As the oldest continually settled city in the US (since 1565!), St Augustine is the kind of place you shouldn’t miss if you want to feel like you’re on vacation in Europe without leaving the country. It’s a place for fans of history, pirates, architecture and food. And best of all, it’s possible to visit St Augustine in one day if you’re pressed for time but want to include it in your Florida road trip itinerary.
Located in northern Florida by the Georgia border, St Augustine is the perfect place to stop for a day trip if you’re driving elsewhere in Florida. For example, it was on my route from Savannah to Cape Canaveral (where I watched a rocket launch). It’s also less than two hours away from Orlando, and that’s worth the detour.
I truly believe St Augustine has something for everyone, so read on to see how you can visit this old city in just one day!
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First of all, you might be wondering if one day in St Augustine is even enough. Technically, yes.
St Augustine isn’t a big place, but it is packed with so much to do. While you’ll need more than just one day to see everything that St. Augustine has to offer, it’s still possible to enjoy the city on a day trip or just a one-night stay.
In this post, I will break down the best things to do into categories, and you can pick and choose what to fill your one day itinerary in St Augustine with. I’ll include options for history lovers, pirate lovers and free-things-to-do lovers.
Psst: Are you coming from Orlando for just a daytrip to St Augustine? Skip the planning and ditch your car, and book a tour through here. There are different types of tours available!
Start your day off at either Relámpago Coffee Lab (my personal favorite) or St Augustine Coffeehouse (with a pretty, shared courtyard). Both have outdoor seating options where you can enjoy the morning air and get some caffeine. You have a busy day ahead of you, so you’ll need it!
Next, I’d recommend a tour to maximize your time. If you’re staying in St Augustine for only one day and want to see as much as possible, the trolley tour is your best option. You will get a 90-minute tour of the city, making it the fastest way to see St Augustine in one day.
And depending on how much time you have, you can hop off at any of the 22 stops around the city to explore by foot. Included in the price is also entrance to the St Augustine History Museum, where you can immerse yourself in the past of America’s oldest city. So, this tour is the best option if you’re visiting St Augustine on just a day trip, and it lets you squeeze in more sites and history into your one day itinerary.
I’d also recommend this tour to anyone who doesn’t want to walk much or who doesn’t want to deal with parking (I really struggled with finding parking).
Alternatively, if you’d rather not spend money on the trolley tour, you can just wander around exploring this small but beautiful historical city.
Try to plan to be at St George Street for lunch. Yes, it is the most touristy street in St Augustine so likely the most expensive, but you have only one day there you don’t want to miss out on the second-best pizza in the country.
Pizza Time claims to have the number two pizza in the USA. I’m not too sure about that, but I really enjoyed my slice! It was absolutely delicious and worth the wait in line.
Alternatively, just down the street is the Spanish Bakery. I wanted to try this one out for the great reviews and cheap prices, but it was closed when I went, so check the opening times before you go.
After lunch, depending on if you finished the trolley tour, you might have time to squeeze in some more things to do in St Augustine during your one day there. Check out my recommendations below, ranging from history to pirate to free things to do in St Augustine!
I personally did the Oldest Wooden Schoolhouse, the Colonial Experience, Flagler College and St. Augustine Distillery. None of them disappointed!
After all your exploring, you deserve a nice dinner. For a cheaper option, consider my lunch recommendation: Pizza Time. (You’ll probably want to try another slice of the award-winning pizza anyway; they have so many different types!)
Or, for a fancier meal, try Columbia Restaurant, Collage or The Floridian.
End your day with a ghost walking tour. Being the oldest continually settled city in the US, you can bet that it has a lot of ghost stories from that long history.
Alternatively, if you’re there on a weekend and you’re over 21, head to The Black Raven Rum Runners Pirate Show.
Want to customize your itinerary for one day in St Augustine? Here are some other things you can look to squeeze into your daytrip to St Augustine, categorized so it’s easier for you to choose!
This is a cheap yet highly unique and interested museum. A reconstruction of the oldest wooden school in the US, this little building holds a lot of perspective on what life used to be like for schoolchildren.
It won’t take you long to visit the school and its garden, so that makes it one of the best things to include in your one day itinerary for St. Augustine. And, you get a certificate from the school after your self-guided tour, which is a great free souvenir!
This living museum is a real treat for any history buffs. Step back in time and feel as though you’ve entered colonial St. Augustine. On your tour, you’ll learn about St Augustine’s history and what daily life used to be like in colonial times.
Plan beforehand based on when the tours begin and buy your ticket ahead of time here. Normally, tours are every day at 10:30 am, 12 pm, 1:30 pm and 3 pm. You get to wander around the area on your own after, including going up the watch tower for great views.
This fort was built by the Spanish hundreds of years ago. Not only is it still standing today as the oldest masonry fortress still standing in the US, but also had never been captured in battle. This impressive fort is therefore the best choice for military history buffs visiting St. Augustine for one day.
You can either walk around it for free like I did to appreciate its immensity, or you can pay to go inside and learn more about it.
Since it’s located on the coast, St. Augustine has a history of pirates. Although they’re not like the ones we know of today from movies, St. Augustine has definitely capitalized on its pirate history. It’s a great theme to include in your one day itinerary in St. Augustine, no matter your age!
What better place to watch a pirate show than on an actual pirate ship? This is an interactive show, and the experience includes sword training and a treasure hunt for kids.
If you’re at all interested in pirates, this might be the best place to immerse yourself in pirate history. Along with interactive exhibits, this museum also holds the largest collection of pirate artifacts and treasures.
Buy your tickets ahead of time to the museum.
Even if you went to St Augustine and just walked around for free all day, that would still be worth the trip. It’s a very unique city unlike any other in the country, and the architecture and history you could see on streets for free can keep you occupied all day long. St Augustine also has plenty of attractions that are free to enhance your experience of the city even if you’re on a budget.
This is possibly the most stunning college I’ve seen in the US. It was originally built as a luxury hotel, but now students get to enjoy the impressive architecture of this building. The garden in front of it is also worth spending some time in!
Beyond being home to the food places I recommended above, St. George Street is also a great place for window shopping and people watching. It does get crowded, but a daytrip to St. Augustine is not complete without wandering along St. George Street.
This is a great place to learn about St. Augustine for free during your one day in the city. The building itself is historic, and it offers free exhibits inside too! Since it’s free, you won’t feel guilty about rushing through it during your packed day, so make sure to stop by.
This free tour is very impressive, and not only do you learn about how the spirits were made, but you also get to try some free samples too. The building itself it pretty cool too (1907 ice plant), and you might be tempted to buy some of the whiskey and other spirits you’ll get to sample.
This may be pushing it, but if you love the ocean, you might be able to fit a beach in on your day trip to St Augustine. If you can manage it, I recommend coming for sunrise. The sun rises over the water, and it’s a great way to start your day in the wonderful city of St Augustine. Afterward, head into town and grab a coffee from the cafe I recommended to keep you going on your busy one-day itinerary!
So, what do you think? Could you can fit everything you want to do in St. Augustine into one daytrip? I personally stayed an extra day, and if you can too, I’d recommend it!
But as you can see, you can definitely explore all of St. Augustine in one day. What would you prioritize if you had one day to do all the things to do in St. Augustine?
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St Augustine looks like a really interesting place to stop on a Florida road trip. I'll save this for future reference!
Love all that history and beauty combined in one place! St. Augustine in one day can surely be done with your well designed itinerary, but it sounds like I would like to spend at least a weekend there, to soak in the architecture and weather alone. And with the free things to do in St. Augustine, that would not even break the bank...
A weekend would be the perfect amount of time, I think!
A great itinerary with a good mixture of things to do and see in St Augustine.
I love St Augustine! It's a great place, and this an ideal itinerary! Columbia is one of my favorite restaurants!
St. Augustine has always been somewhere I'm really interested in visiting! There's so much history here and I'd love to experience it all. Thanks for sharing!
Relámpago Coffee La looks like a perfect day to start with. Such a pretty cafe it is.
Don't forget the great sandy St. Augustine beach and all the great fishing ,weather it be valono beach lighthouse or either pier .
Don’t forget the churches and the Lightner Museum .