Hi there!
Driving directly from Orlando to St Augustine is around 2 hours.
You would be driving along I-95 and I-4 for much of the way.
Or, you can also mostly skip the interstate and take your time and make stops along the way!
Of course there are many different ways to get from Orlando to St Augustine. (As in, you have lots of options for stops.)
Consider the list below some ideas of stops to make along the way!
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What is there to see between Orlando and St Augustine?
I did the drive from Orlando to St Augustine in January 2023.
I also went in the opposite direction about a year before that too.
1. Blue Spring State Park
Cost: $6 per car for Blue Spring State Park
If it’s winter, you can go see manatees in Blue Spring State Park! (You want to go in the morning!)
If it’s summer, you can go swimming in Blue Spring State Park!
Explore the map of Orlando to Blue Spring State Park St Augustine.
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2. Flagler Beach FL
So, you want to drive along the A1A with ocean views?!
Making a detour to the A1A in Flagler Beach can be perfect!
Explore the map of Orlando to Flagler Beach St Augustine.
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3. Washington Oaks Gardens State Park
Cost: $5 per car for Washington Oaks Garden State Park
If you’re from the north, then the trees in Florida are just different!
So Washington Oaks Gardens State Park can be a pretty walk to see these different kinds of trees.
There is a short trail that can take you to the water (inland to the Matanzas River) and then a walk through the gardens.
Even just the short drive through Washington Oaks Gardens State Park is nice.
If you want to stop by Washington Oaks Garden State Park, you might as well drive the A1A through Flagler Beach to get there!
Explore the map of Orlando to Washington Oaks Gardens State Park to St Augustine.
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4. Fort Matanzas National Monument
Cost: FREE
The Fort Matanzas National Monument is a national park site in Florida that you can visit on your drive from Orlando to St Augustine.
To make the most of your time here, you’ll want to add in a little bit of extra time… which will likely include waiting.
That’s because the best thing to do at Fort Matanzas National Monument is to take a ferry to Fort Matanzas.
So you will want to be there so you can catch the ferry!
It’s a free ferry to Fort Matanzas provided by the National Park Service, but you need to pick up a ferry ticket.
You might not be able to get a ticket for the next ferry that leaves because they might have all been given out.
See more about current timings.
While you wait, you can admire the massive tree at the parking lot’s picnic area.
Even if you have no intention of taking the ferry, you might want to stop by just to take a look at the tree since it’s free!
And even if you decide that you don’t want to wait for the next ferry, you can still go and see the fort off in the distance even without a ferry ride.
You’ll go to the ferry dock area and look off to the right.
You won’t be able to walk onto the pier without a ferry ticket, but there’s a space off to the left of the pier that you can walk out a little bit.
Learn about America’s Spanish origins!
And about more of the brutal beginnings of the country that we know as the United States of America today… all that brutality by the Europeans to get to where we are today… Fort Matanzas history will take you back to the 1500s before America became America.
By going to the fort, you’ll also get a park ranger who will tell you stories about the history of Fort Matanzas and this area of the Florida coast.
St Augustine is considered the “longest continually inhabited European-founded city in the United States” and the coastal area is called the “First Coast.”
Fort Matanzas is a part of this history.
Explore the map of Orlando to Fort Matanzas to St Augustine.
5. St Augustine
And you’ve made it to St Augustine!!
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Well, there’s St Augustine Beach and then there’s the historic downtown St Augustine.
When you’re driving in the direction of Orlando to St Augustine, you can stop off at a beach access first.
You can go to one of the main beach access spots like Crescent Beach, St Johns County Ocean Pier, or even Anastasia Island State Park.
Or, you can stop off at one of the smaller St Augustine Beach access spots just so you do a quick walk through sand before moving on!
Drive the A1A Beach Blvd in St Augustine Beach (different from the regular A1A) and you’ll come across some smaller beach access paths. (map)
If you have the right car, you can drive on the beach in St Augustine, and anyone can go shelling in St Augustine! (It’s not the best shelling in Florida but it’s possible you can still have a happy shelling experience at St Augustine Beach!)
You can expect the St Augustine food truck of Nalu’s near the entrance of Anastasia Island State Park. (Buy your food, and then drive into Anastasia Island State Park $ to eat at a picnic area!)
Nearby Anastasia Island State Park is also the St Augustine Lighthouse. $
Or there’s also the St Augustine food trucks at Marina Munch!
My brother who is a foodie approved of the Funkadelic food truck at Marina Munch. He ordered the fish tacos.
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Florida a1a highway
The most important thing to know if you want to take the slow scenic route when doing the drive from Orlando to St Augustine is to be sure that you make your way onto the Florida a1a highway at some point!
Like… driving the A1A through Flagler Beach!
There are parts that will have you driving with ocean views!
And that’s a bit about driving to St Augustine from Orlando!
For an alternate route that doesn’t take you along the coast to get to St Augustine, you may also consider going from Orlando to Ocala National Forest to St Augustine!
There are the Ocala National Forest springs that you can go swimming at any time of year… as long as you don’t mind stepping out of the water in cooler air temps!
The water temperature of Florida springs are around 72 degrees, which may be on the cooler side but is still swimmable water temperature for a lot of people!
And then you can wait until you get to St Augustine to see the Atlantic Ocean!
If you’re heading further up north from St Augustine to Amelia Island, then continue your slow scenic drive up the A1A and stop by South Ponte Vedra Beach and take the Mayport ferry across the St Johns River!
And then once you get to Amelia Island, you can again stop at some of the smaller Amelia Island beaches!
HAPPY DRIVING TO ST AUGUSTINE FROM ORLANDO!
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