Red Train Tours — Attraction in Saint Augustine

We were in town for a long weekend and think the best way to get acquainted with a city is to take a guided tour. There are many guided tour options in St. Augustine: boat, horse, bike, segway, Model T, helicopter, and... train!

There are two options to see the city by train: Old Town Trolley Tours and Red Train Tours which departs from Ripley's Believe it or Not! location on San Marco Ave. While the OTTT feature a hop on hop off feature, Red Train Tours are fully guided, one-hour tours with over 100 points of interest. We opted for the Red Train Tour which was considerably cheaper than the OTTT ($23.99 vs $36.55). We chose the RTT to end a long day on our feet. And I'm glad we did.

As the RTT brochure promotes: "Put the map down and kick up your heels with entertaining and knowledgeable drivers on this fully guided, one-hour experience through over 100 points of interest." RTT is the longest operating tour in town, welcoming families since 1950.

We walked to the San Marco Ave. location of the Ripley's Believe It or Not! Museum and gift shop for the start of our tour. Whereas the OTTT may be boarded at any of their stops, we wanted the assurance of a reservation, seats together and knowing we would not be on a crowded train. It was the perfect choice.

If you are lucky as we were, your guide will be Alex, or "Handsome Alex." He'll tell you the story. What a hoot. Alex is perfectly suited for the job of a tour guide as his day job is teaching Science to 6th graders. As a former teacher, I can truly appreciate him. He finds tour guiding a fun and relaxing summer job and we were glad to leave the driving and guiding to him. Navigating St. Augustine traffic and tourists in the summer heat requires a certain personality and Alex has it. He was funny, flexible, and interactive not only with his passengers but also engaging with complete strangers on the street. He made an effort to get to know us and asked each party who boarded where they were from. Ironically, all 21 (such a comfortable number; the train holds 38) people on our tour were from Florida.

This was our second trip to the city, the last was during Covid when many by of the attractions were either closed or had strict visitation policies. While we were fairly familiar with the points of interest, Alex fleshed out the history of each stop with some very interesting facts which only a good guide will know. We laughed and laughed; before we knew it, the trip was over and we were refreshed.

If you go: Red Train Tours depart from Ripley's on the half hour. Buy single or combo tickets inside for the museum, haunted castle tour, train tour and Florida's oldest mini-golf course. Restrooms are available at the gift shop at the end of the museum.

If you are lucky: you will have perfect weather and "Handsome Alex"...

Absolutely Disappointing Experience – Avoid Driver Benji at All Costs

What was meant to be a fun and educational 4th grade class trip to St. Augustine quickly turned into a nightmare thanks to our trolley driver, Benji. From the moment we boarded, his behavior was rude, abrasive, and completely unprofessional.

Things started going downhill immediately when the class teacher tried to accommodate another student's steerable knee scooter. Instead of working with her, Benji insisted on taking control of it himself. When she politely suggested keeping it with her to avoid any issues during the tour, he snapped at her with, “I don’t tell you how to do your job, don’t tell me how to do mine.” It was a shocking and unnecessary outburst that set the tone for an uncomfortable and tense ride.

Once the group was settled, Benji launched into a lecture of “rules” spoken in a condescending, almost threatening manner. He told parents not to be on their phones or on Instagram, warned he would call out anyone who wasn’t "present," and even stated he had no problem kicking people off his trolley. He went so far as to ban waving to others because it was a "distraction."

The worst part? His treatment of the students. When one child asked an innocent question about his favorite animal, Benji responded by calling her “an embarrassment to the school.” Another child was scolded and forced to change seats—just for waving at tourists. Benji actually stopped the tour and demanded she move! The emotional toll was heartbreaking; children were in tears, and the joyful energy of the day was completely crushed.

This experience was unacceptable. Safety is one thing—belittling, berating, and humiliating children and chaperones is another. No one should have to endure this kind of behavior, especially on a school field trip.

To make matters worse, after looking into reviews, it’s clear this isn’t an isolated incident. Complaints about Benji date back to at least 2017. Why this company continues to employ someone with such a troubling track record is beyond comprehension.

If you’re planning a school trip to St. Augustine, do yourself—and your students—a favor: request another driver or, better yet, find a different tour company entirely. Our students left that trolley in tears and with no desire to return to St. Augustine (which should have been a highlight of their...

My girlfriend was visiting from New Jersey and I also decided it’s time to finally take that step forward and commit to her and no where better make the proposal than St Augustine. I booked the red trolley tour round St. Augustine for both of us leaving around 12 that day. However, we arrived almost a full hour ahead of the scheduled tour leaving from Ripleys museum’s parking lot. Upon arrival we met up with Benji and explained to him that we were a bit early and would like to know if we may begin the tour a bit earlier. Right away my girlfriend and I took an instant liking to him and his friendly and pleasant demeanor. He explained to us to first explore the museum and he would be back in about 45 minutes with his first tour that was about to leave and we would join him for the 12 o clock tour. His advice proved very successful and worthwhile as during that time I proposed to my girlfriend at the treehouse and she said “yes”🥰and we began our tour of the museum. We were able to begin with the bottom and second floor exploration just before we left to do our 12 o clock tour with Benji. Benji from the start our tour proved to be a very knowledgeable and experienced tour guide who knew how to also keep his passengers entertained. His knowledge about the city and certain places was quite remarkable and he put it across in a way no one was bored. I mentioned to him before the tour also about the oak tree that I had heard about that once you kissed your true love you was guaranteed a lifelong relationship with that person. Benji made sure to notify me and even stopped for a few minutes by the tree so I may see whether or not the saying was true with my girlfriend. He even added some humor to the situation and gave everyone a pleasant laugh 😂. We were done with our tour in just over an hour but had gained a lot knowledge about St. Augustine and both its past and present history thanks to our tour guide. We then finished our tour of the awesome Ripleys museum and afterwards visited the awesome gift shop. I would definitely be returning soon to St. Augustine as there’s so much to see and do here and I definitely would recommend doing this tour with Benji should anyone be interested in touring and at the same time gain an insight into the history of this remarkable and...