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Tucked away in the northeast corner of Florida, Amelia Island is truly one of Florida's hidden gems.
Categories: Amelia Island
Categories: Aventura
Bal Harbour is an ultra-luxury hideaway in Miami-Dade County with world-class beaches, resort spas, high-end shopping, all in a quiet, relaxed environment. Known as South Florida’s glamour and fashion capital, Bal Harbour village is a favorite ...
Categories: Bal Harbour
Boca Grande, Florida, north of Captiva Island on Gasparilla Island, is something of a throwback to the quieter days on the Gulf coast. Since 1913, Gasparilla Inn has been a winter retreat for many wealthy visitors attracted by the excitement of tarpo...
Categories: Boca Grande
The meaning of the name Boca Raton has always aroused curiosity. Many people wrongly assume the name is simply Rat’s Mouth. The Spanish word boca (or mouth) often described an inlet, while raton (literally mouse) was used as a term for a coward...
Categories: Boca Raton
Bonita Springs is a beach community in southwest Florida located between Naples and Fort Myers. Lovers Key State Park and the Conservancy of Southwest Florida Nature Center are popular destinations to visit in Bonita Springs, and fishing, beachcombin...
Categories: Bonita Springs
Categories: Cape Canaveral
Categories: Cape Coral
No cars are allowed on Cape Haze, Florida, a 7-mi-/11-km-long barrier island about 60 mi/97 km northwest of Fort Myers. Instead, resort guests are transported from the mainland in shuttles. Crowds are almost unknown there. Fishing charters are availa...
Categories: Cape Haze
It's attached to the end of Sanibel Island, like a pendant jewel on a golden necklace. It is reached via Sanibel after crossing the three-mile causeway from the Southwest Florida mainland. A small 'blind' pass, crossed by a short bridge, separates th...
Categories: Captiva Island
Categories: Celebration
Brought to you by Central Florida Visitors & Convention Bureau.
Categories: US Cities
Categories: ChampionsGate
Resting on the Gulf of Mexico in Pinellas County just off the west central coast of Florida boasts of sugar white beaches, world-class fishing charters, an array of culinary cuisines and nightly entertainment. It ranks as one of the best beaches in t...
Categories: Clearwater Beach
The archetypal beach town, Cocoa Beach lies on Florida's white sand Space Coast. Beach side vacation begins here and never ends. Visitors can take an eco-tour adventures, go deep sea fishing or get close and personal with marine wildlife!
Categories: Cocoa Beach
This charming bayside village known to locals as "The Grove" is the oldest inhabited urban neighborhood of Miami. Settled in the 1800's, Coconut Grove is a bohemian village home to the Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, Miami Science Museum, a...
Categories: Coconut Grove
Adjacent to Miami, this city is dubbed "The City Beautiful" known for its ivy covered mansions, historical landmarks, and tree-lined streets. In the bloom of the 1920's George Merrick envisioned a city's architecture that would revi...
Categories: Coral Gables
Categories: Crestview
Categories: Davenport FL
Famous Daytona Beach is the "World Center of Racing" and home of NASCAR. Along with visiting the area beaches be sure to check out these exciting attractions: Birthplace of Speed Park, DAYTONA USA, Atlantic Race Park, Living Legends of Auto...
Categories: Daytona Beach
Located 17 miles from Ft. Lauderdale, Deerfield Beach is a gorgeous South Florida beach city without all of the crowds. In addition to beautiful white sandy beaches, there are also enjoyable shopping and dining opportunities, and exciting activities ...
Categories: Deerfield Beach
Doral is located in the heart of South Florida, northwest of Miami International Airport in Miami-Dade County. Doral offers excellent restaurants, world-class shopping, golf and all that South Florida has to offer.
Categories: Doral
Categories: Dry Tortugas National Park
Comprising 2,354 sq mi/6,097 sq km and located 40 mi/60 km southwest of Miami, Everglades National Park, Florida, is made up of tropical mangroves, freshwater marshes and forest, and is home to alligators, manatees, beautiful birds, the rare (and rar...
Categories: Everglades National Park
Fernandina Beach - located on Amelia Island, the northernmost barrier island of Florida - is a historic bay-side town which boasts a 50-square-block area of gorgeous Victorian, Queen Anne, and Italianate homes listed in the National Register of Histo...
Categories: Fernandina Beach
Categories: Florida Keys and Key West
The coast of the far-western part of the state—known as the Florida Panhandle because of its geographical shape—is a popular summer vacation spot for visitors from the neighboring states of Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. They go there f...
Categories: Florida Panhandle
Fort Myers, Florida, has attracted natives and settlers ever since it was a Seminole War outpost, and its location on the Caloosahatchee River makes it a lively, scenic metropolitan center today. Tourists visit Fort Myers not only for the city itself...
Categories: Fort Myers
Categories: Four Corners FL
Originally a fort built by the U.S. Army in 1838, during the Second Seminole War, Ft. Lauderdale has little left of its warlike past. Instead the city welcomes visitors with broad beaches and an easy pace of life, plus convenient air and water connec...
Categories: Ft. Lauderdale
Categories: Ft. Walton Beach
Gainesville's subtle landscape offers more than stereotypical Florida scenery. Visitors to Gainesville will see palm trees, yes, but also massive live-oak trees draped with hanging moss. The city's tree canopy creates a comforting and inclusive atmos...
Categories: Gainesville
Categories: Green Cove Springs
Categories: Hallandale
Hollywood, Florida is known for its beautiful beaches and beachfront hotels and resorts. Tucked between Ft. Lauderdale and Miami, Hollywood offers endless white sandy stretches of beach, but with less crowds than the nearby towns. Enjoy historic Down...
Categories: Hollywood FL
Jacksonville is one of Florida's major industrial, commercial and cultural centers, and offers sun-soaked conditions year-round. Recreational opportunities abound in Jacksonville, with water sports, fishing, hiking, biking and horseback riding being ...
Categories: Jacksonville
Categories: Jensen Beach
Jupiter, Florida, is an idyllic retreat for sea- and sun-lovers. This pleasant beachfront town has been recognized as one of America's happiest seaside places. Its clear blue seas blend beautifully with orange skies, sprawling greenery and splendid ...
Categories: Jupiter
Categories: Key Biscayne
You really haven't seen Florida until you've seen the Florida Keys, a 125-mi/200-km archipelago of approximately 1,000 coral islands at the southern end of the state. The residents who have settled in the islands have much to do with the area's dist...
Categories: Keys The
Just minutes from Orlando, the city of Kissimmee, Florida, is rapidly becoming a prime vacation destination because of its proximity to some of the best theme parks that the U.S. has to offer. With a variety of outdoor activities and tours, as well a...
Categories: Kissimmee
Categories: Lake Buena Vista
Categories: Lake George
Marco Island, Florida, a relatively undiscovered resort island 150 mi/240 km south of Tampa, offers a good alternative to some of the state's more crowded beaches. Only 4 mi/6 km wide by 6 mi/10 km long, it's one destination that you don't want to te...
Categories: Marco Island
Categories: Melbourne FL
A great climate which makes it a great vacation spot all year round, exciting attractions, professional sports teams, art, history, museums, and all of the nature parks and education you could ask for. Miami has many local activities & attractions, i...
Categories: Miami
When the sun comes up with the peaceful serenity of a tropical dawn, it rises over the Atlantic Ocean and it shines brilliantly over one of our nation's hottest destinations, MIAMI BEACH. It sizzles with style and sophistication.
Categories: Miami Beach
Categories: Miami Springs
Just 25 mi/40 km from Orlando, Mount Dora, Florida, is a pretty Victorian city with dozens of antiques shops around Donnelly Street, in the downtown area. Lovely turn-of-the-century homes are interspersed throughout quiet neighborhoods.Mount Dora is ...
Categories: Mount Dora
Naples is the crown jewel of Southwest Florida -- nestled on the sun drenched beaches of the Gulf of Mexico. Naples is known for world class shopping, dining and abundant, challenging golf courses. It is also, only steps away from island seclusion or...
Categories: Naples FL
Disney World is the largest attraction in Orlando where thousands of visitors come and spend time in an atmosphere that cannot be found anywhere else. That is not all there is to do in Orlando. There are gorgeous beaches, museums, culture, historic ...
Categories: Orlando
Categories: Palatka
Visitors of all ages can have fun in Palm Beach. Excellent year-round sunny skies and tropical temperatures make it a superb place to experience the outdoors. Visit wild inhabitants at Palm Beach Zoo. Fun slide and dive at Calypso Bay Waterpark or C...
Categories: Palm Beach
Categories: Palm Coast
Panama City, Florida, is one of the larger resort towns along the Panhandle coast. If beaches and watersports are what you're looking for, this is the place to go. A number of artificial reefs offshore make for good scuba diving. There are lots of re...
Categories: Panama City (Florida)
Located 340 mi/550 km northwest of Tampa, Pensacola is the largest city in Florida's Panhandle, and it also was Florida's original capital. Pensacola is known as the City of Five Flags because it has been ruled by Spain, France, Britain, the Confeder...
Categories: Pensacola
Categories: Pompano Beach
Categories: Ponte Vedra Beach
The main attraction in Port Canaveral is the Kennedy Space Center, featuring exhibits and an IMAX theater which takes you through the entire history of America's space program— complete with a space launch from start to finish. Or, travel to nearby O...
Categories: Port Canaveral
Port St. Lucie is the place to be for golf and beaches. The prestigious Professional Golfers Association has its winter home here and operates three beautiful golf courses as well as a golf school right on the city’s border. Miles and miles of pristi...
Categories: Port St. Lucie
Categories: Punta Gorda FL
Categories: Rosemary Beach
Accessible from the mainland by toll bridge, Sanibel Island, Florida, is 12 mi/19 km long and some 2 mi/3 km wide. It's pretty and lush, although condo and hotel construction has changed its once pristine, undeveloped character. With lots of full-ser...
Categories: Sanibel Island
Among the early tourists to be smitten by Sarasota, Florida, was circus magnate John Ringling in the Roaring '20s. He scooped up property all around the town, moved the circus's winter home there, and built himself a winter residence, an art museum, ...
Categories: Sarasota
Categories: Seagrove FL
Just to the west of Panama City is Seaside, Florida, a picturesque and uncluttered town with the quaint look of a late Victorian beachfront village. If Seaside makes you think you've returned to a simpler time—think comfortable cottages, porch swings...
Categories: Seaside FL
Categories: Singer Island
Categories: South Beach
Established as a city in 1565 and about 95 mi/150 km north of Orlando, St. Augustine, Florida, is the oldest permanent European settlement in the continental U.S.—it was founded 42 years before the English colonized Jamestown, 45 years before the Spa...
Categories: St. Augustine
Categories: St. Johns River
Categories: St. Pete Beach
Facing Tampa Bay on the opposite side from Tampa, the city of St. Petersburg, Florida, commonly referred to as St. Pete, attracts visitors with a vibrant downtown of historic buildings, a diverse arts scene, and cultural attractions such as the Salva...
Categories: St. Petersburg FL
Sunny days on a white sand beach or sizzling nights on the town.
This is a special Florida destination, where the choice is yours.
Sunny Isles Beach lies between the flowing Intracoastal Waterway and the Atlantic Ocean. Our resort community is ...
Categories: Sunny Isles Beach
Florida's capital city seems to be a world away from the vacation and commercial centers of Miami, Orlando and Tampa-St. Petersburg, though it's only a short drive from Gulf Coast beaches. Spreading over gently rolling hills, it has a quiet antebellu...
Categories: Tallahassee
Tampa is a great place to visit for rest and relaxation or thrills and excitement. An abundance of activities, attractions, shopping opportunities and restaurants create a memorable vacation holiday. Record breaking sunshine, attractions, museums and...
Categories: Tampa
We found the town of Tarpon Springs, Florida (just 30 mi/50 km northwest of Tampa), with its Greek-immigrant influence, an absolutely delightful place to visit for a day. This was once a huge center for sponge diving, and a few sponge boats still ope...
Categories: Tarpon Springs
Categories: Tolomato River
The stretch of coast that runs north of the Tampa area to the Panhandle is often ignored by travelers. This happens, in part, because the views from the road are only intermittently scenic. Those who take the time to get off the main highways, howeve...
Categories: Upper Gulf Coast
Categories: Vero Beach
Florida's Atlantic Treasure Coast is home to West Palm Beach. Just a bit further east of West Palm is the island of Palm Beach, home of Florida's most talked about mansions and the renowned upscale shopping boulevard of Worth Avenue. Railroad tycoon,...
Categories: West Palm Beach
For those who live in northern climes, Florida takes on an almost mythical stature. Long before visiting the state, travelers are regaled with tales of its warm sun, exotic creatures and golden beaches.
Once they actually visit Florida, visitors tend to find that these ideas are oversimplified. Golden sand there is, but mangrove thickets, barren coral islands and reedy estuaries are just as common.
Reality matches the myths in many ways, though. In the middle of the state, Orlando stands as the undisputed capital of fun, at least when it comes to theme parks. Along the Atlantic coast, Miami simmers with Caribbean and Latin American flair, and sights such as alligators in the Everglades and rocket launches at the Kennedy Space Center allow you to combine education with vacation.
Anyone convinced that Florida's history commenced with NASA, NASCAR and Mickey Mouse need only head to St. Augustine or St. Marks to find living proof that the state's historical roots are some of the deepest in the U.S. On the Gulf coast, a stop in Tampa and St. Petersburg will provide all the comfort and entertainment you would expect from a booming metropolis. Yet just a few hours down the highway, on Sanibel Island, you can explore a region of wild Florida that has changed little over the past few centuries.
Geography
Florida is largely a peninsula jutting out into the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. It has the longest coastline in the lower 48 states and contains more fresh water in inland lakes and wetlands than any other state, with the exception of Alaska. It's basically flat, with the highest point just 345 ft/105 m above sea level. History
Several Native American tribes—the Apalachees, Timucuans, Calusa and Tocobaga—settled in Florida 10,000-20,000 years ago. The Timucuans left burial mounds that are preserved at several historic sites. Later, the Seminoles—an offshoot of the Creek tribes—moved into the area from present-day Georgia and Alabama.
In 1513, explorer Ponce de Leon arrived at what he would later dub Florida near St. Augustine, where the Spanish founded their first true settlement in the U.S. about 50 years later. Spain laid the strongest colonial claim, but France and Great Britain also controlled the peninsula over the years before it was turned back over to Spain in 1783. Soon, expansionist settlers from the newly independent U.S. began eyeing Florida. With mounting pressure from the U.S., Spain finally gave up Florida to the fast-growing country in 1819, and settlers poured in.
Resistance from the Seminoles resulted in armed confrontations between the Native Americans and U.S. government forces in the early 1800s. Most of the Seminoles were eventually exiled to Oklahoma, although a small core refused to surrender or be captured. These survivors are ancestors of the 15,000 Seminoles who now live on three Florida reservations.
In 1845, Florida joined the U.S. as a slave state. Economic recovery after the Civil War was long in coming, but it was speeded by the growth of the citrus industry and the state's development as a vacation destination. In more recent years, its popularity has come to pose its biggest challenge. The throngs who vacation and retire in the state have brought massive population growth and development; an estimated 1,000 people move to Florida each day. No state income tax also entices people to move. This has strained some of the state's natural resources, including the coastal beaches, the Everglades and the water table.
The state's challenging seasonal weather conditions create a completely different kind of strain, most notably in the hurricanes that often pound the Sunshine State. More storms hit Florida than any other state. Hurricanes Irma and Michael are some of the most damaging to hit the state in recent decades, and hurricanes have caused more than US$120 billion in damages in this century alone.
If you're planning a trip during hurricane season (June-November), pay attention to forecasts, and be prepared to rearrange plans if a hurricane is headed toward your vacation destination.
Snapshot
Florida's foremost attractions are sun and sand, freshwater and saltwater fishing, tropical wetlands and forests, Orlando and Walt Disney World Resort, the Florida Keys, the Kennedy Space Center, Miami, Tampa and St. Petersburg, Native American culture, Caribbean and Latin American cuisine, lots of fresh seafood, unlimited watersports and a wide variety of day and night activities.
It's hard to imagine there's a person alive who won't find something to enjoy in Florida, though those who prefer to avoid heavily commercialized attractions will have to work a bit to find less-traveled areas. Those who love the sea, the beach and warm weather will get the most out of a Florida vacation.
Potpourri
Key West's average temperature, 78 F/26 C, is the highest in the U.S.
The manatees that frequent the Gulf Coast are an endangered species: Only about 3,000-4,000 survive in Florida waters. Run-ins with pleasure boat props are the main cause of death, but strict boating regulations have helped to increase their numbers.
Before constructing The Breakers, Florida pioneer and railroad baron Henry Flagler built a 55-room mansion in Palm Beach in 1902 and gave it to his wife, Mary Lily Kenan, as a wedding present. The house rivaled any palace in Europe at the time it was built. Today it is a museum called Whitehall and is adorned with artifacts from the Golden Age.
The largest concentration of architect Frank Lloyd Wright's work is in Lakeland.
The first racially integrated professional baseball game was played in Daytona Beach at City Island Ballpark in 1946, with Jackie Robinson, who would later be inducted into the Hall of Fame. This historic ballpark now bears his name and features a public museum.
Florida consistently racks up the highest annual number of lightning strikes in the world.
Florida is famous for many air feats. Among them: The world's first scheduled passenger airline flight took place on New Year's Day 1914, from Tampa to St. Petersburg. The first Pan Am office was in Key West.
The beaches in the Fort Myers and Sanibel Island area have some of the best shelling in the world (only the Sulu Islands in the Philippines and Jeffreys Bay in South Africa are considered better). They have more varieties of shells than anywhere else in North America.
Florida is truly the land of perpetual sunshine: St. Petersburg/Clearwater claims 361 days of sunshine each year.
Minnesota's claim to fame may be 10,000 lakes, but Florida has more than 30,000 freshwater lakes to call its own.
Opened in 1982, The Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg boasts the largest collection of the Spanish surrealist's work outside of Europe, with more than 200 paintings, prints and sculptures.
Upon his retirement, circus impresario John Ringling built his family estate and a museum in Sarasota. Later donated to the state, The Ringling Museum and former residence, Ca' D'Zan, now contain his magnificent collection of circus memorabilia and European art.
Miami is the only U.S. city to border two national parks—Everglades National Park and Biscayne National Park.