Day trip from Disney: Cocoa, St. Augustine or Clearwater?
 

Which do you think would be the best day trip from Orlando? We are looking for a nice, warm beach and/or a pretty town and will be there the 1st week in Feb. Not planning on going to the Space Center this trip.<BR>Thanks

Can't guarantee the warm part - it's already been a pretty cold winter - but St. Augustine is definitely the most interesting of the three and also has a nice beach.

Don't look for a 'nice warm beach' in Feb. Clearwater has the best beach but St Augustine is the more interesting to visit. The Gulf side of the State has the warmer beaches at any time of year but is chilly now.

Thanks to both of you for your responses. Follow up questions - Mapquest says both St. Aug and Clearwater are about 2 hour drives each<BR>Do you think that is accurate or with traffic is it really longer.<BR>Thanks!

Clearwater definetly-public parking right on the beach but you need quarters<BR>Eat at the Rockaway-especially if you stay until sunset.

2 hours??...well, maybe....you'll be traveling on I-4 (nickname "the monster") for quite a few miles which can be very bad during rush hour. if your staying on the south side of town (tourist areas), then driving south to clearwater, it won't be so bad....maybe 1 1/2 hours....<BR><BR>i vote for st. augustine...it's a "cute" little town centered more or less around the fort (castillio st. marcos). you can just park the car behind the visitors ctr (fee parking) and walk the entire area in no time. it's just a bunch of stores, nice old buildings, resturants etc.....then you can go to anatasia state park for the beach. if you have more time to kill try ft. mantanzas state park or the wonderfully tacky marineland (if they're still open).<BR><BR>don't even think about cocoa bch.....blah!!! (although it is the shorter drive of the 3)

Hi rorym- I live near the cocoa area and have to say I am rather disappointed with it. If you are looking for the typical surfer/surf shop area then this is it. If you want beauty and history then go to St. Augustine. It is so pretty, but even better than that is it can be a whole mini vacation too. You should think about going to down town St. Augustine and seeing the fort, the streets filled with shops, and one of my favorites- Flagler College, which use to be a grand hotel in its day. You can take horse drawn carriages or trollies all over town. Also as far as mapquest directions go, I find that they ALWAYS overestimate. Trips they say will take 3 hours are more like 1 hour 50 min. This is unless you run into unforseen accidents or roadwork.

spent the week-end in augustine 1/19 & 1/20. ..took 1 1/2 hours from east part of o-town (I-4 to I-95). the old part of town is still filled w/ christmas lights and looks quite spectacular at night. last week-end was NOT beach time....cold and overcast.