Free & Cheap Things to Do in Augusta

History & Culture

Georgia's first National Heritage Area — a working 1845 industrial canal with a Discovery Center housed in the restored Enterprise Mill telling the story of Augusta's textile-and-flour industry. The 90-minute Petersburg Boat Tour glides through three locks past kingfishers, herons, and the Confederate Powderworks Chimney; admission to the Discovery Center is included with the boat ticket.

Address: 1450 Greene Street, Augusta, GA 30901

Tip: Boat tours run daily — reservations highly encouraged at 706-823-0440 x 502. Discovery Center alone is much cheaper; boat tour bundles both for the better $/hour value. Moonlight Music Cruises run $27 in summer evenings. Free parking on-site.

Arts & Culture

The oldest museum in the country dedicated to the art and artists of the American South — 10 permanent collection galleries arranged thematically, plus rotating special exhibitions on the second floor of the Augusta Riverfront Center overlooking the Savannah River. Free for everyone on Sundays, free for kids 12 and under any day. The cheapest serious art-museum visit in Georgia.

Address: 1 Tenth Street, Augusta, GA 30901

Tip: Open Tuesday–Saturday 10am–5pm, Sunday noon–5pm; closed Mondays. Free Sunday admission is the value play. Free weekday parking on the Riverfront Center's south lot; weekends park anywhere in the lot. The Riverwalk entrance is on the second floor.

History & Culture

The city's primary history museum on the Riverwalk — exhibits covering 12,000 years of Augusta history from the Savannah River's indigenous peoples through the Civil War, the rise of golf at Augusta National, and the James Brown collection (which now temporarily houses the Brown statue during the Broad Street redevelopment). Affordable family pricing.

Address: 560 Reynolds Street, Augusta, GA 30901

Tip: Open Thursday–Saturday 10am–5pm, Sunday 1pm–5pm; closed Monday–Wednesday. Allow 2 hours. The James Brown gallery is the marquee for music fans while the Broad Street linear park is rebuilt. Free parking on Reynolds Street and at the Riverfront Center.

Historic Sites

The restored Greek Revival manse on 7th Street downtown where Wilson lived from age 4 to 14 during the Civil War and Reconstruction — period-furnished rooms, original family belongings, and exhibits on the 28th President's childhood in Augusta. Tour-only access in 45-minute guided tours operated by Historic Augusta.

Address: 419 7th Street, Augusta, GA 30901

Tip: Guided tours Wednesday–Saturday at 10am, 11am, 1pm, 2pm, 3pm, 4pm — reservations encouraged at 706-722-9828. Tours last 45 minutes. Children under 5 free. Two blocks from the Lucy Craft Laney Museum — easy to pair on the same morning.

History & Culture

Augusta's African American history museum in the former Phillips Street home of Lucy Craft Laney — a free-born Black educator who founded the Haines Normal and Industrial Institute in 1886, the first kindergarten for African American children in Augusta, and the Lamar School of Nursing. Exhibits on Reconstruction-era education, the Augusta Black Caddies of Augusta National, and the Golden Blocks historic Black business district.

Address: 1116 Phillips Street, Augusta, GA 30901

Tip: Guided tours Tuesday–Saturday at 10:30am, 11:30am, and 2:30pm — reservations required at 706-724-3576. Museum only open Sundays for special events. Preschool admission complimentary. Allow 75 minutes for the tour and adjacent Snypse-Allen House admin building.

Historic Sites

An 1898 Romanesque Revival former Catholic church on Greene Street downtown — 15 styles of red brick, 94 stained-glass windows from Munich and Innsbruck, soaring vaulted ceilings, and a marble Carrara altar. Decommissioned in 1971 and restored as a non-profit cultural center; free self-guided tours during weekday hours, with $5 audio guides in the gift shop.

Address: 1301 Greene Street, Augusta, GA 30901

Tip: Open Monday–Friday 9am–5pm; weekends open by appointment only. Free 190-space lot directly across Greene Street. Allow 45 minutes for a self-guided walk. The audio tour is worth the $5 — the stained-glass and altar stories are buried otherwise.

Parks & Nature

A multi-level brick promenade along the Savannah River between 6th and 10th Streets — the Jessye Norman Amphitheater (free outdoor concerts in season), Heroes Overlook Memorial, splash fountains, a playground, picnic shelters, and direct access to the Morris Museum of Art and Augusta Museum of History. The free front porch of downtown.

Address: 8th Street & Reynolds Street, Augusta, GA 30901

Tip: Open dawn to dusk year-round. Free splash fountains run in summer afternoons — bring towels for kids. Free parking at the Augusta Riverfront Center on Reynolds Street. Pair with Morris Museum and Augusta Museum of History — both have direct Riverwalk entrances.

Walking Tours

A 10.8-mile flat, broad trail on the original 1845 mule-towpath of the Augusta Canal — Georgia's first National Heritage Area. Wide and level (former mule path), suitable for walkers, bikers of every skill level, and runners. Passes locks, bridges, and the Confederate Powder Works chimney through moss-draped riverside forests with canal-and-river views.

Address: Trailheads at Savannah Rapids Park (3300 Evans-to-Locks Road) and 1450 Greene Street

Tip: Free parking at both trailheads. The Savannah Rapids Park north trailhead has the best scenery (waterfall on Reed Creek). Bike rentals at the Discovery Center if needed. Singletrack mountain-bike trails run parallel for advanced riders. Best in spring before mosquito season.

Parks & Nature

A free 1,100-acre wetland nature park 10 minutes south of downtown Augusta — boardwalk trails through cypress-tupelo swamp, restored wastewater wetlands (now a haven for wading birds, alligators, and 200+ bird species), and a small Nature Center with environmental-education exhibits. Operated by the Phinizy Center for Water Sciences.

Address: 1858 Lock and Dam Road, Augusta, GA 30906

Tip: Park open dawn to dusk 365 days a year. Visitors Center open weekends 9am–5pm. Bring binoculars and bug spray. The 0.5-mile boardwalk loop is the easy family walk; the 4-mile Constructed Wetlands trail has the best bird diversity. Free parking; restrooms at the Nature Center.

Historic Sites

A 153-foot brick chimney on the Augusta Canal — the only surviving piece of the Confederacy's 26-building Powder Works that manufactured 3 million pounds of gunpowder for the Confederate Army and Navy along a 2-mile stretch of the canal. The chimney was preserved as a monument when the rest of the complex was demolished in 1872; it is the only major permanent structure built by the Confederacy that survives intact.

Address: 1717 Goodrich Street, Augusta, GA 30904

Tip: Free, accessible any time during daylight hours. A 5-minute photo stop within the Augusta Canal National Heritage Area — sits along the Augusta Canal Towpath Trail, easy to walk in from the trail. Historical marker at the base. No on-site facilities.

Historic Sites

A 60-acre Victorian-era public cemetery established in 1818 in Olde Town Augusta — burial place of seven Confederate generals, veterans of the American Revolution, War of 1812, Seminole, Mexican-American, and Civil Wars, plus five Jewish burial sections, a Greek Orthodox cemetery, and the orphans' section from the historic Tuttle-Newton orphan asylum. A massive crape myrtle on Third Street is reputed to be the oldest of its kind in Georgia.

Address: 702 Third Street, Augusta, GA 30901

Tip: Open during daylight hours, free to enter. Office hours Mon–Fri 7:30am–noon and 1pm–4pm. The Confederate generals' section near the entrance is the marquee stop. Bring water and walking shoes — paths can be uneven. Limited shade in summer.

Shopping & Strolling

A 70-acre National Register historic district along Broad Street through downtown Augusta — 158 contributing buildings, locally owned boutiques, art galleries, breweries, coffee houses, and restaurants, plus the rebuilt James Brown Linear Park (under construction through late 2026). Ruben's department store, a Broad Street staple since 1898, anchors the retail mix.

Address: Broad Street between 6th and 12th Streets, Augusta, GA 30901

Tip: First Friday of every month is a downtown art-and-music walk with live performances and gallery openings. Free 2-hour street parking on most blocks. The 800 block of Broad is fenced through 2026 for the James Brown Linear Park rebuild — the rest of downtown is fully open.