This Florida Byway Cutting Through St. Augustine Is A Scenic Ocean Drive Lined With Parks And Art Galleries

While Southern Florida's Overseas Highway boasts one of America's prettiest roads, the northern side of the state offers a counterpart: A scenic route along the coast from Ponte Vedra to Flagler Beach, rich in history and culture. Designated the A1A Scenic and Historic Coastal Byway, this segment of State Road A1A is 72 miles of a mostly two-lane highway, with stops that show off everything from archaeology and Spanish history to lively beach towns with stellar art exhibitions.

At the north end, the A1A route starts at Ponte Vedra Beach, just outside of Jacksonville, and about a 45-minute drive from the Jacksonville International Airport. The drive continues for about an hour and a half without stops to its southern terminus at the Gamble Rogers Memorial State Recreation Area in Flagler Beach, skirting the shoreline all the way. Starting at Gamble Rogers makes more sense if you're coming from Daytona Beach International Airport, about a 30-minute drive away. Whether you start from the north or south, you'll cross through St. Augustine — America's oldest city full of beaches and historic charm – about halfway along the route, where you can pause to browse galleries, rest by the ocean, and fuel up with wonderful seafood and Cuban-influenced restaurants.

Beginning at the northern end, your road trip commences in Ponte Vedra Beach, an elegant shore escape with upscale resorts and famed golf communities such as TPC Sawgrass. From the get-go, you're surrounded by natural beauty, with tall dunes framing wide beaches. The Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve begins here, offering trails that wind through salt marshes and rare maritime hammock. You can stop by the park's visitor center to observe live studies on how oysters impact water quality, or join a guided eco-tour. As you approach St. Augustine, the route passes through Vilano Beach, home to a scenic pier popular with anglers and a few delicious seafood spots, including Beaches at Vilano, which has a 4.1-star rating on Tripadvisor.

Once you reach St. Augustine, the St. Augustine Art Association showcases local and regional artworks in the city's historic district, with free admission. If your road trip falls on the first Friday of the month, you can pop into receptions across small galleries that open their doors with food and drinks, mostly clustered near the Art Association. For a touch of legend, visit Ponce de Leon's Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park. The site interprets the area's early Spanish settlement with exhibits and reenactments, and it features a spring long tied to the Fountain of Youth myth associated with explorer Juan Ponce de Leon.

Leaving St. Augustine, you'll pass the Fort Matanzas National Monument, a coquina watchtower built by Spanish settlers around 1740 on a barrier island. A free ferry runs to the fort Thursday through Monday. If you'd rather skip history in favor of wildlife, Marineland Dolphin Adventure, a few minutes farther south, is a landmark you can't miss. The facility, which has served both as an underwater film site and a dolphin training center, offers programs that let you get up close to bottlenose dolphins (including dolphin meet-and-greets). A general admission ticket also lets you see turtles at the oceanarium's Ambassador Park.

The last stretch of the A1A Scenic and Historic Coastal Byway passes through beautiful nature parks, starting with Washington Oaks Gardens State Park, where historic gardens dance among ancient oaks. There are many great trails here, including the short yet scenic, half-mile Mala Compra loop, which lets you into both coastal maritime hammock and tidal marsh ecosystems. The trail also features the remains of the 19th-century Mala Compra Plantation, now an archaeological site accessible by boardwalk. 

The byway concludes at Gamble Rogers Memorial State Recreation Area. Though smaller and less to show for in terms of scenery, the park is great for campers. There's a campground right on the river, with some sites offering views of both the Intracoastal Waterway and the Atlantic Ocean.