- 1. Amelia Island and Fernandina Beach (about 45 minutes)
- 2. St. Augustine (about 50 minutes)
- 3. Cumberland Island, Georgia (about 1 hour to the ferry)
- 4. Daytona Beach (about 1 hour 30 minutes)
- 5. Gainesville (about 1 hour 30 minutes)
- 6. Ocala National Forest and Silver Springs (about 1 hour 45 minutes)
- 7. Okefenokee Swamp (about 1 hour 45 minutes)
- 8. Savannah, Georgia (about 2 hours 15 minutes)
- 9. Orlando (about 2 hours 15 minutes)
- 10. Crystal River (about 3 hours)
- 11. Tampa (about 3 hours 15 minutes)
- 12. Charleston, South Carolina (about 4 hours)
- Getting out of Jacksonville without a car
- Cheap weekend getaways from Jacksonville by car
- Last-minute weekend getaways from Jacksonville
Jacksonville sits within a comfortable drive of more variety than most people give it credit for, and the twelve below are ordered by how long it takes to get there. Drive times are for clear roads, so add to them for a Friday evening start.
1. Amelia Island and Fernandina Beach (about 45 minutes)
Thirteen miles of beach, a Victorian downtown that survived because the town stopped growing, and Fort Clinch at the northern tip with its brick casemates intact.
2. St. Augustine (about 50 minutes)
The oldest continuously occupied European settlement in the country, with a Spanish stone fort, a walkable old town and a very good beach a bridge away.
3. Cumberland Island, Georgia (about 1 hour to the ferry)
A wilderness barrier island reached only by boat from St. Marys, with wild horses, live oak forest and the ruins of a Carnegie mansion. Ferry places are limited and need booking.
4. Daytona Beach (about 1 hour 30 minutes)
Hard-packed sand you can still drive on in places, the Speedway and its tours, and a boardwalk that is exactly what you expect.
5. Gainesville (about 1 hour 30 minutes)
A university town with the Florida Museum of Natural History and its butterfly rainforest, plus Devil’s Millhopper, a 120-foot sinkhole with a staircase down into it.
6. Ocala National Forest and Silver Springs (about 1 hour 45 minutes)
Clear springs at a constant 72 degrees, glass-bottomed boats that have been running at Silver Springs since the 1870s, and sand pine scrub in every direction.
7. Okefenokee Swamp (about 1 hour 45 minutes)
A peat bog the size of a county, best seen from a boat or a boardwalk. One of the darkest night skies in the eastern United States and full of alligators.
8. Savannah, Georgia (about 2 hours 15 minutes)
Twenty-two squares laid out in a grid, live oaks and Spanish moss over all of them, and a riverfront of old cotton warehouses. Walkable in a way few American cities are.
9. Orlando (about 2 hours 15 minutes)
The theme parks if that is the trip, but Winter Park, the Morse Museum’s Tiffany collection and Leu Gardens make a very different and much cheaper weekend.
10. Crystal River (about 3 hours)
The only place in the United States where you can legally snorkel with West Indian manatees. They gather in the springs from roughly November to March.
11. Tampa (about 3 hours 15 minutes)
The Gulf side, with Clearwater and the quieter barrier islands south of it, and a downtown riverwalk that has improved a great deal.
12. Charleston, South Carolina (about 4 hours)
A peninsula of 18th-century houses, one of the best restaurant scenes in the South, and Fort Sumter out in the harbour. Better as three days than two.
Getting out of Jacksonville without a car
Jacksonville is on Amtrak’s east coast route, which in principle links Savannah, Charleston and Orlando without driving. In practice Florida’s long-distance schedules have been unsettled, so check the live timetable rather than a guide before you build a trip around a train. The beaches, the springs and the Okefenokee all assume a car regardless.
Cheap weekend getaways from Jacksonville by car
- Amelia Island: the beach is free and the town is free to walk
- Okefenokee: a modest refuge fee for an entire swamp
- Gainesville: student-town prices and a free sinkhole trail nearby
- Ocala National Forest: cheap camping and free forest roads
Last-minute weekend getaways from Jacksonville
- Amelia Island or St. Augustine, both under an hour
- Gainesville, outside home football weekends
- Daytona, away from race and bike weeks
- Orlando, where the hotel supply is effectively bottomless
If you are deciding on the day, work backwards from the drive rather than the destination: anything under two hours leaves you a genuine Saturday, and anything past four is really a three-day trip wearing a weekend label.
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Written by
John Morrison is the founder and lead travel writer at Packzup. Over the past decade he has explored destinations across Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Oceania — always self-funded, never on a press trip.
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