St. Augustine is the oldest continuously occupied European settlement in the United States — founded by the Spanish in 1565, forty-two years before the English landed at Jamestown. That history is not just marketing; it's visible at every turn in the narrow streets of the old city, the coquina-shell fort on Matanzas Bay, the Spanish colonial architecture, and the Cathedral Basilica that has stood here since the 18th century.
The Castillo de San Marcos, the star-shaped fort at the north end of the old city, is the centrepiece. Built of coquina — a local compressed-shell limestone so porous it absorbs cannonballs rather than shattering under them — the fort has never been taken by force. Tours are inexpensive and good; the views from the ramparts over Matanzas Bay are excellent. Nearby, St. George Street is the main pedestrian street of the old quarter, lined with colonial-era buildings now housing shops, restaurants, and small museums. Among the "oldest" superlatives clustered here: the Oldest Wooden Schoolhouse, the Colonial Spanish Quarter Museum, the Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine.
Flagler College, housed in the former Ponce de León Hotel (one of Henry Flagler's great Florida resort hotels), dominates the southern edge of the old city with its red towers and Spanish Renaissance architecture. Across the street, the Lightner Museum occupies what was the Alcazar Hotel, with a wild collection of Victorian art nouveau and mechanical musical instruments — there's a café in the drained swimming pool. The Zorayda Castle, modelled on Granada's Alhambra, contains curiosities including an ancient Egyptian rug made of cat hair.
South across the Bridge of Lions, the St. Augustine Lighthouse is worth the 219-step climb for the views. Anastasia State Park nearby has four miles of undeveloped Atlantic beach and a historic coquina quarry. The Fort Matanzas National Monument, 14 miles south, is accessible by free NPS ferry and is usually uncrowded. The city is 150 km north of Orlando and 65 km south of Jacksonville.