Itinerary: Experience Firsts in Historic St. Augustine
![Bigstock St Augustine 2](https://fl-historic-coast.imgix.net/images/bigstock-St-Augustine_2-v1560973347.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=320&s=2e9c4e211761c77b950083c3fe3d473b 320w, https://fl-historic-coast.imgix.net/images/bigstock-St-Augustine_2-v1560973347.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=540&s=ea58eeeca1bc20a3d909fec05e0252a0 540w, https://fl-historic-coast.imgix.net/images/bigstock-St-Augustine_2-v1560973347.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=768&s=b46e28830b6c229539c99037879e0d7b 751w)
Florida’s ’Old City’ is Home to Attractions Like Castillo de San Marcos, Colonial Quarter, the Oldest Wooden Schoolhouse and the Oldest House
What better way to begin the day than on the bay? The formidable Castillo de San Marcos overlooks the water just outside the city gate. Here you can explore the majesty of the oldest masonry fort in the continental U.S. Built in 1672 of coquina blocks, it was the northernmost outpost of the Spanish New World Empire. From San Marco Avenue, head south on St. George Street to The Oldest Wooden School House in the USA. Sit with an animated schoolmaster and his pupils for a lesson about learning in the 1700s. Stop in the nearby Colonial Quarter, where you’ll learn to fire a musket and what life was like in the country’s oldest settlement.
![Flagler College, in historic St. Augustine: a fantasy of Spanish, Renaissance, and Mediterranean architecture.](https://fl-historic-coast.imgix.net/images/Flagler-Aerial-hero-1920x1080-v1624387691.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=320&s=ead078c049f548e9313b3293272685a5 320w, https://fl-historic-coast.imgix.net/images/Flagler-Aerial-hero-1920x1080-v1624387691.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=540&s=f3f27f2c51686623956e6970ea9c5962 540w, https://fl-historic-coast.imgix.net/images/Flagler-Aerial-hero-1920x1080-v1624387691.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=768&s=6a98d7e1fdd8a5368b42cc9ecf3163f7 768w, https://fl-historic-coast.imgix.net/images/Flagler-Aerial-hero-1920x1080-v1624387691.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=1024&s=2d715a6dd301a899c0b1cf61f925884a 1024w, https://fl-historic-coast.imgix.net/images/Flagler-Aerial-hero-1920x1080-v1624387691.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=1200&s=f02ba9c5256c264957030379be1dd1a4 1200w, https://fl-historic-coast.imgix.net/images/Flagler-Aerial-hero-1920x1080-v1624387691.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=1440&s=611e7f57de65ecf9450fadcfad31a6c6 1440w, https://fl-historic-coast.imgix.net/images/Flagler-Aerial-hero-1920x1080-v1624387691.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=1920&s=bec56ff76ff9605c26314be68917bcf1 1920w)
Continue south to peruse the shops, galleries and one-of-a-kind boutiques along St. George Street, and perhaps pick up your first St. Augustine souvenir, if you haven’t already! Zigzag over to Sevilla Street to see the magnificent Memorial Presbyterian Church. Its Venetian Renaissance architecture and ornate detail rival that of the finest churches in Europe. Further south, Sevilla meets King Street and Flagler College, a fabulous masterpiece of Spanish Renaissance architecture. The college was formerly the Ponce de Leon Hotel, the first of the grand hotels built by Henry Flagler.
Cross over to Lightner Museum for your first lunch at the bottom of an historic indoor swimming pool – Café Alcazar occupies the deep end! The museum, formerly the elegant Alcazar Hotel, houses a collection of Victorian treasures; take them in after lunch, or pick up pieces of the past at the antique mall surrounding the pool. The Oldest House Museum Complex on St. Francis Street will be your southernmost stop. It includes the González-Alvarez House, two museums, a changing exhibition gallery, an ornamental garden and a museum store.
![](https://fl-historic-coast.imgix.net/images/Cathedral-Basilica-1920x-v1660762205.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=320&s=2e7245f180674eee4ff6ca56488f47dd 320w, https://fl-historic-coast.imgix.net/images/Cathedral-Basilica-1920x-v1660762205.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=540&s=46cd6c2742e4302a9bc74b97baf66787 540w, https://fl-historic-coast.imgix.net/images/Cathedral-Basilica-1920x-v1660762205.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=768&s=a4e6533e4791979be392a89c38b5f48c 768w, https://fl-historic-coast.imgix.net/images/Cathedral-Basilica-1920x-v1660762205.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=1024&s=660cd6ff7934c86c1ac0ff2bb6717115 1024w, https://fl-historic-coast.imgix.net/images/Cathedral-Basilica-1920x-v1660762205.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=1200&s=1f3161bf182115ffaf1e583151d52540 1200w, https://fl-historic-coast.imgix.net/images/Cathedral-Basilica-1920x-v1660762205.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=1440&s=ced71a70bac731e2bd80c335362f0013 1440w, https://fl-historic-coast.imgix.net/images/Cathedral-Basilica-1920x-v1660762205.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=1920&s=9908bed33183af042841e7922757f277 1920w)
Just north on Cordova Street is Cathedral Place where you’ll find the Cathedral Basilica, home to the first Catholic congregation in North America.
If you are up for it, drive out to the towering St. Augustine Lighthouse, the first brick structure in the city. After a taste of maritime history you’re sure to be hungry for dinner. For a relaxing dinner, head back to downtown to Catch 27 where the fish, shrimp and clams are caught in Florida waters and delivered daily.
Related Content:
Historic Tours of Flagler College74 King St.
St. Augustine, Florida 32084
Oldest Wooden School House14 St. George St.
St. Augustine, Florida 32084
Colonial Quarter14 S. Castillo Dr.
St. Augustine, Florida 32084
St. Augustine Lighthouse & Maritime Museum100 Red Cox Dr.
St. Augustine, Florida 32080
Catch 27 Restaurant40 Charlotte St.
St. Augustine, Florida 32084
Lightner Museum75 King St.
St. Augustine, Florida 32084
Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine38 Cathedral Place
St. Augustine, Florida 32084