Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine, Florida

A visit to Castillo de San Marcos National Monument consists of five activities: tour the fort; visit the museum rooms; listen to a Ranger talk about the fort; watch the park film; and walk the grounds outside of the fort. For weekend visitors, weapons demonstrations are held at various times throughout the day. Other than a few rooms that are used by park personnel only, you are free to explore all areas of the fort. Photography is allowed in all areas.

Entrance to Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine, Florida

The fort is comprised of two levels. The ground level contains the parade ground (military term for courtyard) and the many rooms surrounding the parade ground, most of which house museum exhibits. A 25-minute park films shows all day at the fort’s theater, which is also housed in one of the rooms on the ground level.

Parade ground of Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine, Florida

Storage room exhibit at Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine, Florida

On the top level of the fort (the gun deck), which is accessed by stairs, you will find many cannon exhibits, as well as excellent views of the St. Augustine area. A leisurely stroll through the gun deck exhibits and taking in the views should take no more than 30 minutes.

Cannon on the gun deck of Castillo de San Marcos

Mortar at Castillo de San Marcos aims out over St. Augustine

Cannon exhibit on the gun deck of Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine, Florida

Spanish cannon at Castillo de San Marcos takes aim at St. Augustine

View of Castillo de San Marcos’s ravelin, a fortification that protected the entrance to the fort

Before heading back to your car, be sure to walk around the perimeter of the fort, which is a very easy, level walk no more than a quarter mile. Canon exhibits and a “shot furnace” are located outside the fort. I don’t walk fast and was stopping to take photos, and I did the complete circuit in about twenty minutes.

Visitors to Castillo de San Marcos National Monument walk the grounds around the perimeter of the fort

Grounds outside of Castillo de San Marcos

Visitors can even walk in the moat of Castillo de San Marcos

Shot furnace at Castillo de San Marcos used to heat cannon balls so they would catch wooden ships on fire

Allow 2.5 hours for a thorough tour of Castillo de San Marcos during the week, and another half hour on the weekend if you want to catch a weapons firing demonstration. This includes the walk to and from the St. Augustine city parking lot, which takes you through the historic area of St. Augustine. Of course most of the historic area is now shops and other places designed—like all of Florida—to part tourists from their money, but you will pass the original city gates and will have a good view of the city wall replica built by the National Park Service.

Reconstructed city wall of St. Augustine at Castillo de San Marcos National Monument

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