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St Augustine, Florida

Last weekend we made last-minute plans to spend a couple of days in St Augustine, Florida before heading out on our Royal Caribbean cruise.   Located in northeast Florida, and just under 2 hours directly north of Cape Canaveral, we felt like we could get the most out of our PTO buck by making it two trips in one!  So, this last-minute trip was only two nights and most of the research we did took place the night before we left.  I have to admit that our only regret is that we didn’t give ourselves enough time to experience even a fraction of what St Augustine has to offer.  We did however cover a lot of ground by purchasing tickets for the Old Town Trolley Tour of St Augustine which allowed us to see (and taste) a lot of the city!  Today, I want to specially talk about the St Augustine Distillery Tour, one of our favorite stops!

The St Augustine Old Town Trolley Tour

But first, let’s chat real quick about the Old Town Trolley Tour because, as I mentioned above, this is a great way to see a lot of downtown St Augustine on your first visit or if you only have a day or two like us.    With over 5000, 5 star Google reviews, you won’t regret purchasing trolley tickets.   A one-day pass includes unlimited hop-on and off privileges at 22 stops throughout St Augustine.  You can start the tour at any of the stops, and if you were to ride the loop continuously, it takes about 80 minutes to complete and includes over 100 points of interest along the way.

The open-air trolleys pass each stop approximately every 15 minutes and each one has a wonderful narrator who points out everything there is to see along the way! We learned so much just by sitting and riding along! Your ticket also includes admission to the St. Augustine History Museum located near the Old Jail at stop #1.

If you have the time (probably with the purchase of a two-day pass) you can also use your trolley tour ticket to ride the free beach shuttle to both the beach and the popular St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park just across the Bridge of Lions and near the St Augustine Lighthouse.  You will have to buy your own admission ticket to the attraction.

You can purchase your tickets directly from Trolley Tours or a third party such as Trusted Tours.  We find their prices to be the best and have used them numerous times in various cities!

Should you do the St Augustine Trolley Tour?

My answer would be yes!  If it’s your first visit to St Augustine and you want to see as much as possible I would do the trolley tour right away.   Even if you are visiting for several days, this will help you get a lay of the land and determine which places you want to visit and which ones you want to skip.  It is a tourist attraction.  I told Matt that it felt a little like being in downtown Gatlinburg, TN.  But, the area has so much fascinating history that I was ok with it!  We now have some better ideas of what we want to do on our next trip to St Augustine and to be honest, I wish I could have spent another day hopping on and off of it because we didn’t get to visit even a fraction of the places that I wanted to in one day.

St Augustine Old Town Trolley Tour Tips

Get started early.  The St Augustine trolley tours run from 9:00 am to 4:30 pm and get most crowded as the day goes on.  We had to spend a portion of our morning getting Covid tested before our cruise and didn’t board until close to noon.  The rest of the afternoon felt rushed to me and I really wish we could have boarded a few hours earlier.

Bring water.  Bottles of water are a necessity, especially in the Florida heat.  Plan ahead and avoid having to hop off to hunt for water later.

Pay attention to attraction opening and closing times.   This is crucial!  As I mentioned above the trolley ends at 4:30 pm.  Most of the attractions close around the same time. with the exception of the Fountain of Youth which stays open until 6 pm.  I would recommend picking two things that you want to do and hitting those early.  The Castillo de San Marcos is a must-see and the Fountain of Youth is great with kids.  Then you can visit the winery or the St Augustine Distillery that I am sharing today in the afternoon.

Research stops beforehand.  If you only have a day or two, figure out what is at the top of your list.  This tour hits a LOT of places and if you are like me. you’ll want to visit them all!  I really wanted to visit the Lightner Museum (the former Alcazar Hotel built by Henry Morrison Flagler) and the Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park.   The main area downtown is historic St George Street and I would save this for last and have dinner down there — we loved Prohibition Kitchen!  You can always get off the tour near one of the St George Street stops when it ends and spend extra time browsing the shops and getting snacks/souvenirs then.   And it will be less crowded by then too!

Stop 11: The St Augustine Distillery

If you want a taste of St Augustine, quite literally, you’ll want to hop off the trolley at stop 11 — the St Augustine Distillery.  It is one-stop before the San Sebastion Winery which was another place we didn’t make it to.   We had been on the trolley for a good 30+ minutes prior to getting off here, taking in Flagler College (the former Ponce De Leon Hotel), the colonial quarter, the bay, and more.  We were ready to stretch our legs and quite frankly Matt and I were ready for a drink!

St Augustine Distillery Tour

I hate to lump the St Augustine Distillery Tour info into a post about St Augustine tourist attractions because it is much more than that!  Established in 2013, this family-owned and locally operated distillery is located in what once was Florida’s oldest ice plant and gives you a first-hand taste of Florida.  They work with a variety of farmers throughout the state and use local agriculture in their award-winning spirits.  The team at St Augustine Distillery distills and bottles everything themselves and proudly invites you to taste their products for yourselves!  And when learning more about this company while writing this post, I learned that they work very hard to give back to the community and make a difference right there at home!

How much does the St Augustine Distillery Tour Cost?

The tour is FREE!  No reservation is required.   You will have the opportunity to purchase spirits, mixers, and souvenirs in their retail shop at the end of the tour as well.   It’s a great place to grab something to take home!

What to expect during the St Augustine Distillery Tour

The self-guided tour takes you through a few different areas where you can learn about everything from farm to finish.  You will walk through barrel rooms and get a glimpse inside the daily operations of the distillery.   It also includes 4 samples of signature cocktails made from St Augustine Distillery spirits and mixers.  The bartenders are friendly and well educated and we enjoyed our short chats with them.

How long should you plan for the St Augustine Distillery?

You can easily get through the tour portion in under 30 minutes.  Maybe a little longer if you want to read everything and a little less if you are just there for the tasting.  This makes it a great afternoon stop on the Old Town Trolley Tour!

What types of liquor do you taste on the St Augustine Distillery Tour?

We tasted four fantastic cocktails during our tour!

VODKA: Our first signature cocktail was a mule using their St Augustine Distillery Florida Cane Vodka served up as a Florida Mule with thier premium mixer.  So good!  Vodka was actually the first spirit they distilled and bottled so only fitting that it come first!

GIN: They paired their St Augustine Distillery Gin with a Grapefruit Hibiscus Mix for a refreshing citrus-inspired cocktail!  Matt doesn’t usually care for gin and he was a big fan of this drink!

RUM: When it came to sampling their award-winning rum we were happy to see it served as a served in a Tropical Tiki drink.  I mean, we are on vacation after all!

BOURBON:  The last sample was a St Augustine Distillery Bourbon forward Old Fashioned taken at the bar in the retail space.

All were great and we had to make sure to take some of the mixers home as well!  You can see all of the recipes and even order the mixers on their website!

Can kids visit the St Augustine Distillery?

Yes!   Although, Jake made it quite clear to us that he did not like the smell of the fermenting.    I know that a distillery tour is more of an adult activity but they do realize that many people are hopping off of the trolley tour with their families and were welcoming to Abby and Jake!  They do check IDs at the entrance and wristband adults for the tastings.

Is the St Augustine Distillery tour educational?

I think so!  We loved reading everything we could about the grains and everything that goes into the distillation process and making the perfect spirit.  It was interesting to see the components on display and while obviously the kids aren’t of drinking age, I think they learned a lot.  If we were still homeschooling we would have definitely counted this as science class!

Do they serve food at the St Augustine Distillery?

They do NOT serve food at the actual distillery, however, there is a fantastic restaurant located just upstairs called The Ice Plant!  We didn’t have time for a full sit down lunch but we grabbed some appetizers and a refreshing cocktail up in the bar area.  An homage to its location inside the original1927 St Augustine ice plant building, this farm to table restaurants serves up a selection of grass fed burgers, fresh local seafood and more!  You can view the entire menu here. The bartenders at The Ice Plant specialize in craft cocktails and a variety of ice cube styles.  You can watch them melt blocks of ice into perfect spheres before placing them in your high ball glass. It’s pretty cool!

The Ice Plant is open daily for lunch or for dinner and stays open as late as 2am on weekends.

Plan your visit to the St Augustine Distillery

Are you ready to plan your visit?  Come and see why TripAdvisor fans rank a visit to the St Augustine Distillery as #4 of their 160 things to do in St Augustine, Florida!

Location and Hours of Operation