There are honestly so many fun things to do in St. Augustine, FL I won’t even be able to name all of them. Since moving here a couple months ago, I have tried exploring with the kids as much as possible. Here are some of our favorites so far!
- The Alligator Farm Zoological Park
This place is SO fun! You can spend a lot of time here. They have so many different alligators to look at. You can even drop some food in and feed the gators. They have shows, and daily times where they come and do some tricks with the gators and tell you more about them. They have other animals as to look at as well, some exotic birds, snakes, etc. There is also a concessions in the middle where you can get some drinks and snacks 🙂 This is not a free park, so be prepared to spend some $$. Also, if you have little ones, a stroller is a must—there are many areas where they need to be strapped in for safety. Overall, this place is so cool & we will be going back several times!
2. St. Augustine Beach & Splash Park at the Pier
This is probably one of our favorite beaches in the area to go to! The beach is always fun to enjoy. Whether walking, swimming, or building sand castles. We usually start off by stopping by Island Donuts (couple blocks down from the Pier) then park at the free parking by the Pier. There is a common area with bathrooms here, too. What I love is everything is all in one area. The splash park, playground, beach, and Pier is all right by one another. We spend hours here between it all! Another fun thing, is on Wednesday mornings from 9-12 they have a local Farmers Market right in the same parking lot. The kids love going! Restaurants and hotels are all along this same strip! If you’re coming in from out of town, this is where I would stay! If you’re a local, well then you just get to come and go like we do 🙂 This is a fun day, free of charge (minus any food you would buy) day well spent!
3. Downtown St. Augustine
There are endless possibilities downtown since it’s so big! With the kids we like to just stroll all the streets and stop at different shops with treats. Our favorite chocolate and candy shop is Kilwin’s. The kids like watching them make the chocolates in the shop, too! There are so many great options though! If you have older kids, the Historic Castillo de San Marcos National Monument is really cool (Touring inside is not free). The upstairs of the castle is low and not safe for toddlers. Nolan had to be held the whole time, and even then the workers warned us about the danger of the low wall. If your kids are older, it’s really cool! The are outside the castle has lots of grass areas for little ones to roam. There is a large wooden park behind the parking ramp for kids to play on, too! My kids like to go on stroller rides along the Matanzas River and watch the sailboats, too. There is so much to explore downtown! We haven’t checked out the St. Augustine Pirate & Treasure Museum yet, but once Nolan gets a little older that is something else we will check out!
4. Vilano Beach
This is another favorite beach. It’s the closest beach to downtown St. Augustine and a great beach to spend the day at! Bring your chairs, sand buckets, and sunscreen. We also love walking this beach in the fall/winter time, too! There is a public bathroom at this beach, too. Public and a couple restaurants are within driving/walking distance as well. There are many beach homes and hotels right off this beach, too. If you’re from out of town, and looking for a place to stay, I would HIGHLY recommend staying at the St. Augustine Beach House. It’s right off the water, the rooms are to die for, and the service and food is amazing! We stayed here while in the process of moving into our home here, and this is where I recommend anyone asking on where to stay. Dog friendly, too 🙂 Anyway, Vilano beach is a great spot to bring the kids to and let them play and roam free for a fun day at the beach!
There are SO many places we have not yet discovered! I can’t wait to share them all with you as we find them. Would love to hear from you if you’ve been to any of what I mentioned above. Enjoy!
Much love,
Kiersten
