Discover 11 blocks of pedestrian-only traffic along quaint St. George Street, lined by 18th century homes which are now historic landmarks, unique shops, and excellent restaurants. Explore the Old City's brick-lined streets, tour a historic church, walk along the beautiful bayfront, learn about early Spanish and English settlers, see historic buildings which lured northerners for winter vacations a century ago. Visit Castillo de San Marcos (1695), the nation's oldest and only remaining 17th century stone fort, a National Historic Monument which you can tour inside and out. Horse and buggy rides provide a unique way to absorb the stories of yesteryear, evening ghost tours delight you with their tales, and a bayfront cruise can give you yet another perspective of this beautiful ancient city. The city's calendar is filled with special events, pageants, reenactments, and celebrations of history and culture, including Nights of Lights which bathes the Old City with sparkling white holiday lights, Fourth of July fireworks over the bayfront, and much more. We'll help you find out what's happening during your stay with us!

The St. Francis Inn is unique in location -- right in the heart of the oldest part of the city. The narrow brick paved streets offering charming restaurants, museums, galleries, antiques, historic sites and a variety of shopping experiences...all easily within walking distance. St. Augustine is a rich cultural center, with special events held in the old city throughout the year. A walk through the oldest city's historic district is not to be missed.

You can ride a trolley, exiting and re-boarding as you explore. Horse and buggy rides (just a short walk from both Inns) that offer narrated tours day and night. The city's seaside location makes all types of water activities readily available, including harbor cruises, fishing trips, and boat rentals.

Visit popular family attractions, such as Potter's Wax Museum, Ripley's Believe It or Not, the Alligator Farm, the St. Augustine Lighthouse, and many others.

Festivals fill the calendar year-round, many celebrating historic events or offering reenactments. Enjoy arts and craft fairs, seafood festivals, colonial celebrations, chowder debates, native American ceremonies, and torchlight parades. And from November through January, St. Augustine sparkles with white lights, celebrating "Nights of Lights" through the holiday season.

There is so much to do in St. Augustine. To find out more about the city's special events and attractions during your stay, check out one of the general information sites listed below.

The Ximenez-Fatio House, a Historic Museum House circa 1798, is located at 20 Aviles Street. Andres Ximenez, native of Ronda, Spain, had come to St. Augustine prior to 1790. Records show that in April, 1791, he married Juana, 15 year old daughter of a Minorcan family in St. Augustine. Ximenez bought a two-story wooden house on the corner of what is now Aviles and Cadiz Streets.

There, with a store in his house, Ximenez prospered enough to acquire the corner lot directly across the street, where he built this coquina block house, two warehouses and a separate coquina kitchen building. His general store occupied the ground floor and living quarters were upstairs, Spanish style. Today the Ximenez-Fatio House is restored and furnished to show how it might have looked during Florida's Territorial Period in the mid 1800s. The site was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.

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Crossing the Bridge of Lions leaving the old city of St Augustine places you on Anastasia Island (one of Florida's many barrier islands along the Atlantic Ocean coastline). Discover one of the Florida’s most beautiful beaches, and all the amenities of a Florida seaside community. Of course, the beach itself is bursting with fun and endless activity. But just steps off the beach the area abounds with shops of collectibles, nautical themed gifts, resort apparel, beach toys (for all ages), antiques, and unusual souvenirs. Enjoy a hamburger on a deck just steps from the beach, try the local catch of the day, savor fine cuisine at a candlelit table -- the variety of fine restaurants at the beach is amazing! There are coffee shops, smoothie bars, and ice cream parlors. Rent mopeds, kayaks, windsurfing gear, boats, jet skis, and more. Play tennis, volleyball or golf nearby. Book a fishing trip, learn to surf, play miniature golf under the stars, climb the 165-foot St. Augustine Lighthouse, or visit the Alligator Farm Zoological Park.