🏛️ CulturalLong weekend · from Jacksonville, FL

Georgia's Historic Coast & St. Augustine

Three days through the most historically significant stretch of the American Southeast Atlantic coast — from Savannah's intact colonial grid, through Jekyll Island's Gilded Age resort ruins, to St. Augustine, the oldest continuously occupied European settlement in the United States. The geography alone spans 300 years of American history in 200 miles of coastline: Savannah founded in 1733 as the 13th British colonial city, Jekyll Island as the exclusive retreat of the American plutocracy from 1886 to 1942, and St. Augustine as the Spanish colonial capital established in 1565. The routing moves south, hitting Savannah first on day one, the Golden Isles on day two, and completing the loop through Florida's oldest city on day three before returning to Jacksonville.

Day 1 — Savannah: colonial squares, SCAD district, River Street warehousesDay 2 — Jekyll Island: Gilded Age club district, Driftwood Beach, Golden Isles coastDay 3 — St. Augustine: Castillo de San Marcos, Flagler College, colonial street grid
Day 1Savannah

Day 1Savannah

🚗 2 hr driving📍 4 stops
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Morning
🚗
Drive
Jacksonville, FLSavannah, GA
2 hr8:00 AM10:00 AM
Forsyth Park
Forsyth Park
4.8
Savannah's 30-acre Victorian anchor park — an 1851 cast iron fountain at the center, live oaks arching over the promenade, and Spanish moss on every branch. The natural starting point for the historic district.
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Lunch
Savannah Historic District — Bull Street Walking Tour
Savannah Historic District — Bull Street Walking Tour
4.8
Bull Street's 1.5-mile corridor through five historic squares — the original 1733 Oglethorpe plan at its most intact. Johnson Square, Chippewa Square, and Monterey Square each hold different layers of Savannah history. Lunch at The Grey (1938 Greyhound terminal) or Collins Quarter on Bull Street.
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Afternoon
SCAD Museum of Art
SCAD Museum of Art
4.5
A serious contemporary art collection in a restored 1853 Gothic Revival building — one of the best art museums in the Southeast. SCAD's presence has made Savannah's gallery scene one of the strongest in the South.
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Evening
The Kimpton Brice Hotel
The Kimpton Brice Hotel
3.9
A boutique hotel in a restored historic warehouse in Savannah's downtown — walking distance from the squares and the River Street waterfront for the evening.
Day 2Jekyll Island

Day 2Jekyll Island

🚗 1 hr 30 min driving📍 4 stops
🌅
Morning
🚗
Drive
SavannahJekyll Island, GA
1 hr 30 min8:00 AM9:30 AM
Jekyll Island Club National Historic Landmark District
Jekyll Island Club National Historic Landmark District
4.6
The Gilded Age resort where America's wealthiest families — Vanderbilts, Rockefellers, Morgans, Astors — retreated from 1886 to 1942. The Queen Anne clubhouse and the surrounding millionaires' cottages are preserved as a museum complex; guided tours access interiors of the Morgan, Rockefeller, and Crane cottages. This is where the Federal Reserve was secretly planned in 1910.
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Lunch
Driftwood Beach — Jekyll Island
Driftwood Beach — Jekyll Island
4.8
The northern beach where erosion has produced a forest of bleached, skeletal live oaks standing and fallen in the sand — one of the most visually distinctive beaches on the Atlantic coast. The driftwood landscape extends for nearly a mile along the shore.
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Afternoon
Jekyll Island — Great Dunes Beach
Jekyll Island — Great Dunes Beach
4.8
The main public Atlantic beach — uncrowded, with an intact dune system and loggerhead sea turtle nesting habitat. The island's 20-mile bike path network connects all beach access points.
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Evening
Continue at Jekyll Island Club Resort
Continue at Jekyll Island Club Resort
4.6
Use the afternoon to explore a different side of Jekyll Island Club National Historic Landmark District — there's more to discover beyond the morning highlights.
Day 3St. Augustine

Day 3St. Augustine

🚗 2 hr 15 min driving📍 3 stops
🌅
Morning
🚗
Drive
Jekyll IslandSt. Augustine, FL
1 hr 30 min8:00 AM9:30 AM
Castillo de San Marcos National Monument
Castillo de San Marcos National Monument
4.7
The oldest masonry fort in the continental United States — coquina limestone construction from 1672 to 1695 on Matanzas Bay, never taken by military force. The ramparts offer the best views of the bay and the colonial grid of the oldest continuously occupied European settlement in North America.
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Lunch
St. George Street Historic District
St. George Street Historic District
The pedestrian colonial street following the original Spanish urban plan — coquina buildings, the Cathedral Basilica, the Oldest House, and lunch on the historic block. The Spanish colonial grid survives intact and is the densest concentration of pre-Revolutionary American architecture in the country.
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Afternoon
Flagler College
Flagler College
4.7
Henry Flagler's 1888 Hotel Ponce de León — Spanish Renaissance Revival with Tiffany glass windows and a dining hall of extraordinary ambition, now Flagler College. Guided tours of the interior are available daily and are the best way to see the Tiffany windows and the Ponce de León Rotunda.
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Drive
St. Augustine, FLJacksonville, FL
45 min1:00 PM1:45 PM
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