Locals come to escape the tourist hordes at this terrific park, which is a beautiful quilt of estuarine marsh, maritime forest, boardwalk paths and sandy beach. There's also a campground (campsites $28) and rentals for all kinds of water sports.
Anastasia State Recreation Area
St Augustine
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Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
2.01 MILES
Henry Flagler's former Hotel Alcazar is home to this wonderful museum with a little bit of everything, from ornate Gilded Age furnishings to collections…
2.09 MILES
Looking like a faux Spanish castle from a medieval theme park, this gray edifice was built out of a mix of concrete and local coquina shells in 1883. The…
Castillo de San Marcos National Monument
2.18 MILES
This photogenic fort is an atmospheric monument to longevity: it's the country's oldest masonry fort, completed by the Spanish in 1695. In its time, the…
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Fort Matanzas National Monument
11.69 MILES
The tiny, 1742-built Fort Matanzas National Monument is located on Rattlesnake Island, near where Menéndez de Avilés executed hundreds of shipwrecked…
Alligator Farm Zoological Park
0.44 MILES
Herpetophobes should run in the other direction of this facility – the only one on the planet with every species of crocodilian in residence. Nature…
2.12 MILES
This striking former luxury hotel, built in the 1880s, is now the world's most gorgeous dormitory, belonging to Flagler College, who purchased and saved…
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2.18 MILES
See how they did things back in the 18th century at this re-creation of Spanish Colonial St Augustine, complete with craftspeople demonstrating…
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27.31 MILES
A pleasant 2-mile walkable road loops the inner boundary of this 182-acre state park. A ravine, created millions of years ago by the St Johns River,…
Nearby St Augustine attractions
1. Alligator Farm Zoological Park
0.44 MILES
Herpetophobes should run in the other direction of this facility – the only one on the planet with every species of crocodilian in residence. Nature…
0.7 MILES
The light produced by this 1870s striped lighthouse beams all the way downtown. A great place to bring kids over six and more than 44in tall (since all…
1.52 MILES
Also known as the González-Alvarez House, this is the oldest surviving Spanish-era home in Florida, dating to the early 1700s and sitting on a site…
1.9 MILES
Dating to 1798, this fascinating museum complex includes the main house building, the area's only detached kitchen building and a reconstructed washhouse…
5. Spanish Military Hospital Museum
1.92 MILES
Not for the faint of heart, guided tours of this museum discuss Colonial-era medical techniques in all their gory glory: amputations, leeching, the whole…
1.97 MILES
In the heart of downtown, this grassy square, the oldest public park in the US and a former marketplace for food (and slaves), has an attractive gazebo,…
2.01 MILES
Henry Flagler's former Hotel Alcazar is home to this wonderful museum with a little bit of everything, from ornate Gilded Age furnishings to collections…
8. Cathedral Basilica of St Augustine
2.01 MILES
With its magnificent bell tower lording it over the Plaza de la Constitution, this Spanish-mission-style cathedral is likely the country's first Catholic…