Amelia Island puts you at the crossroads of two states, four centuries of history, and some of the most varied coastline on the East Coast. These are the seven day trips worth planning around.
7Destinations
35 minClosest Trip
2 hrsFurthest Drive
1565St. Augustine Founded
01
Georgia · National Seashore
Cumberland Island
35 min to St. Marys, GA · 45 min ferry crossing · Plan a full day
Cumberland Island is the reason to live near here. Georgia's largest and southernmost barrier island is accessible only by ferry, has no cars, no shops, no restaurants, and no pavement beyond the dock area — just 18 miles of undeveloped Atlantic beach, 50 miles of trails through maritime forest draped in Spanish moss, and feral horses that have roamed free since the 1700s.
Book ferry tickets well in advance — the NPS limits daily visitors to 300 and it sells out weeks ahead in spring. The round trip is $30/person. Bring everything you need for the day: water, food, sunscreen, bug spray in summer. The only food available is at The Greyfield Inn (by reservation for non-guests, and at a price).
The insider approach: Take the first morning ferry, walk north to the beach immediately, and spend the quiet early hours where the horses tend to graze before the midday heat. Return on the last ferry out. The island changes completely when the day-trippers thin out.
$30/person round-trip ferry
Book 2–4 weeks ahead
No food or water on island
NPS ferry: cumberlandislandferry.com
02
Georgia · State Park
Jekyll Island
55 min via I-95 N · $10/vehicle entry · Half or full day
Jekyll Island is the most accessible of Georgia's protected barrier islands — a state park covering 11 square miles where 65% of the land is permanently protected from development by law. The contrast with most Florida beach towns is startling. No strip malls, no chain restaurants, no billboards. Wide empty beaches, maritime forest, and the Jekyll Island Club Historic District — a Gilded Age resort complex where Rockefellers, Morgans, and Vanderbilts once wintered.
The Jekyll Island Club Hotel is worth visiting even if you're not staying — the grounds, the architecture, and the restored cottages give you a glimpse of a particular American era that is genuinely hard to find elsewhere. Driftwood Beach, on the northern tip, is one of the most photographed spots on the Georgia coast: a bone-white forest of fallen oaks half-submerged in the surf.
Best meal on Jekyll: The Rah Bar at the Jekyll Island Club is the casual option — good oysters, outdoor tables, and a view that earns its price. For something lighter, the Tortuga Jack's Food Truck near the beach is reliably good and decidedly less expensive.
$10/vehicle causeway fee
Driftwood Beach — north end of island
Jekyll Island Club Hotel — worth a stop
03
Georgia · Golden Isles
St. Simons Island
50 min via I-95 N · Free access · Half or full day
St. Simons Island is the lively, lived-in sibling to Jekyll's quiet retreat — a real town with 12,000 residents, restaurants, boutiques, a working lighthouse, and a village atmosphere that makes it easy to spend a full day without a plan. It's free to access, which makes it the easiest Golden Isle day trip from Amelia.
The Village area around the pier is compact and walkable: coffee, fresh seafood, art galleries, and gift shops that aren't embarrassing. The lighthouse is worth climbing — 129 steps and a view that stretches across Glynn County. Fort Frederica National Monument, on the northwest side of the island, tells the story of the British colonial period with unusual depth for a day site.
Where to eat: Halyards on the island's interior is the reliable fine dining choice — consistently good seafood in a setting that feels appropriately coastal without being a cliché. For something more casual, Southern Soul Barbeque near the causeway has legitimate claims to being the best BBQ in coastal Georgia.
Free causeway access
St. Simons Lighthouse — $15/adult
Fort Frederica NM — $7/person
04
Florida · Est. 1565
St. Augustine
50 min via A1A or US-1 · Founded 1565 · Plan a full day
St. Augustine is the oldest continuously occupied European city in America — founded by Spanish settlers in 1565, 55 years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. Walking its narrow streets is the closest thing to a European city experience in Florida. The historic district is compact and walkable: a working masonry fort, a cathedral, narrow colonial streets, and an architecture that genuinely reflects 450 years of layered history.
Castillo de San Marcos is the anchor and worth the entrance fee — the coquina shell construction, the moat, the views across the inlet. St. George Street is the main pedestrian spine: mostly tourists, but the shops and restaurants have improved significantly over the past decade. The Colonial Quarter offers a living history experience that's better than it sounds. The Lightner Museum, in the old Alcazar Hotel, is a genuine surprise.
Editor's pick: Café Alcazar in the old hotel swimming pool — lunch in a Gilded Age natatorium — is the most unusual dining experience in Northeast Florida. Reserve ahead. For dinner, The Floridian on St. George Street is the local's choice: seasonal, thoughtful, genuinely good.
Castillo de San Marcos — $15/adult
Lightner Museum — $15/adult
St. George Street — free, walkable
Parking: San Marco Ave garages
05
Georgia · 2 hours north
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Savannah
2 hours via I-95 N · Full day or overnight · Year-round
Savannah is one of the most beautiful cities in America. The 22 moss-draped squares of the historic district — laid out in 1733 by James Oglethorpe in a grid that has never been significantly altered — make it genuinely unlike any other American city. Walking Forsyth Park in the morning, with the live oaks and the fountain and the Saturday farmers' market, is an experience worth the two-hour drive by itself.
The city's food scene has matured considerably. The Grey, in a restored 1938 Greyhound bus terminal, is one of the best restaurants in the South. Husk Savannah, The Olde Pink House, and Cotton & Rye are all worth the reservation. For something more casual, the Olde Pink House Tavern downstairs takes walk-ins and has the same kitchen. River Street is for tourists; Broughton Street is where the city actually lives.
"Savannah is what happens when a great American city is too beautiful to demolish. The result is 250 years of architecture, intact."
2 hrs each way — best as an overnight
Forsyth Park — free
The Grey — reserve well ahead
Parking: city garages off Bay St.
06
Georgia · Wilderness
Okefenokee Swamp
1.5 hrs via US-1 N & US-301 · 700,000 acres · Half or full day
The Okefenokee is one of the oldest and largest intact freshwater ecosystems in America — 700,000 acres of blackwater swamp, cypress forest, and open "prairies" (shallow marsh lakes) that stretch across the Georgia-Florida border. It is genuinely otherworldly. The dark tannic water reflects the cypress canopy like a mirror. Alligators are everywhere and completely indifferent to your presence. The silence is extraordinary.
Enter through the east entrance at Folkston, Georgia (the most accessible) or the west entrance at Fargo. Guided boat tours run from both entrances and are worth doing even if you have a canoe — the guides know where the alligators nest and where the sandhill cranes gather. The swamp feels different from any other natural area in this part of the South.
What to know: Mosquitoes are severe from May through September — plan accordingly or visit October through April. Bring binoculars. The Folkston entrance has better infrastructure; the Fargo entrance (Stephen C. Foster State Park) puts you deeper into the wilderness faster.
Entry: $12/vehicle
Guided boat tours available
Best Oct–Apr (avoid summer bugs)
07
Florida · 35 min south
Jacksonville
35 min via I-95 S · Largest city in FL · As needed
Jacksonville isn't a romanticized day trip destination — it's a practical one. The largest city in Florida by land area (874 square miles), it offers everything a city visitor might need that Amelia Island's 14,000-person permanent population cannot: major concerts and arena shows at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena, NFL football at EverBank Stadium, major medical centers, airport connections, and the full range of big-city retail.
That said, Jacksonville's St. Johns Town Center is excellent for shopping. San Marco Square is a genuinely pleasant historic neighborhood with good independent restaurants. The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens, on the river, is a significant collection in a beautiful setting. The beaches — Jacksonville Beach, Neptune Beach, Atlantic Beach — are closer to the airport than to Amelia and worth knowing about if you need more beach options.
35 min — closest city option
Cummer Museum — $12/adult
Best for practical needs + events
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