Things to do in Jacksonville
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Jacksonville
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Winter: highs in the 60s to low 70s, cold ocean, prime museum, theatre, restaurant and marsh kayaking season.
Spring: peak season, best overall weather and highest prices, with a stacked events calendar.
Summer: highs near or above 90, glorious ocean, do outdoors before 11am or after 4pm, daily thunderstorms and serious mosquitoes.
Fall: local favourite from October, 70s to 80s, lower humidity, football and festivals; September is still hot with storm risk.
Best months overall are late March to April and late October to early November; August to early September are the worst.
What's on
- St. Augustine Nights of Lights mid-November to late January
Historic St. Augustine strung with millions of white lights; go on a weeknight.
- THE PLAYERS Championship mid-March
The region's biggest event at TPC Sawgrass; book everything months ahead.
- Amelia Concours d'Elegance early March
World-class classic cars, auctions and parties on Amelia Island.
- Gate River Run March
The largest 15K in the US, run over the bridges.
- Springing the Blues early April
Free oceanfront blues festival in Jacksonville Beach.
- Jacksonville Jazz Festival Memorial Day weekend
Largely free downtown festival, opening with the Jazz Piano Competition at the Florida Theatre.
- Florida-Georgia game late October / early November
College football takes over downtown and EverBank Stadium; hotels surge citywide.
- PorchFest early November
Porches become stages in Historic Springfield.
- Greater Jacksonville Agricultural Fair November
Old-Florida fair, in the best sense.
- Gator Bowl late December / early January
College bowl game downtown.
Best things to do in Jacksonville
Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens
The city's essential museum, with Italian and English gardens under live oaks ending on the St. Johns River.
Riverside Arts Market
Saturday market under the Fuller Warren Bridge with makers, farmers, food trucks and live music on the river.
Florida Theatre
Restored 1927 movie palace for rock, comedy, ballet and film, where the room itself is the show.
Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens
Large zoo with African and Asian habitats and a Land of the Tiger trail where tigers walk overhead.
Catty Shack Ranch
Rescue sanctuary for big cats, best on the night feeding tour when the animals are active and vocal.
Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve
National Park Service marsh, hammock and river preserve covering 46,000 acres, mostly free to explore.
Fort Caroline National Memorial
Reconstructed site of the 1564 French colony, with a visitor centre on French, Spanish and Timucua history.
Kingsley Plantation
Florida's oldest surviving plantation house with tabby slave cabins and unflinching interpretation of enslavement.
Where to stay in Jacksonville
The Beaches: Atlantic Beach, Neptune Beach, Jacksonville Beach and Ponte Vedra Beach
best overall base for most visitors
Four towns on one continuous beach, quiet in the north, lively in Jax Beach, resort luxury in Ponte Vedra.
Riverside, Avondale and Southbank
food, culture, short trips and game or festival weekends
The city base for a two-night food and culture trip, with Southbank hotels walkable to San Marco and the Riverwalk.
San Marco
food-led, quieter, upscale short stays
Leafy square-centred neighbourhood with the city's best restaurant cluster, five minutes from Downtown.
Southside and St. Johns Town Center
business, medical, university or shopping trips
Convenient and chain-hotel-rich with reliable rates, but car-everything and not where a visitor feels Jacksonville.
Think twice about
- Downtown Northbank away from the riverfront hotels
Downtown empties after office hours, with visible unsheltered homelessness, panhandling and open drug use in pockets north and west of the riverfront core. Visit for museums, theatre and games; sleep on Southbank, in Riverside or at the Beaches.
- Northwest Jacksonville: Moncrief, Grand Park and Kings Road corridors
Residential areas with the city's highest violent-crime rates and nothing a visitor needs; avoid for lodging entirely.
- Philips Highway motel strip, Arlington budget motels and I-95 airport-exit motels
Very low rates correlate with transient motels, poor maintenance and parking-lot safety complaints in car-only sprawl with nothing walkable.
- Historic Springfield
Beautiful reviving district that is block-by-block; visit by day for architecture and breweries, but think twice about an unfamiliar late-night rental walk-back.
Best restaurants in Jacksonville
Rue Saint Marc
If you book one dinner, book this: modern French-American tasting menus built on seasonal Florida ingredients.
Restaurant Orsay
Long-standing fine-dining fixture: French-American brasserie, raw bar and serious cocktails, plus occasion brunch.
Cowford Chophouse
Steakhouse in a restored 1902 bank with a rooftop bar over the skyline and river; the downtown occasion room.
The Bearded Pig
Southern barbecue with a beer garden, famous for brisket, ribs, burnt ends and Bearded Poutine.
Safe Harbor Seafood Mayport
Working-dock seafood market and restaurant where you eat Mayport shrimp at picnic tables by the boats.
Congaree and Penn
Working farm restaurant serving field-to-fork Southern cooking minutes from where it grew.
bb's Restaurant and Bar
Southbank institution since 2000 with eclectic chef-driven menus and one of the city's best weekend brunches.
Bellwether
Downtown lunch and early-dinner gem from the Orsay group, almost everything local or made in-house.
Outdoor things to do in Jacksonville
THE PLAYERS Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass
Bucket-list Pete Dye course, home of THE PLAYERS, famous for the island-green par-3 17th.
Dye's Valley Course at TPC Sawgrass
The smarter second Sawgrass round: Pete Dye design, more water, lower fees and better availability.
Ponte Vedra Inn & Club Ocean Course
Old-Florida resort golf since 1928, ocean-adjacent and more relaxed than Sawgrass, mainly for guests.
The Yards
12-hole course plus pickleball and tennis, built for a premium round in about two hours.
Jacksonville Beach Golf Club
City muni a few blocks from the ocean with renovated greens and local regulars; where Jacksonville plays weekly.
Hyde Park Golf Club
Historic 1925 Donald Ross-era layout, solid and cheap, more local than visitor-facing.
Bent Creek Golf Course
Solid, cheap local course listed among the area's value golf options.
King & Bear Golf Course
The only Nicklaus and Palmer co-design, a designed-course round without Sawgrass pricing.
Best hotels in Jacksonville
Ponte Vedra Inn & Club
Luxury benchmark for Northeast Florida: 300 oceanfront acres since 1928, private beach, golf and major spa.
The Lodge & Club Ponte Vedra Beach
Smaller, adults-leaning sister to the Inn, styled like a Mediterranean village on the same beach.
One Ocean Resort & Spa
Modern boutique luxury resort at Beaches Town Center with strong spa; book oceanfront, not just ocean view.
Sawgrass Marriott Golf Resort & Spa
Large TPC base with shuttle to the course and a private beach cabana, practical for golf groups.
Casa Marina Hotel & Restaurant
1925 Spanish Revival hotel with about 23 rooms and a rooftop bar with the best ocean sunset view in Jax Beach.
SpringHill Suites by Marriott Jacksonville Beach Oceanfront
Reliable, new-feeling oceanfront chain resort with pool, a known standard on the sand for families.
Courtyard by Marriott Jacksonville Beach Oceanfront
Reliable oceanfront chain resort with pool, good for families who want a known standard on the sand.
Seahorse Oceanfront Inn
Beloved retro motor lodge with courtyard pool, steps to Beaches Town Center restaurants, from about $100.
Is Jacksonville expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | $120 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | $215 a person |
| Splurge | $475 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Florida Theatre: weeks ahead
- Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens: a few days ahead
- Catty Shack Ranch: weeks ahead
- EverBank Stadium: weeks ahead
- THE PLAYERS Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass: months ahead
- Dye's Valley Course at TPC Sawgrass: weeks ahead
- Ponte Vedra Inn & Club Ocean Course: weeks ahead
- King & Bear Golf Course: weeks ahead
- Book weeks ahead for Rue Saint Marc, Orsay on weekends, Congaree and Penn, Catty Shack night tours and beach hotels in March to May and October.
- Book TPC Sawgrass Stadium months ahead for prime mornings and any March date.
- Book THE PLAYERS, Florida-Georgia weekend and St. Augustine Nights of Lights as soon as dates are known; hotels surge and parking sells out.
- Buy Zoo tickets online before arrival; Cummer and MOCA need no booking except special exhibitions.
Is Jacksonville safe?
- Leave nothing visible in cars at beach and trailhead lots, the city's top petty-theft spot.
- Assume every freshwater pond has an alligator; no swimming in creeks or lakes and keep dogs away from water edges.
- Rip currents are the Beaches' real danger; swim near lifeguard stands and swim parallel if caught.
- Afternoon summer thunderstorms arrive fast with lightning; get off the beach or course when thunder roars.
- Follow JaxReady and National Weather Service Jacksonville during hurricane season, June 1 to November 30.
Jacksonville travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Do not expect a walkable historic downtown like Savannah or Charleston; Jacksonville's charm is its neighbourhoods and nature.
- The Jacksonville Landing is demolished; any guide still sending you there is pre-2019.
- St. Johns Town Center and the Avenues and Regency malls are retail, not sightseeing.
- Check MOSH hours and status the week you go, as its relocation has made programming less predictable.
- Verify beachfront listings on a map; across A1A or a block back is not oceanfront.
Getting around Jacksonville: public transport and more
- Rent a car at JAX airport; the city is about 875 square miles and clusters are 17 to 18 miles apart.
- The free Skyway loops a small piece of Downtown and Southbank; the St. Johns River Taxi links Northbank, Southbank and Riverside.
- Take A1A once in daylight for the barrier islands; J. Turner Butler Blvd (202) is the fast route to Ponte Vedra and Sawgrass.
- JAX airport is about 20 minutes north of Downtown and 35 to 40 minutes from the Beaches.
Who Jacksonville suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Great |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Great |
| Families | Great |
| Bachelorette parties | Good |
Make Jacksonville your trip
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