St Augustine was founded by the Spanish in 1565, which makes it the oldest continuously occupied European-established settlement in the continental United States, forty-two years before Jamestown and fifty-five before the Mayflower. It is a small Florida coastal city of about 15,000 people with a fort made of shell, a Gilded Age hotel that is now a college, and a historic district you can cross on foot in fifteen minutes.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you buy through them, Roman Trail earns a small commission at no extra cost to you.
What Is Here
THE CASTILLO DE SAN MARCOS IS THE HERO IMAGE AND IT IS BUILT OF SEASHELLS. Begun in 1672 and finished in 1695, it is the oldest masonry fort in the continental United States and it is a NATIONAL PARK SERVICE unit, so the National Park Service rather than the city or the state decides its hours and closures. ITS WALLS ARE COQUINA, a soft local limestone formed from compressed shell, and that is why it was never taken by force: cannonballs sank into the stone rather than shattering it, which the garrison discovered during the 1702 English siege. Rangers fire the historic weapons on scheduled weekend demonstrations. Allow an hour and a half.
FLAGLER COLLEGE IS THE SECOND IMAGE AND IT WAS A HOTEL. Henry Flagler built the Ponce de Leon in 1888 as the most luxurious resort in America, with Tiffany stained glass, Spanish Renaissance towers and electric lighting wired by Thomas Edison's company. It became a college in 1968 and THE DINING HALL, with the largest collection of Tiffany glass in one room anywhere, IS SEEN ONLY ON THE GUIDED TOUR, which students lead and which is the best-value ticket in the city. The LIGHTNER MUSEUM across the road is Flagler's other hotel, the Alcazar, now a Gilded Age collection in what was once the largest indoor swimming pool in the world.
ST GEORGE STREET IS THE PEDESTRIAN SPINE AND IT IS BUSY AND TOURISTIC AND WORTH IT ANYWAY. Narrow, shaded, lined with shops, with the COLONIAL QUARTER and the OLDEST STORE MUSEUM along it. ONE BLOCK EITHER SIDE IS QUIET, which is where the Spanish colonial lanes, the oldest house and the small plazas are.
THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH IS THE ACTUAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE OF THE 1565 LANDING, which is the part people assume is a gimmick. The spring-water theatre around it is frankly a gimmick; the grounds hold a genuine excavated Timucua village and the first Spanish settlement site, with peacocks wandering through. MISSION NOMBRE DE DIOS next door marks where the first Catholic mass in the present United States was said, under a 208-foot stainless steel cross.
THE ST AUGUSTINE LIGHTHOUSE IS 219 STEPS AND THE BEST VIEW, on Anastasia Island across the Bridge of Lions, with a maritime museum and an active archaeology programme on shipwrecks offshore.
THE BRIDGE OF LIONS IS THE THIRD IMAGE, a 1927 Mediterranean Revival drawbridge with two Medici marble lions at its western end, and it opens on the half hour for boat traffic, which stops the traffic and is worth timing rather than cursing.
NIGHTS OF LIGHTS RUNS FROM MID-NOVEMBER TO LATE JANUARY AND IS THE CITY'S BUSIEST SEASON. Several million white lights across the entire historic district, genuinely beautiful, and it fills every hotel at weekends. If you want the quiet city, do not come in December.
ALSO: FORT MATANZAS, a second and much smaller Spanish watchtower fourteen miles south, free, reached by a free ferry and a National Park Service site as well; the ST AUGUSTINE ALLIGATOR FARM, a 1893 roadside attraction that is now a serious zoological collection with all 24 crocodilian species; and ANASTASIA STATE PARK for the beach and dunes.
ONE HONEST NOTE ABOUT OUR PHOTOGRAPHS. Fifteen of the twenty-seven attributable frames of this city are by a single photographer, so the three we publish are deliberately by three others, which means the long-exposure night views of the historic district that photographer does so well are not here. The city at night under the Nights of Lights is a sight this post describes and does not show.
When to Go
MARCH to MAY and OCTOBER to EARLY DECEMBER. Warm, dry-ish, everything open, the humidity tolerable.
APRIL is arguably the best month, before the heat and after the spring break crowds.
NOVEMBER is the quiet best, and the Nights of Lights begin in it.
JUNE TO SEPTEMBER IS HOT AND VERY HUMID, with heat indices above 100F, afternoon thunderstorms almost daily, and coquina and brick streets that hold the heat. The historic district has good shade and the sea breeze helps.
HURRICANE SEASON RUNS 1 JUNE TO 30 NOVEMBER and this city floods. HURRICANE MATTHEW IN 2016 AND HURRICANE IRMA IN 2017 both put salt water through the historic district within eleven months, flooding shops on and around St George Street, and the city has had repeated tidal flooding since. It sits barely above sea level on a tidal estuary, so the risk is storm surge and king tides rather than wind.
Getting There
JACKSONVILLE INTERNATIONAL is about an hour north and is the practical airport. ORLANDO is about two hours south west and is often cheaper. Daytona Beach is an hour south.
By car, St Augustine sits just off I-95, and HIGHWAY A1A along the coast is the slower and far better approach from either direction.
There is no passenger rail and no intercity bus worth the name.
You need a car to arrive and should park it once. The historic district is small, flat and entirely walkable, street parking is scarce and metered, and the HISTORIC DOWNTOWN PARKING FACILITY beside the visitor centre is the sensible answer. The OLD TOWN TROLLEY and Ripley's Red Train are hop-on tours that double as transport to the lighthouse and the alligator farm, which are otherwise a drive.
Is St Augustine Safe for Women?
The FCDO publishes no advised-against areas anywhere in the United States and no country-level warning. Its guidance concentrates on the practical differences a British visitor meets: entry requirements and ESTA, the cost of healthcare without insurance, extreme weather including hurricanes on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts between June and November, and wildfire and heat risk in the west and south-west.
St Augustine is a small, prosperous, heavily visited historic town and is very safe. The historic district is busy from morning until late, the lanes are lit, and a woman walking alone here is entirely unremarkable at any hour a visitor would be out. Ordinary care applies on the quieter residential streets west of the district late at night and that is the whole of it.
THE SURFACES ARE THE COMMONEST CAUSE OF INJURY AND THEY ARE OLDER THAN ANYWHERE ELSE IN THE COUNTRY. Coquina, tabby, brick and worn flagstone, uneven, sloping and slippery in rain, with high kerbs and the occasional unlit step. The Castillo's ramps and gun deck are open stone with low parapets.
HURRICANE AND FLOOD AWARENESS IS THE ONE REAL PLANNING ITEM. Between June and November, keep emergency alerts on, know your hotel's plan, keep flights flexible and carry travel insurance that covers weather disruption. ST JOHNS COUNTY ISSUES EVACUATION ORDERS BY ZONE and the historic district and Anastasia Island are in the first zones to go. An evacuation order is not advice.
FLORIDA HAS THE HIGHEST LIGHTNING DEATH RATE IN THE UNITED STATES and afternoon storms build nearly every summer day. When thunder sounds, get inside a building or a hard-topped vehicle, not under a tree or an awning, and wait thirty minutes after the last thunder. The fort's open gun deck and the beach are the two worst places to be.
THE OCEAN HERE HAS RIP CURRENTS and the beaches on Anastasia Island are only partly lifeguarded. Swim where marked, obey the flags, and if you are caught do not swim against it: float, let it weaken, then swim parallel to the shore.
ASSUME EVERY FRESHWATER POND, CREEK AND MARSH HOLDS ALLIGATORS, which on this coast includes the golf course water hazards and the estuary edges. Swim only in the ocean or a pool, never at dawn or dusk by fresh water, and keep back from the bank.
MOSQUITOES AND NO-SEE-UMS ARE SERIOUS NEAR THE MARSHES from spring to autumn, worst at dusk, and the salt marsh midges are the local complaint rather than the mosquitoes. FLORIDA IS A PERMITLESS-CARRY STATE.
The St Augustine Packing List
Subtropical humidity, strong coastal sun, daily summer storms, heavy air conditioning indoors and mild winters with occasional cold snaps.
Our merino base layers are 100% Australian merino at 17.5 micron, and a long sleeve merino wool base layer for women is a better choice in Florida humidity than it sounds: fine wool carries sweat off the skin instead of holding it against you the way cotton does, it does not smell at the end of a 95F day walking coquina streets, and it is the layer you want crossing between that street and a museum cooled to 70F. In January, when a cold front can drop the night to the 40s, add a heavyweight merino base layer.
A long sun hoodie and a wide brim UPF sun hat, because the fort's gun deck, the lighthouse climb and the beach have no shade at all.
A Marmot PreCip Eco rain jacket for the afternoon storms and a large insulated water bottle for the summer.
Insect repellent, which near the salt marshes at dusk is equipment rather than a comfort.
Not linked and worth packing: SHOES WITH A FLAT, GRIPPY SOLE, because coquina and worn brick punish anything with a heel and are slick in rain, and our walking-shoe entry is spent on other posts in this batch; A CHEAP PONCHO rather than an umbrella, which is useless in a Florida squall; EMERGENCY ALERTS ENABLED between June and November; SUNSCREEN; AND A LIGHT LAYER FOR INDOORS all summer. The US is almost entirely card-based with tipping at 18 to 20 per cent.
Recommended Tours and Experiences
Essential Resources for Women in St Augustine
Emergency numbers: 911 for police, ambulance and fire, free from any phone including a locked mobile. Calls are answered locally and dispatchers will stay on the line. For non-urgent police matters many cities also run a 311 information line.
ST AUGUSTINE WAS FOUNDED IN 1565 AND IS THE OLDEST CONTINUOUSLY OCCUPIED EUROPEAN-ESTABLISHED SETTLEMENT IN THE CONTINENTAL UNITED STATES. THE CASTILLO DE SAN MARCOS, begun 1672, is the oldest masonry fort in the continental US, is built of COQUINA shell stone that absorbed cannonballs rather than shattering, and is a NATIONAL PARK SERVICE unit, so the Park Service decides its hours, its weapons demonstrations and any closure. FLAGLER COLLEGE'S TIFFANY-GLASS DINING HALL IS SEEN ONLY ON THE STUDENT-LED GUIDED TOUR. THE BRIDGE OF LIONS OPENS ON THE HALF HOUR for boats. NIGHTS OF LIGHTS RUNS MID-NOVEMBER TO LATE JANUARY and fills every hotel at weekends. THIS CITY FLOODS: HURRICANE MATTHEW IN 2016 AND IRMA IN 2017 both put salt water through the historic district within eleven months, and ST JOHNS COUNTY EVACUATES BY ZONE with the historic district and Anastasia Island among the first to go, so between 1 June and 30 November keep emergency alerts on, know your hotel's plan and carry weather-inclusive insurance. FLORIDA HAS THE HIGHEST LIGHTNING DEATH RATE IN THE UNITED STATES: when thunder sounds get inside a building or a hard-topped vehicle, not under a tree, and wait thirty minutes, with the fort's open gun deck and the beach the worst places to be. COQUINA, TABBY AND WORN BRICK are uneven, sloping and slippery in rain and are the commonest cause of injury here. RIP CURRENTS on Anastasia Island, only partly lifeguarded: obey the flags and float rather than fight. ASSUME EVERY FRESHWATER POND, CREEK AND MARSH HOLDS ALLIGATORS. MOSQUITOES AND SALT MARSH MIDGES are serious at dusk from spring to autumn. FORT MATANZAS, fourteen miles south, is free and reached by a free ferry. Florida is a permitless-carry state.
US State Department travel advisory: there is none, and this is not an omission. The State Department issues travel advisories for other countries, not for the United States itself, so no US advisory for this destination exists to link. In its place, the Government of Canada advice for the United States gives an equivalent third-country assessment.
UK FCDO travel advice: gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/usa, and read the safety and security page rather than only the landing page, because that is where the substance sits. The FCDO names no advised-against areas anywhere in the United States. The same advice also covers Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands.
Main hospital: UF Health Flagler Hospital on Lewis Speedway has a 24 hour emergency department and is a few minutes from the historic district, with UF Health Jacksonville the nearest Level I trauma centre about an hour north. Dial 911 for police, ambulance or fire, and note that AN EMERGENCY ON THE WATER goes through 911 to the United States Coast Guard, or VHF channel 16, rather than a land ambulance, which is the call from the inlet or the beach. This is the single biggest practical difference for a visitor: there is no public health system, an emergency room visit without insurance can run into thousands of dollars, and an ambulance is billed separately and is not free. Comprehensive travel insurance with a high medical limit is not optional in the United States, and you should carry your policy number and the insurer's 24 hour number somewhere you can reach them. Urgent care clinics handle anything short of an emergency far more cheaply and quickly than an emergency room, and are the right choice for a sprain, an infection or stitches.
Official health authority: the CDC travellers' health pages, the US federal health authority for visitors. covers the US public health guidance, with the National Hurricane Center the authority for storm tracks and the National Weather Service for lightning, surf and flood advisories
Embassy contact: the United States is the host country, so there is no US embassy to contact. Your own country's embassy is in Washington DC, with consulates in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, San Francisco, Miami and Boston. Find yours before you travel and save the number.
Official tourism authority: Brand USA, the national tourism marketing body. covers St Augustine and Florida visitor information, with the National Park Service the authority for the Castillo de San Marcos and Fort Matanzas hours and closures
Takeaways
The fort is made of shell, which is why it was never taken.
Flagler College's Tiffany dining hall is tour-only and is the best ticket in town.
Park once. The historic district is fifteen minutes end to end on foot.
Between June and November, know your evacuation zone.
Solo women safety assessment: St Augustine is one of the easiest small cities in the United States to visit alone. It is a prosperous, compact, heavily visited historic town of about 15,000 people, the historic district is busy from morning until late in the evening, the lanes are lit and well used, and a woman walking by herself here attracts no attention at all. Crime is low and what exists is petty and concentrated nowhere a visitor goes; ordinary care on the quieter residential streets west of the district late at night covers it entirely. 911 REACHES POLICE, AMBULANCE AND FIRE, UF Health Flagler Hospital is minutes from the historic district with a 24 hour emergency department, and an emergency on the water reaches the Coast Guard through 911 or VHF 16. THE RISKS HERE ARE THE SURFACES, THE SKY AND THE SEA. The commonest injury is a fall: coquina, tabby and worn brick are uneven, sloping and genuinely slippery in rain, and flat grippy soles matter more than they would anywhere newer. Florida has the highest lightning death rate in the country and storms build most summer afternoons, so when thunder sounds get inside a building or a hard-topped car rather than under an awning, and treat the fort's open gun deck and the beach as the two places not to be. The ocean has rip currents on a partly lifeguarded shore, and every freshwater pond and marsh edge should be assumed to hold alligators. And one planning item outranks all of them: this city has flooded twice in eleven months from hurricanes, St Johns County evacuates by zone with the historic district going first, so between June and November keep alerts on and carry insurance that covers weather disruption.
Reading On
St Augustine is the oldest end of Florida and the library covers the rest of the state's range: the Orlando packing list is two hours south west and is the inland opposite of this coast, the Tampa packing list and the St Petersburg packing list cover the Gulf side across the peninsula, and the Miami packing list and Fort Lauderdale packing list the south east, with the Key West packing list at the end of the road. North, the Savannah packing list is two hours up the coast and is the closest comparison in the library, another small Southern historic city on a tidal river, with the Charleston packing list beyond it. For the country, the United States travel guide for women carries the transport, the health insurance question and the regions in full. For why wool beats cotton in Florida humidity, read the guide to merino wool base layers for women. Every destination we cover is indexed at the travel packing guide for women, and the base layers are at the Roman Trail collection.
If the outer journey is calling you, the inner one usually is too. Explore SoulMap at romantrail.com/blogs/soulmap.
