Three Million Lights in 10,000 Steps

You can enjoy the Nights of Lights in many ways. You can:

• ride in a multi-car green trolley or red train, wearing 3-D glasses and singing holiday songs with your new best friends
• ride in a private or shared electric vehicle (think golf cart) driven by the Grinch, Santa, an elf, or a regular person
• sit in a carriage driven by one or two horses
• view them from the water aboard anything from a kayak to a pirate ship, or several types of boats in between
• even view them from above (and across the river) from the top of the St. Augustine Lighthouse. (Find all of those tours here.)
• Finally, you can view them while walking throughout historic downtown, stopping when you want to nibble, sip, or shop. (And you won't have to walk 500 miles to do it.)

St. Augustine's Nights of Lights

Where Can You Find the Lights?

Most of the city's Nights of Lights holiday decorations are in St. Augustine's Historic Downtown, a 113-acre area that was surrounded by protective walls hundreds of years ago, and is now a National Historic Landmark. Today, the boundaries of this area are Cordova Street to the west, the bayfront and Matanzas River to the East, Orange Street to the North, and St. Francis Street to the South. Within that walkable area, you'll find most of the city's light displays, and more are located just a few blocks to the north or west.

Timing is Everything

There are four perfect times to walk around to enjoy the lights:

1. Pick a day when the shuttles aren't running, which means visiting early in the week and avoiding weekends and that week between Christmas and New Year's.
2. The lights come on at or a bit after sunset (5:30 p.m., give or take ten minutes). It's just a bit less crowded at that time, even on the busiest days, plus you can watch sunset over the city as the lights come on.
3. If you're a night owl, the city's lights remain lit until 2:00 a.m., and many private properties keep their lights on all night. So, have a nightcap at your favorite bar, and walk the city at 11:00 p.m. or later.
4. Face it, whether it's crowded or not, the lights are amazing, and the best time to visit is whenever you can get here between Light Up! Night and the last day of Nights of Lights.

And now, we pause for this reminder brought to you by "St. Augustine in Daylight." This old city is full of historic properties, galleries, museums, and attractions that are not open in the evening. Make sure you carve out some time to visit at least some of these places, including the Castillo, the Spanish Military Hospital Museum, the Florida art exhibit at the Governor's House, the Lightner Museum, and the lovely Flagler College. Oh, and don't forget Villa Zorayda, which has tours featuring their spectacular museum lit for the holidays. You can learn more about St. Augustine's attractions and events on our website or our Nights of Lights APP.

Walking to View the Lights

You can start your walk from your hotel, where you parked the car, or from any predetermined point. You could walk the perimeter and then wander the interior streets. You could treat the walk as reconnaissance and do a grid-by-grid search, or you could meander up and down alleys, heading for the brightest lights like a magpie, and then going back to the outer edges to get your bearings.

Bayfront and King Street

To keep things simple, I'm going to start walking at the southernmost point of the bayfront walk, across from St. Francis Barracks, at 82 Marine Street. (The corner of St. Francis Street and Avicnda Menendez, on the lower left of the map.) Now home to the Florida Army National Guard and the Florida Air Guard, the building dons a few old-fashioned lights, and I've seen Santa's sleigh and reindeer up on that roof. Stroll on the walkway along the bayfront heading north to the Bridge of Lions, and take in the views of the Matanzas River and boats to the right, and decorated homes and bed-and-breakfast inns on the left.

In a few minutes, you'll reach the Bridge of Lions, where you will have to decide whether to continue along the brightly and colorfully decorated bayfront or to turn up King Street to view the more classic white-light displays in the Plaza de la Constitucićion. I like to meander, so I'd head up King Street, spending time and taking selfies in the plaza, and continue west as far as Markland. You'll pass the Governor's House and Flagler College. The college recently renovated the property, adding several new palm trees, and in 2025, they decorated these trees just west of the building in nets of white lights. The result is spectacular—perfect for family photos and even a surprise proposal.

Now head back toward the bayfront on the other side of the street, past Villa Zorayda, the Lightner Museum, and Casa Monica Hotel and Resort. Before you reach the bayfront, turn right onto Aviles Street, claimed by some to be one of the oldest platted streets in the U.S. This charming, narrow street is lined with eateries, bars, and galleries—perfect for shopping, grabbing a nibble, or pausing for liquid refreshments or ice cream.

After that, it's back to the Bayfront, because the brightest lights are north of the Bridge of Lions and you don't want to miss them. Again, you can walk on the waterfront walkway, see the lights up close by staying to the west side of the street, passing highly decorated hotels, restaurants, and bars. As you pass the Castillo, continue to Orange Street, which marks the end of the old walled city and still features the City Gate. (This isn't a Nights of Lights thing, but it is a significant part of our history.) On Orange Street, you'll find the entrance to a courtyard with shops, a lovely place to order a glass of wine and charcuterie, the St. George Inn, and Ann O'Malley's Pub. 

Shopping District

If you like to visit shops, eateries, and pubs, if you like to listen to live music, and if you want to see smaller and more personal light displays, enter St. George Street at the City Gate and spend an hour or three wandering and stopping between Charlotte and Cordova Streets and between Cathedral and Orange. This is a great place to see by day or night, with local shops, a few small specialty chain stores, lots of live music, and great diversity— such as the Medieval Torture Museum and a lively little pub with duck leg barstools. 

Uptown

Remember when I said you could see more lights and fun places just a few blocks outside of the historic downtown? Imagine you are standing at City Gate facing north. The Castillo is on your right, across the street. Walk past the Tolomato Cemetery and the Visitor Center, and you'll see the spectacularly lit facade of the Renaissance Historic Downtown Hotel. Continuing past the hotel takes you to the Uptown neighborhood with local shops and jewelers, antique and vintage stores, a wine shop, and more. The area's shops make this a great place to visit during the day, perhaps an hour or two before sunset. Remember, this tour could start anywhere you want it to start.

Private Homes

If you're still up for more strolling, scroll up to the map and look at the blocks west and south of town. The Flagler Model Land Company Neighborhood is to the west, in the blocks beyond Cordova Street. This old neighborhood features many homes on the National List of Historic Properties, several of which include a Leg Lamp in their seasonal decorations. In fact, there is a "Leg Lamp Society." FMLCNA takes the winter holidays seriously.

You'll find another historic neighborhood, Lincolnville, south of King Street. It's a well-populated neighborhood with diverse properties, from small old Florida homes to beautiful bed-and-breakfast inns. Many of them also lovingly decorate their homes for the season. Sometimes it's just nice to see more typical decór after the extravagant displays found in the center of town.

And that's it. Take a few hours and walk around the small city of St. Augustine during Nights of Lights. It's worth it.