Best Family Activities in Golden Isles Georgia
My family and I took a road trip to Golden Isles Georgia for my birthday one year. I’ve always wanted to visit the Georgia coast as it looked so charming and unique.
Golden Isles Georgia is about a three-hour drive from Central Florida. It is located along the Georgia coast between Savannah and Jacksonville. The area consists of Brunswick, GA, and the barrier islands of St. Simons Island, Sea Island, Little St. Simons Island and Jekyll Island.
The Golden Isles are known for marshes, beaches and lots of history. I really wanted to visit somewhere much quieter without the hustle and bustle of theme parks and large crowds. Golden Isles Georgia was the perfect place to visit.
St. Simons Island
We stayed in St. Simons Island for our trip. St. Simons Island has charming shops and boutiques, beautiful beaches and interesting museums. St. Simons Island is the largest barrier island made up of many large moss oak trees and marshes throughout.
There’s also a variety of accommodations for you and your family to stay at such as inns and resorts. We stayed at The Sea Gate Inn, a luxury condominium located right next to the beach. This condo is absolutely gorgeous.
Upon arrival, the room was already situated for us waiting with calming music and dimmed lights, so perfect and inviting. The room we stayed in faced the pool and gave us a nice view of the ocean. The room provided a large space for our family with an outside patio. Two thumbs up for this property.
St. Simons Attractions
St. Simons Lighthouse Museum
One of the historic attractions on the island was the St. Simons Lighthouse Museum. The museum is located near the pier.
You are able to enter and climb to the top to see the great views of the surrounding island of Jekyll Island, Brunswick and the other end of St. Simons Island. The Lighthouse Museum also has lots of exhibits for you and your family to enjoy located in the Keepers Dwelling.
Trolley Tours
While visiting St. Simon Island we also did a trolley tour. We weren’t really too sure about this as we knew the island is very small and not sure how much this tour would offer. We took the risk and we were extremely happy we did the tour.
We decided to tour with St. Simons Colonial Island Trolley Tours. The process was very easy from making reservations to completing the tour. We made the online reservations ahead of time and met the trolley at 10 a.m. at the Pier Village.
The day of the tour, it was a bit on the cooler side and I was worried about the weather on the trolley. The trolley was enclosed, thank goodness, and life was great.
Once we approached the trolley, we were able to immediately board as the tour guide knew how chilly it was, and allowed us to wait on board for the other riders. Our tour guide was Captain Rod, and he is probably the best trolley captain out there.
Just so you know, I am not one to raise my hand to participate in anything “history”, and neither are the kids, but Captain Rod was extremely knowledgeable about the history and made the tour enjoyable for all.
The tour lasted about 90 minutes and is something we would definitely do again on our next visit to St. Simons Island.
Upon the tour, we were able to see tree spirits. Tree spirits are images of faces carved into oak trees hidden all throughout the island. These carved faces are a way to show the souls of the tree. It was really cool to see the tree spirit on the tour.
We also saw historic churches on the island and other landmarks. One of our favorite stops included the Avenue of the Oaks. The Avenue of the Oaks is the entrance to the Sea Island Golf Club.
No, we didn’t play golf on the tour, but we were able to drive through the entrance to get a glance of the oaks. Avenue of the Oaks consists of double rows of 160-year-old oak trees. Such beauty.
St. Simons Island Pier and Pier Village
St. Simons Island Pier was pretty much where all the action was for us. The pier was located in Pier Village. St. Simons Pier Village District is the downtown of St. Simons and houses lots of shops, restaurants, a playground, and picnic areas.
If we wanted a nice breakfast or do some shopping, we headed out to Pier Village. If the kids wanted ice cream, we went to Pier Village. If we wanted to take a stroll along the beach, we drove out to St. Simons Pier.
There were lots of fishermen catching fish at the pier too. St. Simons Island Pier and Pier Village has so much for all of the family to do and see.
Jekyll Island
During our stay at Golden Isles Georgia we had so much fun on St. Simons Island that we also expanded our trip to Jekyll Island. Jekyll Island is located the most south of Golden Isles Georgia.
Similar to St. Simons Island, Jekyll Island is full of history along with many family activities. It has sandy beaches, historic landmarks and shopping too.
There is also a water park for the kids, but because it was a little chilly when we visited, we didn’t go splishing and splashing, bummer. We did enjoy the majestic scenic views and did some light shopping on the island.
Jekyll Island National Historic District
During the trip, we spent most of our day at the Jekyll Island National Historic District. The Jekyll Island National Historic District houses the Jekyll Island Club and has restored many other historical structures on its property.
We walked around the large beautiful grounds or you can bike if you wish. On the property also has dozens of unique shops for your family to browse or take back a souvenir for your memories.
We had so much fun the first time we visited Golden Isles Georgia. We went so we could have a much different traveling experience. We wanted to try someplace new without the large crowds and busy events and Golden Isles Georgia was just the place.
The next time we visit we would want to go when the weather is a bit warmer so we could try swimming at the beaches and the water parks too. We learned so much history, explored unique shops and walked the beaches, hopefully, we will make our second visit to Golden Isles Georgia sooner rather than later.
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Have you visited the Georgia coast yet? What did you like about your visit? Share with us your favorite activity in Golden Isles Georgia. We would love to hear about your trip.
