We did a recent trip there, me, my sister-in-law and my 2 kids. Before going we came up with a list of things we wanted to do while there and looked into many options. Coupons are available all over St. Augustine for different things – I suggest you wait until you get there to purchase tickets to all the places. You can buy in bulk and save even more; we found the best deals through Trolleytours. Another common sense tip, during the week you have way less of a crowd. Our stay was Thurs – Sat and what a difference Saturday made.
Best Western Historical Inn – an average hotel room layout, beds very comfortable – trust me…I was sick the first night and they worked well for me! The best part was location and convenience. The front desk placed a call to the trolley and we were picked up within minutes. Continental breakfast included – bagels, cereal, juice/coffee, muffins, and fruit. This would not have worked well if my husband was there, but it was fine for the 4 of us.
Trolleytours - http://www.trolleytours.com/ - we decided ahead of our trip that we would purchase our tickets for the trolley simply because it was cheaper on line. We got our money’s worth and then some. This is not a great buy for someone staying a day but for us staying 3 days it was perfect. The price includes a pass for 3 days. The trolley has 22 stops and you never wait longer than 15 minutes. You can get on and off as much as you want throughout the day until it stops running around 6pm. Each driver shares facts and history but they all seem to have different stories. Upon ticket purchase you get a rain poncho, hot days they give you a cheap fan, both free. Your price includes admission into the Florida Heritage Museum which is a neat little place. We basically breezed through it but found 2 sections interesting. It offers another level of insight to Florida’s history. Trolleytours also sells tickets to area attractions; the more you buy the more you save. After comparing their prices with the prices we would get with local coupons we found they offered more of a discount. One thing – we ended up purchasing tickets to the “Old Jail” and then found out it was a stop for the Ghost Tour that we also were going on so we could have saved that money.
**If you are driving yourself around SA keep in mind many places charge parking fees.
Ripleys Believe it or Not - http://www.staugustine-ripleys.com/ This was my 2nd time going to St. Augustine’s RBN and I have to say it will by my last. It is similar to all the other RBN, mostly you are reading things and looking at photos. The last time I was there was over 12 years ago and I really saw nothing new so that was disappointing. The most fun is at the end when you look through a 2 way mirror and see people making fools of themselves trying to roll their tongues….an area you just left and did the same. I was also suffering from a terrible migraine at this point and felt RBN was over stimulating. My kids, age 12 & 9, loved it though.
Oldest Wooden School House - http://www.oldestwoodenschoolhouse.com/ seems like a must see when in SA. The rickety house was built over 200 years ago and you can get a feel for how they taught and ran the school with the talking diorama of a class. The upstairs is closed and after going up on one of the steps to try and look there I can see why. I have posted photos taken of a window. We immediately saw something on the camera but could not recreate it. Interesting….
This next photo was taken following the first one, same window
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