you will want to with the heat here) and tour most of the day. Four days would be better, but three will do! I will bump the list now.

Enjoy !

Three day Itinerary

Yes 3 days should do fine enjoying the city and 4th day would be spending a day at the beach when in St.Augustine :)

Mehmet

I do not live in St Augustine, but have been there several times. Here is a sample of the times my husband and I have visited (as you will be there in July, this is for ';summertime in FL';):

Day 1: Get up early, walk from B %26amp; B (Casablanca Inn) to Castillo de San Marco; takes about 1 hour to tour it - interesting, historical, but IMO if you%26#39;ve seen one Spanish Fort, you%26#39;ve seen %26#39;em all. Across the street from the Castillo is a place you can buy tickets for the Old Town Trolley tours. Buy a 2 or 3 day pass, so you can use it to get to places that are too far to walk in the heat. Take the next trolley tour, which will A: Help you to know where things are located, B: Cool you off, C: Give you a little information on attractions so you can decide what you really want to see. This will take a little time, up to lunch, possibly. You can get off at any stop to explore. Have lunch at any of the great restaurants in the area (A1A Alehouse might be good this time of day). Go to the Flagler College and take the tour after lunch (you%26#39;ll want to be inside by then). Figure about 2 hours for this. Across the street is the Lightner Museum, which is also really neat. Go back to room, take shower, rest, then go to dinner down around St George, where you can visit shops if you want. Day 2: Get up early (notice a trend?), go to Spanish Quarter (plan 1 -2 hours). Get on trolley and go to St Augustine Historic Villages. After villages, do lunch or go to Cathedral Basilica of St Augustine and Flagler Memorial Presbyterian Church.

Back to room and rest. Arrange to do a ghost tour that evening (they have several from which to choose - waliking, riding, pub crawl, ghost ship). If you want to really be worn out, go to the Fountain of Youth before you do the ghost tour. Day 3: Get up early and walk around old St Augustine down in the area south of King Street. Explore the side streets and look at the great architecture. Visit the Oldest House, if you haven%26#39;t already. If you have a car, drive over to the Lighthouse and climb to the top. Have lunch on the island at Conch House Marina Restaurant. For the evening, maybe schedule a sunset sail on the Freedom Schooner, or a carriage ride around the city. There is also a winery there on King Street, which has a jazz bar on the roof (but I%26#39;m not sure it is open in the summer). You can go to the Milltop Tavern and sit upstairs to watch the people go by, or at one of the pubs on St George. This is just a sample. Get a guidebook of St Augustine before you go to read about it so you can decide what would really interest you the most. The two places which surprised my husband and me the most were the Fountain of Youth (true old Florida kitsch!) and the old infirmary which is located on a corner just to the west of A1A Aleworks (I%26#39;m a nurse). Do not miss Flagler College, the Basilica, or the Presbyterian Church. Take time for breaks out of the heat and drink lots of water.

Just to clarify that last post a little bit as a local expert: Check reviews, please before booking anyplace to stay here and believe them!

One doesn%26#39;t have to buy their tickets for either trolley or train at a certain place or store. Simply wait at ANY trolley or train stop (they are marked throughout the town) and tell the driver you want tickets. You will climb aboard and the driver will let you know when he arrives at a ticket booth to get the tickets.

The Flager Tour is a guided tour and available only TWICE a day. You will need to be there to buy a ticket %26amp; sign up for the tour by either 9:45 AM OR 1:45 PM for the 45 MINUTE guided tour. You are not allowed to tour on your own. Don%26#39;t be late as it is really crowded and I have had guests turned away because there were so many on the tour. It is the best bang for your buck here.

You can look thru the archives (see Mahoney%26#39;s recent post on how to look through them on the front page of this forum) for ghost tour/carriage ride information.

The Oldest House Museum is nice, but truly the Pena Peck House on St. George Street is just as old (the Oldest House got the name first) and is FREE.

Conch House is better for cocktails and the view of hte river, wouldn%26#39;t eat there, sorry.

Winery is open all year - music on the roof is on Friday and Saturday nights from now thru summer until it gets really cold again next winter.

Milltop is okay, but also try Sangrias balcony - very good for people watching overlooking St. George Street-good food too.

The infirmary spoken of is the Spanish Military Hospital and is really down Aviles Street, (the oldest street in America)which is a museum now, on the left from King Street in the first block.

A guidebook is a a good idea too. Enjoy our fair city!

Thanks for the info flapenny and LN (and indirectly Mahoney, capnconrad, and the others from various posts on the forum). Based on the reviews and suggestions here on the forum, I think my wife and I have a good idea of what we would like to see and where we would like to eat.

Over the next couple of weeks I will try and put together a plan, and see if there are any other sugestions.

The A1A Brewery is the best place for food IMO and has a nice outside deck, JP Henley%26#39;s around the corner is a nice bar with a lot of different beers and across from that is OC White%26#39;s which has an outdoor seating area and a musician at night (usually a quiet guitarist, not a band).

On Thursdays in the Summer there is a free concert on the plaza, on Wednesdays there is a free concert at the pavilion at the pier on St. Auustine beach.

I am also down on the Conch House although sitting in one of the tree houses drinking a beer is good. No food, though. Beachcomber%26#39;s is a good spot right on the beach on the island- very, well, beachy.

The First Friday Art Walk is much better than I thought it would be and I look forward to it. Acapulco%26#39;s Mexican Restaurant has a nice view from it%26#39;s deck.

The Havana Cafe in the A1A Brewery is good for Cuban food- check them on the weekends as they have music/dancing there as well.

Happy Hour at the Matanzas Innlet from 3-5 PM gets you a bucket of steamed oysters which are delicious. It%26#39;s a good ride to it at the southern end of the island.

Avoid the Oasis on the island. It isn%26#39;t worth the hype, IMO. I had a nice dinner once at the La Cocina in the Castillo Real hotel on the island last year and a very nice dinner at the Raintree although mixed opinions abound on this place.

In lieu of sounding like a big dope, lol, when you say the ';island'; you mean St. Augustine beach? I know with us New Yorker%26#39;s when we use the term going ';down the shore'; or to the ';shore'; we%26#39;re usually referring to the Jersey shore. ;o) We%26#39;re also planning a trip in a few weeks. I%26#39;m still trying to find out which beach areas we should go to also. Thanks all!

Anastasia Island is separated from St. Augustine proper by a river. There are 3 bridges over to it, the most prominent of which is the Bridge of Lions whichs leads from the downtown area to the North end of ';the island';.

The beaches are on the island plus lodging, restaurants, bars, liquor stores, supermarkets, just about everything.

The nearest bridge in town is the Bridge of Lions. The next closest bridge is a couple of miles from the Old City - the 312 bridge. There is another bridge also, but is quite a drive south (about 15 miles away). Check out Vilano Beach also (the north beach - you can see the bridge from the fort). This is not a busy beach, so we prefer to got there when sunbathing, surfing because it is away from the tourists for the main part. The beach you visit will depend upon where you are staying, I am sure.

Krys I recently posted some photos of Crescent Beach which is at the southern end of Anastasia Island. They may help you to decide if that%26#39;s the kind of beach you%26#39;re looking for...or not!