The best free things to do in St. Augustine with kids are Fort Matanzas, Fort Mose, the splash park at the county pier and Project SWING, with eight more below. Fort Matanzas is the one to plan the week around. It is a Spanish fort on an island that you reach by a National Park Service boat, and the boat is free. We travel slowly with kids, one thing a day and a long afternoon in the water, and a town whose free things are real outings rather than filler makes that easy. Every item was checked against the park, city or county’s own page on September 14, 2026, and where a small fee sits beside a free thing it says so. By the end you will have a week of days that cost nothing and know which three carry a small charge.
How We Chose These
Free means the thing itself costs the family nothing to do. We left out anything that is only free for one age group, anything that is really a free walk past a paid attraction, and the tips-based tours. Where a free place charges for one part of itself, or charges for parking, that fee is printed in the item rather than left for you to discover at the gate. Nine of the twelve carry no charge at all. The other three are Fort Mose Historic State Park ($2 per adult for the visitor center, the grounds are free), the grounds of the Castillo de San Marcos (the grounds are free, $15 per adult to go inside and children free) and the GTM Research Reserve Environmental Education Center (free entry, $3 to park).
Hours and fees change. Every item links to the page the operator maintains, and the dates and prices here were read from those pages on September 14, 2026. If a line below disagrees with the official page on the day you go, the official page wins.
The 12 Best Free Things to Do in St. Augustine with Kids
1. Fort Matanzas National Monument and its free ferry
A Spanish watchtower from the 1740s on Rattlesnake Island, reached by a National Park Service ferry that costs nothing. The boat ride is the attraction as much as the fort. It is short, the rangers talk about the inlet on the way over, and the fort is small enough that a five-year-old can see all of it before losing interest. There is a beach on the ocean side of the parking area for afterwards.
Where: 8635 State Road A1A South, on Anastasia Island south of Crescent Beach. When: Ferry runs Thursday to Monday. There is no ferry on Tuesdays or Wednesdays. Pick up a free boarding pass at the visitor center first, every member of the family needs one. Cost: Free, including the ferry. The park’s own words are that all areas are free of charge including the ferry to the fort. Check the official page before you go.
2. Fort Mose Historic State Park
The site of the first free Black settlement in what is now the United States, with a boardwalk out across the marsh and a replica of the wooden fort. The boardwalk is the part small children remember, because it runs out over the water and the fiddler crabs are underneath it. On the first Saturday of the month the Fort Mose militia drills in period uniform and fires muskets, which is loud and free.
Where: 15 Fort Mose Trail, two miles north of the historic district. When: Grounds open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day. The visitor center is open Thursday to Monday and closed Tuesday and Wednesday. Militia muster is the first Saturday, 9 to 11:30 a.m. Cost: Park grounds are free. The visitor center charges $2 per adult and children under six are free. Check the official page before you go.
3. The Splash Park and playground at St. Johns County Ocean Pier Park
A county park on the beach with a splash pad, a playground, picnic tables, restrooms, outdoor showers, lighted volleyball courts and free parking. This is the free afternoon that saves the trip. The splash pad runs from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., the playground is beside it, and the beach is over the dune. Bring the towels and a change of clothes and nobody has to go back to the room.
Where: 350 A1A Beach Boulevard, St. Augustine Beach. When: Splash park 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. The county turns the water off when the air temperature is under 70 degrees, so on a cool morning wait for the afternoon. The fishing pier itself is closed for piling repairs until about the end of November 2026, and the splash park and beach access stay open through the work. Cost: Free, including the parking lot. Check the official page before you go.
4. Project SWING playground
The city’s big wooden playground, rebuilt in 2022, with forts and towers, slides, swings, tire swings and a pavilion. It is the place to send them after an hour of being told not to touch things on St. George Street. The wooden towers are the draw and the pavilion has shade for the adults.
Where: 25 West Castillo Drive, beside Francis Field, a short walk from the fort. When: Monday to Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday 9 to 6, Sunday 8 to 6. Cost: Free. The city parking garage next door is not, so walk from wherever you have already parked. Check the official page before you go.
5. The grounds of the Castillo de San Marcos
The green lawn, the seawall and the outer earthworks of the oldest masonry fort in the continental United States are open to walk, sit and picnic on without a ticket. Rolling down the grass bank in front of the fort is a St. Augustine childhood tradition and it costs nothing. The seawall walk along the bay is flat, stroller-friendly and has the boats to look at.
Where: 1 South Castillo Drive, on the bayfront. When: Grounds are open through the day. The fort interior is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Cost: The grounds are free. Going inside the fort is free for children 15 and under with an adult, and $15 per adult for a pass good for seven days. The National Park Service also lists fee-free days each year, and Veterans Day on November 11 is one of them. Check the official page before you go.
6. St. George Street, the Plaza de la Constitucion and the Bridge of Lions
The pedestrian street that runs the length of the old town, the oldest public square in the country under its oak trees, and the bridge over the Matanzas River with the marble lions at its foot. Walk St. George Street early, before the crowds, let them find the lions on the bridge, and end in the Plaza where there is shade, benches and room to run. It is a complete morning and the only cost is whatever they talk you into at an ice cream window.
Where: The historic district, between the fort and the bayfront. When: Always open. The bridge walk is best at sunset. Cost: Free. Check the official page before you go.
7. The GTM Research Reserve Environmental Education Center
The visitor center of a national estuarine research reserve, with three aquariums of local fish, a full-size model of a right whale hanging from the ceiling, and a scavenger hunt sheet for children. It is the best free indoor hour on this coast for a rainy morning, and the reserve’s beach across the road is one of the quietest in the county. On the third Saturday of the month there is a free guided beach walk about the animals that live there.
Where: 505 Guana River Road, Ponte Vedra Beach, north on A1A. When: Tuesday to Saturday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Beach walk on the third Saturday, 9 to 11 a.m. Cost: Admission to the center is free. Parking is $3 per vehicle. Check the official page before you go.
8. Mission Nombre de Dios and the Great Cross
The grounds where the Spanish landed in 1565 and the first parish Mass in what is now the United States was said, with a 208-foot stainless steel cross on the marsh, a small chapel, a lagoon and shaded paths. Children do not need the history to enjoy it. The cross is enormous, the paths are flat and quiet, and there are ducks and turtles in the water. It is a good half hour of calm between two busier stops.
Where: 101 San Marco Avenue, a ten-minute walk north of the fort. When: Monday to Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday noon to 4 p.m. Cost: Free. Donations are welcome and not required. Check the official page before you go.
9. The St. Augustine Amphitheatre Farmers Market
A Saturday morning market with local produce, baked goods, music and food stalls in the shade of the amphitheatre’s oaks. Free to walk through, and a good place to buy breakfast and the week’s fruit before a beach day. There is usually a musician and always a dog to look at.
Where: 1340C A1A South, in the amphitheatre parking lot on Anastasia Island. When: Saturdays 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., rain or shine. There is no market on the second Saturday of May, when the college holds its graduation there. Cost: Free to enter. Check the official page before you go.
10. Vilano Beach and the Vilano Bridge walk
The beach on the north side of the St. Augustine Inlet, with a small town center, a public pier and the bridge back toward the city. Vilano is steeper and shellier than the beaches to the south and better for shelling than for wading with very small children. The walk across the bridge at sunset has the bay on both sides.
Where: Across the inlet north of the historic district, on Coastal Highway A1A. When: Always open. Cost: Free. Walk-on beach access is free, and public parking is at the town center and the pier. Check the official page before you go.
11. The coquina rock outcrops on the beach at Marineland
A stretch of beach where the coquina rock the city is built from breaks the surface as low ledges and pools at low tide. Tide pools. Check the tide table, go at low water, and let them look for crabs and small fish in the pools. Shoes with grip, and stay off the ledges when the surf is up.
Where: South on A1A at the Flagler County line. When: Always open, but only worth it near low tide. Cost: Free. Check the official page before you go.
12. Nights of Lights
More than three million white lights on every building in the old town from the Saturday before Thanksgiving to mid-January. Walking the Plaza after dark under the lights is the best free evening the city has, and it needs no tickets, no schedule and no car once you are downtown. The 2026 season runs from Saturday, November 21, 2026 through Monday, January 18, 2027, and Light-Up Night is the first evening, with the switch thrown in the Plaza at 6:30 p.m.
Where: The whole historic district, centered on the Plaza de la Constitucion. When: Lights are on nightly through the season. Light-Up Night is November 21, 2026, with entertainment from 4 p.m. and the lighting at 6:30 p.m. Cost: Free. No ticket required. The trolley and boat tours that run through the lights are paid, and the walk is not. Check the official page before you go.
When You Are Ready to Spend
A free week still needs a bed and usually one paid outing. The paid tours worth the money here are the boat trips and the ghost walks, and they book through GetYourGuide. For lodging, St. Augustine splits between the historic district, where you can walk to almost everything on this list, and St. Augustine Beach, where the splash park and the sand are. Our St. Augustine activities guide covers the paid side of the town, and the St. Augustine beaches guide covers every public beach access.
St. Augustine is one of the towns in our ranking of the best beach towns in Florida for families, which covers what a week here costs against the rest of the state.
FAQs About Free Things to Do in St. Augustine with Kids
Is St. Augustine expensive for a family?
The paid attractions add up quickly, because the lighthouse, the fort interior, the Alligator Farm and the trolleys are all separate tickets. The town itself is not. Nine of the twelve things on this list cost nothing at all, the beach and the splash park are free with free parking, and the historic district is a free walk. A family that plans around the free list and buys one paid outing has a full week.
Is the Castillo de San Marcos free for kids?
Yes. Children 15 and under enter the fort free with an adult, and adults pay $15 for a pass that lasts seven days. The grounds, the lawn and the seawall outside the walls are free for everyone, and the National Park Service lists fee-free days each year on which the inside is free too.
What is free at St. Augustine Beach?
The beach itself, and the county pier park at 350 A1A Beach Boulevard, which has a splash pad open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., a playground, restrooms, showers and a free parking lot. The pier is closed for repairs until about the end of November 2026, and the park around it stays open.
When are the Nights of Lights in St. Augustine?
The 2026 season runs from Saturday, November 21, 2026 through Monday, January 18, 2027. The lights come on at 6:30 p.m. on the first night in the Plaza de la Constitucion, they are on every evening after that, and walking through them is free.