Best Things to Do in Jacksonville

This little beach town in the center of Jacksonville’s beaches feels more like California than it does Florida — probably because it’s one of the top surf towns in the state. Surf shops are interspersed among yoga studios and fresh juice bars on the streets leading up to the sand.

On a warm spring Saturday, nowhere in Jacksonville brings the beach party quite like Jax Beach. This is the area’s top beach for bars, and its nightlife has a far younger crowd than that of neighboring towns. The partiers stick around after the sun goes down, too, crowding places like Lynch’s Pub and Hoptinger well into the early morning.

Technically, the Guana River Preserve sits just south of the city closer to Ponte Vedra. But step across the golden dunes and onto the unspoiled coastline and you might think you’ve crossed an ocean. The wild, empty beach calls to mind remote stretches of sand in Africa, and relaxing here for an afternoon will have you forgetting downtown is only half an hour away.

One of the most stunning beachside landscapes in Florida, Boneyard Beach is a graveyard of oak and cedar trees that fell to earth when a sudden tidal shift pushed saltwater into their roots. The result is one of the most eerie beach scenes in Florida, and one of the top photo locations in Jacksonville.

Grand old homes and towering oak trees line the streets as soon as you cross over to the south bank of the St. Johns River from downtown into San Marco. Once you’ve arrived at San Marco Square, park your car and pop around the upscale boutiques, wine bars and whiskey lounges that fill the neighborhood’s core. Stop into Town Hall or Taverna and feel the energy of two of the most popular restaurants in the city, or hit Four Score Golf Tavern and knock back some beers while challenging your friends on one of their rentable golf simulators.

These abutting neighborhoods along the St. Johns River are easily Jacksonville’s most alluring, filled with historic homes, bars, restaurants and vintage shops. It’s the only part of Jacksonville that one might call “walkable,”’ where you can meander from the weekly farmer’s market under the bridge to the Cummer Museum of Art and on to the funky shops and beer bars in Five Points. Along the way, you’ll find Stockton Street, one of the best food streets in Florida, where coffee, curry and tapas converge. 

Jacksonville’s skyline may not be large, but it is one of the most recognizable in the country with its colorful bridges and iconic Wells Fargo Center. Below the buildings you’ll find a place that’s surprisingly lively, where the local symphony hall sits right on the water and the retro Florida Theatre sits in the heart of the action. You’ll also find a jogging and running path along the St. Johns River, complete with pathside exercise equipment. Residents are slowly starting to fill the stately old high-rises from the 1930s, making ground-floor restaurants like Bellwether and Indochine more popular than they already were.

Set high atop the trendy Five Points section of Riverside, Black Sheep  is equally as enchanting for sunset happy-hour cocktails and bites as it is for dinner. If you do opt for a full meal, you’ll find elevated takes on Southern classics, like fried chicken with confit potatoes and tahini aioli.

For fast-casual, nowhere in Jax is better than this Riverside curry counter that dishes up spicy stuff from all over the world. Whether your curry tastes run more Caribbean or Cambodian, the cooks at Foo Dog can execute it perfectly and make it as bland or stomach-meltingly spicy as you want.

Award-winning chef Jonathan Insetta, who also helms the kitchen at Black Sheep, opened this fine-dining French bistro in Avondale to great acclaim. It’s the city’s best spot for gourmet food, though the atmosphere still remains relaxed. If the Michelin Guide ever comes to Duval, Orsay will be the first place to get a look.

Top to bottom, the best menu in Jacksonville may well be this little restaurant with metal chairs and bohemian décor. Its small plates like curried cauliflower, Roman-style gnocchi with beef and mushroom stock and chicken croquetas make for a fantastic shared-plate experience. Despite the smaller portions, you’ll still leave full without dropping a ton of cash.

This upscale San Marco bistro has garnered a couple of James Beard nominations for chef Tom Gray. You’ll understand why as soon as the first plate arrives, as locally sourced ingredients make dishes like the homemade mafaldine pasta with roasted almond salsa and Calabrian chile crunch especially flavorful.

If you’re headed to a show at the Florida Theatre downtown, or downtown for any reason, dinner at Indochine is always the move. This mainstay Thai restaurant has been the city’s top Asian eatery for years. A build-your-own menu of curries, noodle dishes and wok creations makes every experience different.

The city’s best barbecue sits out on the beach, where Mojo Kitchen plates up a big selection of barbecue styles from across America. The pit-smoked chicken wings are some of the most sought after in the city, though the smoked turkey breast, brisket and pulled pork shoulder all leave you satisfied.

If you’re into tequila cocktails, or any craft cocktails really, make a beeline for this narrow downtown bar across from the Florida Theater. Inside, a Dia de Los Muertos motif stands over Jacksonville’s most impressive collection of tequilas and mezcals, as well as a menu of spicy, agave-forward drinks you’ve probably never seen before.

At first, the inside of Kickbacks looks a little like a thrift store with a beer tap in the middle, as the mix of light wood, gold chains and exposed ductwork creates an unusual setting. Order one of their dozens of local beers and enjoy it at the penny-covered bar, and you’ll soon find yourself chatting with many of Riverside’s off-duty servers and bartenders. 

Grape and Grain’s narrow doorway is easy to miss as you stroll along the bougie streets of San Marco. Take the time to find it, however, and you’ll be treated to an extensive collection of vintage wines and small-batch whiskeys, available at the bar or to take home. Show up on weekends, and you can slip into the back-room speakeasy and enjoy bourbon or Beaujolais away from peering eyes.

This German-inspired Five Points beer hall has over 60 beers on tap, which pair perfectly with its menu of big pretzels, sausages and other Bavarian staples. Scarf it all down on the rooftop with panoramic views of downtown, the St. Johns River and the neighborhood below. You’ll also find a Hoptiner in Jax Beach, too, if you’re fiending for a cold one after a hot day on the beach.

Lined with brick walls and filled with mobile workers, Bold Bean is as much a Riverside neighborhood meeting place as it is a coffee shop. The house-roasted coffees are spectacular, which is why lines are typically long. It’s worth the wait, though, as pairing Bold Bean’s daily drip with a fresh chocolate cookie is one of Jacksonville’s great indulgences.

In San Marco, your best bet for morning coffee is Southern Grounds, which has a few other locations around the city. The sleek, clean, modern space also has some tasty cakes and pastries. And if you show up later in the day, it is also a cool place to sit back with a glass of wine.

This San Marco brewery sits inside an old ice factory, and continues to put out some of the best cold stuff in Duval. Creatively named rotating beers sit on the taps, though you’ll never go wrong with the Southbank IPA. Seltzer lovers might also want to try the Jag Water, a blue raspberry-flavored and Jags-colored hard seltzer.

For the fun-and-games-brewery crowd, King Maker Brewing is your best choice. It’s got an elevated loading dock filled with foosball, cornhole and other games, as well as an ample pizza menu to soak up the suds.

On Jaguars game days, or during most of the more-pleasant months, Intuition is the social hub of Jacksonville. The brewery sits just a couple of blocks from both TIAA Bank Field and 121 Financial Ballpark, making it an essential pregame stop. The attached Bier Hall s a 6,000 square foot, general admission music venue. Big, open windows and a sunny rooftop make it Jacksonville’s best place to savor a beer in the sun, too.

Though some would argue that bookstores are nearly extinct, the folks at Chamblin’s would say otherwise. This new and used bookstore sits right near downtown, and is the sort of place where you can spend hours wandering the stacks, then settle in for coffee with whatever you select. It makes you understand why the business model will probably never die, because it offers so much more than just a place to find something to read.

Take your typical cute, neighborhood vintage store, breed it with a Home Depot and throw in some musical instruments and you might be starting to conceptualize Eco Relics. This giant brick warehouse offers everything from repurposed lumber to 1930s Coca-Cola ads, with antique furniture and classic toys thrown in. It’s a Disneyland for offbeat interior designers, but makes for a fun afternoon of browsing if the weather isn’t cooperating.

Jacksonville’s iconic performance venue is this downtown theater with bright pink script across the marquee. Touring bands that are big enough to draw crowds, but aren’t quite arena sized, almost always stop here on a trip from Atlanta to Miami. It’s large enough to feel the energy of a big crowd, but small enough you’ll always feel close to the stage.

Going to a show at the 1904 Music Hall feels a little like being on the floor of an arena show…except there’s no seats on the side. With the right band, the place can feel a little like a giant mosh pit. If you head here for a more relaxed show, it’s a large, open space where you can see bands without having to wedge yourself in.

On the south bank of the St. Johns River, the best spot for live music is Jack Rabbits Live. It hosts all genres of music from country to hip-hop. Though not in the heart of downtown, this is a first-rate live music venue tucked into the San Marco neighborhood.

Once known as the Gator Bowl, TIAA Bank Field first gained notoriety as the home to the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party — the annual Florida-Georgia football game. In the 1990s, the Jacksonville Jaguars moved in and instantly became a citywide obsession. While the team is typically out of contention early, tailgates are always a great time as sunshine and barbecues run well into December. Tickets tend to be easier to get than in other cities, too, though after last year’s playoff run that may change.

The old Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville have taken on a new, corporate name, but don’t think the experience is any less authentic for true baseball fans. The home of the AAA Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp is one of the best parks in the minors, and brick facades and a concourse with views of the field create a fantastic fan experience. Go on Thursday and you’ll be part of dollar-beer night, which draws a huge crowd of college kids and young professionals for one of the better parties in baseball.

The Hyatt is Jacksonville’s quintessential downtown mega-hotel, located right on the water and within walking distance to pretty much everything. It has a couple of bars, an outpost of Morton’s The Steakhouse and SHOR Seafood Grill, which are actually two of the better restaurants in the neighborhood.

Though Jacksonville and its beaches aren’t teeming with luxury ocean resorts in the way other cities are, the One Ocean makes for a calming beach retreat. The biggest beach hotel in the city, the One Ocean has a spa, restaurants and rooms right on the sand. If you’re looking to stay out this way, it’s the top choice, and makes walking to everything in Atlantic Beach easy.