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Tips & information

for tours scheduled during nights Of Lights season

This is a general message and notice to all tours during The Nights Of Lights Season.

Departure Locations:

The Casa Monica address: 95 Cordova Street St. Augustine, Fl 32084. 

The City Gates address: 1 St. George Street St. Augustine, Fl 32084.

Please review your reservation and the departure location you picked to depart from for the tour. The Title of your tour says the departure location you selected. There is no parking at the departure locations. Please review parking information below

Parking

Please, plan accordingly as parking can be very difficult (could take up to 45 minutes once you arrive in downtown). CLICK HERE FOR CITY INFORMATION ON PARKING

 

We can almost guarantee it will take up to 45 minutes to find parking on Friday or Saturday nights, and almost all nights in December. The week after Christmas (everyday after Christmas Eve) is the busiest week of the year for downtown St. Augustine! Please, plan to park at least an hour before your tour begins. If you do not have parking we recommend utilizing the cities parking facility @ 1 Cordova Street, St. Augustine, Fl 32084 "Park Once" Its worth every penny! Come early! The garage can and will fill up by 3:00pm, specially on weekends near big holidays and events. There are public and private lots throughout the downtown area that are priced per day and/or per hour; worth every dollar. If you find on street parking throughout the area, PLEASE, read all street signs advising where you can not park. They will tow your vehicle if you do not park legally, please read all signs that give warnings where you can not park.

 

Traffic

The traffic will back up 1 mile out of the immediate downtown area before even entering into downtown- This includes coming from A1A at the Lions Bridge, A1A at the Vilano Bridge, and North & South of US-1. Coming from anywhere Orlando, Jacksonville, Daytona, Ponte Vedra, Anastasia Island, and St. Augustine beach. Once you pass that traffic you will need up to 45 minutes to navigate through the immediate downtown area to find parking if you do not come early! **This is all very important for those coming on Fridays and Saturdays or nights in December** The week days are a lot calmer, but can still be very busy. The week following Christmas Eve is the busiest week of the year for St. Augustine! Everyday is like a busy Saturday. Traffic slows down significantly after the first week of January.

 

Google Maps

Use Google Maps to zoom into the immediate downtown area of St. Augustine. When you zoom into the immediate downtown area you can see where marked parking areas are located. There are businesses and schools who will also come out to sell parking during the busy nights through-out the downtown area. Ketterlinus Elementary School off of Orange Street will sometimes sell parking for different fundraisers! It is a great location, and your dollars will be put towards good use in our community! They are ALL worth the money for parking. Most lots are 5-10 minute walks to the most popular areas. We can not tell you which lots to park in, as it is impossible for us to know whether the lots are filled or not when you are arriving. We can only try to give you as much information now, so that you may plan accordingly.

 

Shuttle

Please call Scooter Shuttle to assist you in a ride: 904-501-1313

We can not guarantee other companies availabilities for rides.

What to Bring

Prepare appropriately for current weather conditions and bring what you will need to stay comfortable. We welcome warm drinks on the cart, just no glass please.

We WILL have our 3-D glasses for viewing the lights, and holiday music!

 

 

Seating Arrangement

Per row is 3 seats - 1 row has 3 seats on it. If you have 1,2, or 3 people you would purchase 1 row. Per row is NOT per person. If you have more than 3 people you would purchase 2 rows, or reserve a private tour.

Private Tours reserve the entire cart privately for their group only.

 

Get in Touch

If you call and reach the voicemail, please leave a voicemail so that we can return the call. There is a high volume of calls and we can not get to every single call. We do not have texting capability to 904-853-1500. You can reach us via E-Mail at ExploreToursAndPickUps@gmail.com

 

Refund Policy

Please call to discuss cancellations.100% refund if you cancel 1 month or more in advance. 50% refund when cancelled 3 weeks before activity date. If you cancel last minute and we are able to resell your seats we will give a 100% refund. If there is extreme flooding or weather which prohibits us from operating we will give a full refund and/or reschedule. We do not refund if you do not make it to the tour due to parking, not arriving on time, or dinner reservations running late.

 

Rescheduling less than 24hrs before tour

If you need to reschedule a tour 24 hours or less before the tour time, and we are unable to fill those seats we will be charging $40 rescheduling fee.

 

Length Of Tour

Tours are about 45 minutes long. They will almost always be closer to 1 hour when there is heavy traffic. Please plan for at least an hour. If your tour is only 45 minutes this is still a full tour, but traffic was light enough to complete the tour in a timely manner.

 

St. Augustine is very busy during the holiday season. We will try to accommodate as best as possible with departure times, as some people may run late and need an extra 5-10 minutes, or we may be 5-10 minutes late pulling up to the locations. Thank you for understanding during this holiday season ⛄️

 

Thank you!

TIPS & INFORMATION
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