Routes · North America
Rome to north-east Florida: St Augustine and Amelia Island
Rome → St Augustine → Amelia Island
America's oldest city & a barrier island of shrimp boats Best season (general guide): Mar–May, Oct–Nov
Florida's north-east coast has more history than its beaches suggest, with a Spanish colonial city and an island that has flown many flags. This route spends three nights in St Augustine and three on Amelia Island. From Rome you'll connect through a US hub to Jacksonville, which lies between the two.
How to pace it: St Augustine, about 64 kilometres south of downtown Jacksonville, was founded by Pedro Menéndez de Avilés on 8 September 1565 and named after Augustine of Hippo, whose feast day was the day he first sighted land. Plan to explore on foot, as it is the oldest continuously inhabited European-founded settlement in the contiguous United States and its old town is compact. On day two, see the Castillo de San Marcos, built of coquina shell stone in the late seventeenth century, and the old town, including Flagler College in the former Ponce de Leon Hotel, built in the 1880s by Henry Flagler, whose railway made the city a winter resort. Day three is for climbing the black-and-white striped lighthouse and the beaches.
On day four, drive north to Fernandina Beach, the main town on Amelia Island, the southernmost of the Sea Islands and about 21 kilometres long. Ask in town about the eight flags it says have flown over the island. Give day five to Fort Clinch, a nineteenth-century brick fort in a state park at the island's northern tip, and day six to the beach and the shrimp docks, as Fernandina is known as a birthplace of the modern shrimping industry. Stop at American Beach, founded in 1935 as a resort for African Americans during segregation.
Practical notes: spring and autumn avoid the summer heat and the hurricane season. A car is the easiest way to link the two places.
Safety: this is a domestic US route with no State Department advisory; Canada asks travellers to the US to take normal security precautions (updated 10 Oct 2026).
Suggested outline
Rome
St Augustine
The oldest European-founded city in the continental US.
Amelia Island
A barrier island with a Victorian port town and a brick fort.
"Amelia Island Marshes.jpg" by Razvan Orendovici from United States, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons· licence
Day by day
- Day 1 · St Augustine — Arrive; drive from Jacksonville· Rome → Jacksonville (by air) — long-haul; may arrive the next calendar day, then Jacksonville → St Augustine (overland)
- Day 2 · St Augustine — Castillo and the old town
- Day 3 · St Augustine — Lighthouse and the beaches
- Day 4 · Amelia Island — Road north to Fernandina Beach· St Augustine → Amelia Island (by road)
- Day 5 · Amelia Island — Fort Clinch
- Day 6 · Amelia Island — Beach and the shrimp docks
- Day 7 · Amelia Island — Travel home from Amelia Island· Amelia Island → Jacksonville (by road), then Jacksonville → Rome (by air)
A suggested pace only; expedition days are set by the operator.
Flights, leg by leg
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- Rome → St Augustine (ROM → JAX) · Check today's price Search fares ROM → JAX · 3 Dec ↗
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St Augustine
Nearest airport: Jacksonville Search fares · Jacksonville ↗
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