St Augustine. Home of Spanish history and architecture, great weather and one of the most pet-friendly places to visit in the US.
Shae and I have visited hundreds of towns and cities on our 7 year, 50 state road trip so far with our dog Truffles and it’s hard to remember anywhere we’ve visited that’s been more dog-friendly than the historic city of St Augustine.
We spent a week there in January 2024 and had a wonderful time, as did Truffles. Here’s 12 fun and pet-friendly things to do in St Augustine that you can enjoy whether you’re traveling with your dog or not.
1) Beaches
St Augustine and nearby Vilano Beach have more than 40 miles of dog-friendly beaches.
While some beaches in other locations only let dogs walk on them after a certain time of day and/or from October to April/May, the 40+ miles of dog-friendly beaches in St Augustine allow dogs throughout the day year-round. Dogs have to remain on a leash, but that’s a small price to pay for being able to have your pup join you on a beach day.
We stayed at the pet-friendly Hyatt Place St Augustine/Vilano Beach (see my review here) and it was wonderful being able to take Truffles for walks on the beach which was only a block or two from the hotel.
2) Ponce de Leon’s Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park
One of the things we were most impressed about St Augustine was how many attractions let dogs inside their doors. One of the top tourist attractions there is Ponce de Leon’s Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park, a site purporting to feature a freshwater well that Ponce de Leon was searching for in his quest to find the Fountain of Youth.
Not only are pups allowed on the grounds of the park, but they’re allowed inside all the buildings there too which is very unusual compared to most other similar tourist attractions elsewhere around the country.
The park has plastic cups so that you can drink from the Fountain of Youth yourself…
…although Truffles wasn’t really having any of it – probably because of the water’s sulfury smell. It’s a shame she didn’t partake of the waters as she’s not getting any younger.
The park covers ~15 acres, so there’s plenty of space to walk around with your dog. There are recreations of a mission church, a watchtower you can climb up, memorials, a Timucuan burial exhibit, planetarium and other living museum-type experiences like a blacksmith exhibit.
There are a couple of demonstrations that you might want to keep your pup clear of depending on their sensitivity to loud noises. There’s a historic firearms presentation as well as a cannon firing, the latter of which can be particularly loud if you’re right by it. Those happen every hour, so you’ll want to keep an eye on your watch/phone in case you happen to be wandering near them. That said, there’s a ~5 minute presentation before the actual firings, so you’ll see the crowds and hear the information about the guns/cannons before any banging, so you’ll be able to walk further away if necessary.
The park has lots of peacocks wandering around, so you’ll need to keep a tight grip on your dog’s leash if they’re likely to get a little too curious about what these colorful creatures are.
3) Downtown St Augustine
Downtown St Augustine is a very walkable part of the city. With historic architecture, pedestrian-only sections and several pet-friendly stores, it’s a wonderful place to explore whether you have a four-legged friend with you or not.
There are historic markers and information boards throughout the city that help provide details and context about what you’re looking at.
4) Castillo de San Marcos National Monument
Castillo de San Marcos National Monument is the oldest masonry fort in the US, having been built from 1672-1695. Its masonry is somewhat unusual as the stones are made of coquina which means it contains different types of shells.
The fort is only partially pet-friendly. The exterior of the grounds allow dogs to walk around with you and there are several information boards out there where you can learn more about its construction and history.
Castillo de San Marcos is a National Monument which means it’s run by the National Park Service (NPS). There’s a fee to enter, but it’s free if you have an NPS annual pass like we do. While I walked around outside with Truffles, Shae went inside the fort to explore.
5) St Augustine Distillery
St Augustine has a number of fun distilleries and wineries that offer free tastings. We visited several while we were there, the first of which was St Augustine Distillery.
You take a self-guided tour, with some spirits tastings along the way. Not only is it free, but dogs are allowed throughout the entire experience with you. While we were treated to the free drinks…
…Truffles got treats of her own.
All of their spirits we tried were very good, particularly the different whiskeys.
6) City Gate Distillery
The other distillery we visited was City Gate Distillery. They don’t provide a tour of their facilities; instead, it’s purely a tasting experience. Similar to St Augustine Distillery though, the tasting is both free and pet-friendly.
City Gate Distillery has lots of fun-flavored whiskeys and moonshines including cookie dough, smoked maple, salted caramel and apple pie.
7) San Sebastian Winery
If you prefer wine to whiskey, St Augustine has you covered too. San Sebastian Winery offers a free tasting tour which, like the distilleries, lets you bring your dog along with you.
San Sebastian has a rooftop bar called Cellar Upstairs. After doing their free tasting tour, we went up there to get a bottle of their Cabernet Sauvignon which was our favorite of the wines we’d tried. They have a food menu too, so we ordered a baguette to go with it.
Cellar Upstairs is pet-friendly too, so Truffles waited patiently in her hoodie while we had a drink (it was chilly out that day as we visited in January).
8) Auggie’s Mini Donuts
If you’ve been drinking it up, or if you’ve just worked up an appetite from all the walking around St Augustine, a great spot to grab a snack is Auggie’s Mini Donuts. It’s in the same store as a Pepper Palace which offers free tastings of loads of their hot sauces, so if you’re feeling spicy then we’d recommend trying those too while you’re there.
We’ve been to Pepper Palace before, so we were focused on donuts this time. I popped inside quickly to see what flavor I wanted, then went outside to wait with Truffles while Shae went in to order. It turns out that dogs are allowed inside the Auggie’s Mini Donuts/Pepper Palace combo store, so I brought her in.
This awesome little donut place is great for a couple of reasons. First, they make your donuts fresh as they’re ordered, so you get to watch them being made in front of you.
You then get to choose their toppings. Their menu has all kinds of different topping options you can pick, plus they have a display showing what many of them look like.
Shae had been interested in the S’mores (I think) and Cinna-Bum, so the owner kindly offered to do a mix of them for her, while I ordered the strawberry cheesecake. We tried each other’s donuts and they were all delicious.
Shae’s mom and stepdad were meeting back up with us in Homosassa the next day, but drove through St Augustine. We’d loved the donuts so much that we decided to stop by again just before leaving St Augustine to pick up a bunch more to snack on.
In the photo below, starting from the top and going clockwise we got Boston cream, Cinna-Bum, strawberry Nutella, unicorn droppings (which as you can see had Fruity Pebbles cereal) and another flavor I can’t remember (that other one was for Shae’s mom). Once again, they were all delicious, with Boston cream being my favorite.
Truffles always likes to know what we’re eating in case it’s something she’d be interested in having us drop on the floor for her. She’s pretty much a meat-only treat kinda girl, but she still wanted to be shown the donuts to ensure we weren’t deceiving her by having some kind of surreptitious meat snack.
9) Faux Paws Dog Shop
St George Street is a long pedestrian section with stores, restaurants, bars, etc. Several pet-friendly locations on this list are along there, with one of them being Faux Paws Dog Shop.
This pet store had all kinds of cute things for sale and so we tried a few of them out on Truffles. I think we were more impressed with them than she was.
10) Bridge of Lions
The Bridge of Lions connects St Augustine with Anastasia Island and is so named due to the replica marble Medici lions that greet you when crossing the bridge. You can walk across the bridge with your pup, stopping at one of the restaurants or bars on the other side with pet-friendly outdoor seating before heading back.
11) Oldest Wooden Schoolhouse
Also along St George Street is the Oldest Wooden Schoolhouse which is, as the name suggests, believed to be the oldest wooden schoolhouse in all of the US. It’s not clear exactly when it was built, but it’s thought to date back to the early 1700s.
As with so many other attractions in St Augustine, the Oldest Wooden Schoolhouse is pet-friendly, so you can bring your pup along on a self-guided tour.
12) PESCA Rooftop Bar
If you like the look of Cellar Upstairs – the rooftop bar at San Sebastian Winery we listed earlier – you might also like PESCA. PESCA is a rooftop bar at the Hyatt Place St Augustine/Vilano Beach. We stayed at the Hyatt Place for a week when visiting St Augustine, with the hotel being less than 10 minutes from downtown St Augustine.
PESCA is open to anyone, so you don’t have to be staying at the hotel to have a drink and/or meal there. The rooftop bar has some nice views of the ocean, lots of pet-friendly seating and tasty cocktails.
Your Suggestions
We loved how pet-friendly St Augustine was, but there are so many attractions and great-looking restaurants there that we didn’t have time to check out. What other spots are worth visiting in St Augustine? Let us know in the comments below.
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