Each winter, St Augustine’s Historic District comes alive through the Nights of Lights, with over 3 million lights glowing within the Previous Metropolis. From Mid-November to the top of January, the boulevards bustle with an power that takes the attractive and historic metropolis’s romantic vibe and raises it by means of the roof.
At Coleman Concierge, we’re a journey couple specializing in romance and smooth journey, and we’ll share our six most romantic methods to benefit from the St Augustine Nights of Lights.
Learn alongside for our ideas and tips, however be warned, you may be packing your luggage earlier than the final vacation gentle has twinkled.
Previous City Trolley’s Nights of Lights Tour
For over 30 years, Previous City Trolley has been exhibiting individuals the perfect of the Historic District with narrated, hop-on/hop-off excursions. Nevertheless, the Nights of Lights Tour is a bit more intimate and romantic. You possibly can reserve a whole row upfront for privateness and elbow room and make the 30-45 minute tour a personal second to scout out your favourite gentle shows.
The tour is a steady spherical journey that departs and returns to a station outdoors the Customer Middle. You get light-enhancing glasses whenever you board and cookies and sizzling apple cider whenever you return. Alongside the route, the same old narration is changed with a montage of vacation music.
Professional-tip, arrive early to permit for parking, accessible on the Customer Middle Storage.
Self Guided Strolling Tour of the Nights of Lights
Considered one of our favourite issues about St Augustine is the walkability of the Historic District. St George Avenue is a pedestrian-only thoroughfare, however your complete district is compact and foot-friendly.
Whilst you’re out and about, you should definitely choose your favourite show and solid your vote on the QR code. Are you aware why that is essential? Maya Z. Rossignac-Milon, a postdoctoral analysis scholar at Columbia Enterprise College, put it this way-
Romantic companions who expertise a stronger sense of shared actuality really feel nearer and extra dedicated to their companion and really feel that they’ve ‘merged minds.’ Additional, as soon as romantic {couples} have established a robust sense of shared actuality, they’re motivated to uphold and defend it.
Voting in your favourite gentle show might sound easy, nevertheless it creates a second along with your companion that can final lengthy after the lights come down.
Make it a Meal
We gushed concerning the meals scene in our Romantic Issues to do in St Augustine piece, so it ought to be no shock that it makes a reprise in our Romantic Nights of Lights. Nevertheless, we added a brand new venue for the season – the Columbia Restaurant.
The Columbia Restaurant is Florida’s oldest restaurant, courting again to 1905, and a St Augustine staple for nearly forty years. The Cuban/Spanish decor is alluring, and nothing is extra romantic than sharing tapas and a ‘1905’ Salad ready tableside. After you feast, it’s a straightforward frolic over to the Customer Middle to catch a Nights of Lights trolley, or to wander amongst the twinkly lights strolling off the deliciousness.
Sundown Crusing
Think about crusing into the setting solar with the wind in your hair and a glass of wine in your lips. It’s a romantic scene for positive, however throw in 3 million lights and a 320-year-old fort towering over the shoreline, and also you may be on to one thing. In fact, we’re speaking about St Augustine, however you continue to want to select your boat.
In case your visions of romance are inextricably linked to booty, then go forward and e-book passage on the Black Raven Pirate Ship. Nevertheless, if you happen to’re slightly extra refined or identical to wine, could we recommend the Schooner Freedom’s Nights of Lights Sundown Sails?
You begin by crusing below the Bridge of Lions’ drawbridge after which cruise the place the winds take you. Silence surrounds you when the motor turns off, and also you’re alone with the solar, the ocean, and the occasional dolphin. Because the solar units, you head to shore to see the Nights of Lights up shut and look ahead to the bridge to open once more.
Schooner Freedom’s sundown cruise has an open wine bar for a sip and sail or a sensible pirate pregame. You come to the Municipal Marina conveniently positioned just some steps away from the central gentle show on the Plaza de la Constitución. From there, you’ll be able to clear your head discovering methods to discover the Nights of Lights, or higher nonetheless, you probably have a room within the Historic District, you don’t have to fret concerning the drive residence in any respect. On that be aware…
Why Don’t You Two Get a Room?
Critically, St Augustine has a few of the most romantic accommodations in Florida, together with considered one of our favorites, The Collector Inn. Nonetheless, throughout our time within the Nights of Lights, we tried a romantic B&B within the Historic District – Centennial Home Mattress & Breakfast and it was great.
Staying within the Historic District through the Nights of Lights makes all of the distinction since you park as soon as and might take pleasure in the remainder of the night with nothing however rest and romance. The Centennial Home was a stupendous residence base with the fantastic thing about a B&B however the privateness of a boutique lodge. Plus, try this fabulous jetted tub to clean away your strolling worries😉.
Take Off on Two Wheels
Let’s be clear: the Historic District is a treacherous place to experience, particularly through the Nights of Lights. Certain, you possibly can take a pedicab tour of the Nights of Lights, however the pedicab has brilliant lights and the motive force isn’t going to be specializing in the surroundings.
Nevertheless, we’ve discovered a wonderful biking route by means of St Augustine that’s secure for knowledgeable riders through the daylight. You may not see the lights, however loads of different seasonal decorations praise historic websites just like the Previous Metropolis Gate, Flagler Faculty, and the Bridge of Lions. Plus, the Nights of Lights are through the prime time driving time when the climate is just about excellent for biking, together with the epic experience up the coast to Ponte Vedra.
We predict that taking a motorbike experience collectively is likely one of the most romantic issues a pair can do, even if you happen to’re simply driving in a pedicab 😉.
Wrapping our Romantic Methods to See the Nights of Lights
We gave you six romantic methods to see the Nights of Lights, however there are such a lot of extra. From the twice-monthly night time market on the Amphitheatre to the once-a-season Luminary Evening at St. Augustine Lighthouse, there are many festivals to take pleasure in. Alongside along with your standby favourite issues to do in St Augustine, you couldn’t probably match all of it in a single journey.
Disclosure: An enormous thanks to Florida’s Historic Coast for internet hosting us, organising a implausible itinerary, and aiding us with photographs we have been unable to seize ourselves for this text! For extra journey inspiration try their Instagram, Fb, and Twitter accounts.
As all the time, the views and opinions expressed are solely our personal, and we solely suggest manufacturers and locations that we 100% stand behind.
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