St. Augustine

St. Augustine is the oldest city in America, established by the Spanish half a century before the English arrived. It was founded by Ponce de Leon, a Spanish explorer who went looking throughout Florida for the Fountain of Youth. Today St. Augustine is a blend of cheesy tourist traps and mellow, low key tourism. If you are into seeing a Spanish fort and a cheesy mock-up of a fountain of youth (the water is a bit brackish), you certainly can find such entertainment there. If you want to hang out and be catered to in a more normal way than the rest of Florida will, visit the downtown area and just relax. There's something for everyone here. If you ...  Read the complete review

After the obnoxious tourism of Orlando, St Augustine was a breath of fresh air. The oldest settlement in America, it still has a distinctly european feel to it, with many old buildings still remaining. The best of these is the San Marco Fort ($4), built to protect the city from pirates. Watch out for scrawls on the walls by soldiers practicing their alphabet, drawing ships that they have seen, and the marks left by long dead prisoners. Another good old set of buildings is Flagler College, once a hotel, which has some lovely old stained glass and nice towers in it. At night, there isn't much to do in the way of bars, but you can take a ghost walk ...  Read the complete review

Travelling to St Augustine is like travelling back in time. Only an hour and a half from Orlando, yet this is America’s oldest city (first discovered in 1513 by Ponce de Leon). There is a Spanish influence in the area especially evident in the old quarter of the town where there are narrow cobbled streets with pretty courtyards. For those interested in American history there are many sites to see, including the Fountain of Youth, the Castillo de San Marcos and Flagler College (which looks superb with the setting sun casting a red glow all over it.) Perhaps the best way to spend an hour or so in late afternoon or early evening is to take a horse ...  Read the complete review