Sept or Oct. better

We are planning a trip back to St. Augustine and would like to know which month to go. It will be my husb and I and our children (8 yr old son and 6 year old twin girls). We don%26#39;t want to visit ';in season'; because of cost and less crowd. Also any sugg. on where to stay with this crew. The last time we happened to stumble upon St. Augustine. We had a trip tic from Pittsburgh to Key West on a last minute vacation without reservations and stopped at St Augustines because we were too tired of driving and never left. We loved it. That was in October 2001 I believe. We stayed at 3 different places during that trip.......a motel , a hotel and B%26amp; B. A B %26amp; B was hard to find that allowed children.

Also, we didn%26#39;t do any of the ghost tours that trip. Any too scary for kids?

Any suggestions would be so helpful.

Sept or Oct. better

October has better weather than September. It%26#39;s cooler, has less chance of thunderstorms, and less chance of hurricanes.

Sept or Oct. better

The only problem with going off season is that everything closes down in the downtown area because it%26#39;s such a tourist area. I love Saint Augustine--I grew up in Jacksonville which is only 45 minutes away and St. Augustine was one of my old haunts. During the winter it%26#39;s pretty vacated...just like Cape Cod. I would suggest you go during the on season, despite the crowd--but going during the week makes the stress a lot less harsh. I hope you have fun though!

I don%26#39;t know how long ago the Boston reader lived in Jacksonville, but the winter months here are the busiest. All hotels, and B %26amp; B%26#39;s raise the prices because all the winter people come down here. Busy ';season'; is end of November until

the end of May and has been for several years. The shops make all their money in the winter seasons! Slow is now.....

I lived there for 18 years. When I will go visit my friend during the off season all the good stores were closed downtown. The last time I was in St. Augustine was in July 2003 so I don%26#39;t know what the winter months are like in recent years, but I just remember that in November the place started shutting down through Feb. Florida does get chilly sometimes, just takes a little longer.

onthepond, FYI, St. John%26#39;s County Hotels including St. Augustine and their beaches begin to get busy from Feb.thru the first week of Aug. Schools start early in Florida. At Thankgiving and going through the end of Jan. St. Augustine has the Night of Lights Festival, a great display of over a one million lights decorating the downtown area. Many of the hotels in the downtown increase their prices such as At Journey%26#39;s End were some weekends start as low as $205.00.

(Check Tripadvisor). Many hotel in the outlying areas do not charge near that much. Shopping downtown during this period of time, shops open at 10:00am and close at 9:00pm. Most of the overnight guests come from Florida, not snow birds. Most snow birds use I-75 to go to the west coast of Florida where they live.

Stick to September or October, weather is great, however your downtown hotel can still be expensive.

Weekend rates at At Journeys End start at $129. per night in the busy season, not $205.00--check again. It is not a hotel, however, it is a B %26amp; B. $205.00 is the highest price per night and is a huge suite.

LN, you are right at the $129.00 - per night (on some nights), however check the weekday/ weekend rates on Sept./Oct/ they are much higher. The request from (onthe pond) requests accommodations for a party of five which be the Key West Suite, which can accommodate six individuals (rate $175.00- $205.00) on weekends. I noticed that the $129.00-$150.00 is for queen size bed only. I could not tell what if any charges they would charge for the children and I feel this type of room is wrong for (onthepond). I would advise you to look at the request of the guest and not just the lowest rate when recommending a hotel or B%26amp;B.

Sept seems to be prone to more hurricanes than Oct. After Labor Day until the holidays is a slower time for St. Aug. I have my family stay at Ponce Landing when they come. Not sure what your price range is, but it is a good deal for a condo (two bed room townhomes, 2 pools, beach, poncelanding.com).

Ghost tours (walking) should be fine for kids, not scary.