September 29, 2023
If you’re looking to dive deep into Amelia Island’s rich past, you’re in for a treat. Amelia Island offers a variety of tours that blend entertainment with history, making it the perfect destination for history enthusiasts and just regular folks with a broad level of curiosity. Here are seven island tours that will transport you through time.
The Amelia Island Museum Of History offers tours, exhibits, an interactive children’s area, and much more, providing a captivating journey through centuries of history. The varying tours explore the rich tapestry of Amelia Island’s history starting with the ancient Timucua Native Americans, to the Spanish and French explorers, to the swashbuckling era of pirates, and finally the genteel Victorian-era residents. Learn about great historical figures who influenced the architecture and business on the island and then get spooked by the ones who left their imprint on buildings and places. All tours are lead by passionate and knowledgeable guides.
Journey through time with an interactive guided tour of American Beach, a historic beach community on the island’s south end once popular with African-American vacationers. Each tour with Coast One Tours, will provide a dynamic, enlightening, jaw-dropping experience of American Beach, Fernandina Beach, and Kingsley Plantation in Jacksonville. Your tour guide, Ron Miller, lived his life experiencing the legacy of American Beach and his mission is to educate and share the history of how and why American Beach was founded.This poignant and educational experience highlights a lesser-known part of the island’s history. Read all about a day out with Ron.
Indulge in culinary delights and raise your glass to history on the Booze & Bites Tour, a fun and tasty way to learn about Amelia Island’s history. Guests will visit two renowned restaurants where you’ll enjoy specially prepared food samplings while hearing stories from the owners or chefs. You’ll also make stops at two bars to taste delicious cocktails created especially for the tour. Between bites and sips, take in the charm of downtown Fernandina Beach while learning about the island’s captivating history. Cheers!
Ride into the past and learn the stories of Amelia Island and the eight flags that have flown over its historically rich land. Amelia Island Historic Tours will take you on a journey from the time of the Timucua Indians inhabited this area into to the modern day shrimping industry. Listen as history unfolds before you with interesting facts and stories full of irony, deceit and the ambition of one man who set his sights on connecting Florida from east to west by railroad, while also making political history. Your tour guide will keep you on the edge of your seat!
Be prepared to get scared on an Amelia Island Ghost Tour, the original ghost tour led by Diane Blanton, a history buff with a passion for psychic phenomena. Be sure to bring your camera or phone to capture paranormal activity as the “cooler weather seems to stir the spirits up.” Continue your spooky adventures, with Ghost Tours Of Amelia Island where you’ll hear chilling ghostly tales and the most famous haunted stories the island has to offer. Ending at St. Peters church cemetery! Ghost hunting equipment is provided on this tour. Both of these hair-raising tours take place nightly and will leave you fascinated and maybe more than a little spooked.
Fort Clinch is one of the most well-preserved 19th century forts in the country and although it never saw an actual battle, it was garrisoned during both the Civil and Spanish-American wars. After preservation began on the old abandoned fort in the 1930’s, it became a part of the state park system in 1935. Situated right on the banks of the Amelia River, folks who enter this all-bricked fortification, seem to step back in time a bit while either touring the grounds on their own or taking a guided tour. Either way, learning the history and stories of those who served here seems to bring them back to life.
Amelia Island offers a diverse range of tours that cater to history enthusiasts, adventure seekers, and those who simply want to have a good time while learning about the island’s past. Whether you’re exploring the eight flags that have flown over the island, raising a glass in a historic bar, visiting a fort, or embarking on ghostly adventures, these tours will leave you with a deeper appreciation of Amelia Island’s fascinating history.
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