Saint Augustine True History Tours

10/29/2026

Check out what our older siblings are up to!

If you’ve ever booked one of our tours, odds are you did it through our ticketing app, FareHarbor. Over 23,000 business utilize FareHarbor for ticketing. This month, FareHarbor announced its inaugural Pinnacle Experience Awards. This award honors 300 operators from around the world whose business performance and guest feedback set them apart. Recipients were required to exhibit notable growth while still maintaining excellent reviews on Google & TripAdvisor. We’re thrilled that both Wilmington True History Tours and Savannah True History Tours made the list. Only 0.01% of FareHarbor operators earned this award. To say we’re honored is an understatement. Thank you for continuing to support us and allowing us to truly live the dream!

When we tell you our tours are built differently, we’re not lying. Come see for yourself!

09/22/2026

So we’re doing something new this week: This Friday’s Dark History Tour is FREE for residents of St. John’s County. Just shoot us a message here, and we’ll reserve your tickets. Tickets are first come, first served, so move quickly!

Tour details: This is the city’s only fact-based evening tour. Instead of kitschy ghost stories, you’ll hear of real, macabre events that actually occurred on the streets of St. Augustine. This tour moves through the southern part of town, away from the crowds of St. George Street.

As you may know, we have a sister tour company in Savannah (Savannah True History Tours). The Savannah tour was recently featured in the New York Times and has also been seen on the Travel Channel and Georgia Public Broadcasting. This is the perfect way to acquaint yourself with the True History Tours way of touring.

Dark History Tour. Friday. 7:00 PM. See you there!

07/19/2026

Contest time! We have a special Dark History Tour tomorrow evening. In fact, two of our guides, James and Brandon, will be giving it. We’re giving away two pairs of tickets to the first two followers who can answer this simple question: Where in St. Augustine was this photo taken? DM us your answer, and we’ll let you know if you won the tickets!

06/30/2026

This will be really neat! Highly recommend a visit.

St. Augustine! Our new location will be in soft opening starting TOMORROW! Come visit us at 105 St. George St and explore historic manuscripts from all over the world. Entry is ALWAYS FREE!

03/03/2026

Statehood Day! Florida is 181 years young today.

Statehood since March 3, 1845 - - 181 years!

02/19/2026

Our sister company, Savannah True History Tours, was featured in today’s New York Times. The Savannah Dark History Tour is highlighted as a fact-based alternative to the city’s numerous ghost tours.

Fun fact: We also offer a St. Augustine Dark History Tour! Come experience the True History Tours difference!

The present and past coexist in a Southern city unlike any other.

02/12/2026

Our friends at The Minorcan Experience have some great events quickly approaching! If you're not already following, their page is a treasure trove of both Minorcan and general St. Augustine information.

Programs for 2026. Please share this post to help get word out. The events are free. Seating for indoor events is first some, first served. Donations for the 2027 Journey To Freedom may be made at the door.

01/28/2026

Embarrassed to say tonight was our first show at Cafe Eleven. The place is amazing. You already know the food is good, but the shows are even better. Our owner, Brandon (the one writing this, me), went to undergrad, law school, served as a Park Ranger, and practiced law for over well a decade in Virginia. Well in Virginia, way back in the early Aughts (what I think we call the first decade of the 2000’s), I became a huge fan of Carbon Leaf. Carbon Leaf put on an amazing show, and the venue is one of the best listening rooms in Florida. Thanks to both Cafe Eleven and Carbon Leaf for a night full of great memories, new favorite songs, and a b**r list to match the occasion.

PS - I’m not known as a photographer. Barry doesn’t look super happy in the picture, but I promise the crowd had him in excellent spirits.

01/23/2026

in 1861, Confederate sympathizers removed the lenses of the St. Augustine Lighthouse. They were led by Paul Arnau, the city’s Collector of Customs. The goal was to prevent Union ships from safe passage by water into the city at night.

By the end of the year, Arnau was Mayor of St. Augustine. He resigned in March of 1862 to avoid being the man to surrender the city to Union forces. He was imprisoned by Union troops until he revealed the location of the St. Augustine Lighthouse & Maritime Museum lenses. He was mayor multiple times after the War as well. Arnau lived in the Arrivas House at 46 St. George St.

Happy Friday, St. Augustine! Remember, 25% off all tours Sunday-Tuesday with code TRUEHISTORY25

01/20/2026

We’re kicking off the new year with a big discount! This Sunday through Tuesday (Jan. 25-27), all tours are 25% off with code TRUEHISTORY25. This includes both the St. Augustine History Walk and Dark History Tours.

In creating these tours, company founder Brandon used his National Park Service background to craft a walk that’s both enriching and entertaining. Unlike many local tours, these are not “anecdotal” tours. Anecdotal tours venture from corner to corner, offering unrelated facts about the buildings and monuments the tour encounters. At the end, the guest is often left trying to piece together this random information to gain an understanding of the city’s history. We do things differently. Our tours revolve around a central narrative. Our goal is to interpret all five hundred years of the city’s history, allowing the guest to walk away with a deep appreciation of the Oldest City in the United States. Come experience the True History Tours difference!

Oh, and by the way, that Dark History Tour isn’t a ghost tour. Think MythBusters meets True Crime. You’ll hear true stories about the city’s seedier side, and we may even bust a ghost story or two along the way.