You already know where to stay in St. Augustine (hint: it’s the Bayfront Marin House).
But what to bring for your trip? Here are our top three tips:
1. Walking shoes. There are a lot of ways to see St. Augustine–there are trolleys, pedicabs, boats, bikes, segways, carriages, and golf carts–but the very best way to soak in the sights is on your own two feet. When you walk through our historic streets, you can see the details that you might miss at a faster pace–the bumpy brick roads with tracks from ancient carriages, the errant holes in walls from cannon balls (no, I’m not making that up), old paint on shutters and some of the most beautiful doors in the world. But you need walking shoes–and comfortable ones. Start to break yours in weeks before you come to St. Augustine–your feet will thank you.
2. An umbrella. You’ve seen the commercial where the cloud goes over the beachgoers in Florida, and everybody groans, right? Well, we have our share of clouds–beautiful puffy cumulous nimbus clouds–but we also have quick thunderstorms, especially in the summer. Bring a small umbrella, and tuck it in your backpack. It will almost guarantee that it won’t rain on your trek through the city!
3. Coupons. We don’t want you to work on vacation, but grabbing a few coupons before you come to town is well worth it. There are individual promotions available through your bed and breakfast (we send each of our guests a link to a coupon for free desserts at our various restaurant partners), there are coupons in our guidebooks, and there’s even a free book called the Big Fat Coupon Book. (You can print coupons from this website as well). There are hundreds of coupons available–from deals at restaurants, to coupons for free samples, to discounts on some of our coolest retail stores–enough to save real money on your vacation. Use them to save enough money to stay an extra night–trust us…there’s plenty to do for a longer stay!!