Things to do in St. Augustine, Florida (FL): The Best Specialty Museums

Dating to the Spanish town plan of 1573, the property is a centerpiece of St. Augustine’s oldest settlement and is a feature along the city’s first platted thoroughfare, Aviles Street.“The Ximenez~Fatio House museum is one of the first to interpret 19th century women’s history”William Seale, Ph.D.; author, historian, and consultant for interpretation since the 1970’s.

Classic Car Museum of St Augustine was created to help bring memories back to life as only Classic Cars can do. Founded on the principles of sharing, charitable giving, community involvement, education, and a whole lot of fun. The Classic Car Museum is a 30,000 sq ft special events space, museum and classic car storage facility located in the Nation’s Oldest City, St. Augustine, FL.

Located in the heart of downtown St. Augustine, Lightner Museum occupies the historic Alcazar Hotel, a Gilded Age resort hotel built in 1888 by railroad magnate Henry Flagler. Founded in 1948, the Museum is home to one of the premier collections of 19th-and early 20th-century fine and decorative art in the country. Furnishings, paintings, leaded glass windows, cut and blown glass, and natural history specimens from the Otto Lightner Collection are exhibited against the backdrop of the magnificent Alcazar Hotel. Visitors to the Museum are invited to participate in an immersive experience of art, architecture, and design from America’s Gilded Age. We are open every day except for Christmas Eve (close at 1PM), Christmas day, and New Year's Day. Our hours are from 9AM-5PM with last entry precisely at 4PM.

The World Golf Hall of Fame & Museum provides an extensive look at the game of golf through stories, artifacts, videos, art and photography of its members within 75,000 square foot exhibition space. Guests have the opportunity to enhance their visit with an audio tour guide that tells "behind the scenes" stories from Hall of Fame members themselves. Admission includes two-day access to the museum and a shot on the Challenge Hole. It is open daily, observes holiday hours on New Year's Eve and Christmas Eve and is closed Thanksgiving and Christmas Day.

Relive the Golden Age of Piracy at Pat Croce's St. Augustine Pirate & Treasure Museum! The world's largest collection of authentic pirate artifacts; fun, interactive exhibits, including the award-winning Book of Pirates and the spine-tingling Disney Imagineer-designed Below Deck sound experience of Blackbeard’s last battle; the world’s only pirate treasure chest; one of only three existing 17th century Jolly Rogers; and rarely-seen shipwreck treasures from the Florida Division of Historical Resources.

Take a step back in time as you enter this Grand Gilded Age home, built by Franklin W. Smith in 1883. Franklin Smith, an eclectic world traveler, was originally from Boston, and he built the Villa Zorayda as his winter home in St. Augustine, FL. Smith was the innovator of poured concrete and crushed coquina construction that is seen throughout St. Augustine today. On the "National Register of Historic Places", the Villa Zorayda is a 1/10th scale reproduction of a portion of the Moorish Castle, the Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain. View the elegant traceries on the walls made of alabaster and plaster which were made in Spain using the same molds that the Moors used for the walls of the Alhambra Palace! In addition to the magnificent architecture of the building is the original art and antique collection: hand pierced brass lamps, hand carved and exquisite inlaid furniture, an Egyptian rug over 2400 years old, and much more! You will also see beautiful hand painted Spanish & Egyptian tiles, Moorish horseshoe arches, and the beautiful architectural details from the Alhambra Palace. Learn the 133 year history of the Villa Zorayda as you take a state-of-the-art audio guided tour, which run continuously throughout the day. The audio guided tour is available in English, Spanish and French. Free parking while visiting the Museum.

The Lincolnville Museum and Cultural Center preserves, promotes and perpetuates over 450 years of the African American story in North East Florida through the arts, educational programs, lectures, live performances and exhibits. Visitors can browse the rich cultural heritage of the Lincolnville community and learn about the early settlers of the neighborhood, historic churches, the neighborhood's Civil Rights history and much more. Explore the collections from archaeological findings to instruments played by jazz greats like Ray Charles. You'll soon discover that the road to black history runs through Lincolnville!