Tampa Bay Attractions

Busch Gardens
Originally a small visitor center for the Anheuser-Busch brewery, with free samples at the end, the park has grown into one of the largest adventure parks in the world, with safari grounds, rides and all kinds of amusements.
Corner of Busch Boulevard and 40th Street, Tampa. (813) 987-5082

Adventure Island
Next door to Busch Gardens, this tropical-themed amusement park features high-speed rides, picnic areas, beaches, lagoons, waterfalls, restaurants and game rooms.
4500 Bougainvillea Avenue, Tampa. (813) 987-5600

Don CeSar Beach Resort and Spa
More than a hotel, it is an historical landmark. The big pink building looming into view as you approach St. Petersburg Beach on the Bayway is where F. Scot Fitzgerald penned some of his works, and where many famous people with lots of money, from Clarence Darrow to Al Capone, came to cool their heels by the Gulf. Just standing on one of the balconies adorned with bougainvillea, gazing at a spectacular sunset, becomes a spiritual encounter with history.
3400 Gulf Shore Boulevard, St. Petersburg Beach. (727) 360-1881

Haslam’s Book Store
Visit the largest bookstore in Florida, created during the Depression almost 70 years ago, while you are in St. Petersburg. Every square foot of space is filled with new, used and rare books, leaving just enough room to squeeze through aisle after aisle of buried treasure. The staff is part of the treasure, who can answer most any question relating to bibliophilia and local history.
2025 Central Avenue, St. Petersburg. (727) 822-8616

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Salvadore Dali Museum
The largest collection of works by the Spanish master of Surrealism, including oil paintings, watercolors, graphic drawings and astounding jewelry creations, is in downtown St. Petersburg.
1000 Third Street, St. Petersburg. (727) 823-3767

St. Petersburg Museum of History
The Try History On For Size exhibit, where you can see yourself in the mirror adorned in period costumes, is one-of-a-kind. The fascinating local history of this region is chronicled in room after room of this wonderful museum.
335 Second Avenue, St. Petersburg. (727) 894-1052

Tarpon Springs
Step back in time as you enter “the sponge capital of the world,” a preserved 19th century Greek sponge fishing village. The city offers shop after shop along the docks, sponges hanging everywhere, classic Greek orthodox churches with their special stained glass art and artifacts, and some of the best, authentic home-style Greek cuisine in the country.
North of Clearwater, along Alternate U.S. 19.

Duck Tour
Take a ride in an amphibious vehicle through the streets of old Tampa, then into the water for a further education in local history.
800 Second Avenue, N.E., Tampa (at the pier).

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Florida Aquarium
Enjoy an eco-tour of Tampa Bay on a catamaran, touch a shark under controlled conditions and marvel at the many local species of underwater flora and fauna at this amazing repository of the Gulf Coast marine world.
701 Channelside Drive, Tampa. (813) 273-4000

American Victory Mariners Memorial & Museum Ship
Next door to the Florida Aquarium, the SS American Victory is docked, on which you can take a tour of the area in a floating museum that graphically illustrates its history as a military cargo ship during various wars.
705 Channelside Drive, Berth 271, Tampa. (813) 228-8766

Dinosaur World
You can bring your dog on a leash to see a prehistoric dog fossil, as well as many other exhibits of prehistoric life, at this amazing museum that includes picnic grounds, a cave to explore, video theater, children’s playground and other encounters with the caveman era.
5145 Harvey Tew Road, Plant City. (813) 717-9865

Botannical Gardens
Tour a fascinating collection of native plants, including several carnivorous species, fruit trees, orchids, ferns, palms and hundreds of others. Tortoises, a free-flight butterfly garden, herbal and scent gardens also are featured.
University of South Florida, 4202 East Fowler Avenue, Tampa. (813) 974-2329

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Henry B. Plant Museum
Built by transportation magnate Henry Bradley Plant to attract wealthy tourists to the new resort frontier during the last decade of the 19th century, the original tropical and priceless antique furnishings of this palace with Moorish towers have been preserved inside, as a museum of early Florida history.
Tampa Bay Hotel, 401 West Kennedy Boulevard, Tampa. (813) 254-1891

J.B. Starkey’s Flatwoods Adventures
Ride a safari buggy around the Anclote River Ranch as you learn about late 19th century Florida history, about the Starkey family, one of the first group of settlers who learned from native Americans how to live on native plants, and about the early Florida “crackers,” or cow ranchers, and enjoy a hike along the boardwalk over the Cypress Swamp where alligators, white-tailed deer, the gopher tortoise and Osceola turkey still flourish as they have for generations.
12959 State Road 54, south of New Port Richey, between U.S. 19 and I-75. (813) 926-1133

Lowry Park Zoo
Begun as Tampa’s first zoo in the 1930s, this huge expanse of natural Florida landscape is now home to several zoos in one, including free-flight aviaries, a Native Florida Wildlife Center, Primate World, Florida Manatee and Aquatic Center, Asian Domain, a children’s petting zoo and the Harrell Discovery Center which contains an insect zoo and a fascinating collection of hands-on interactive exhibits.
Lowry Park, 1101 West Sligh Avenue, Tampa. (813) 935-8552

Museum of Science and Industry
MOSI includes an IMAX theater, a free-flying butterfly garden bio-engineered to simulate natural wetlands, a human body tour where you can explore everything from DNA to major organs, native plant and animal exhibits, and an interactive astronautics exhibit among many other one-of-a-kind features.
4801 East Fowler Avenue, Tampa. (813) 932-4313

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Tampa Bay History Center
Florida’s Civil War history, “cracker” cow ranchers, the emergence of the region’s cigar and citrus industries and the Tampa Bay area’s cultural diversity are explored at this fascinating museum.
225 South Franklin Street, Tampa. (813) 228-0097

Tampa Museum of Art
Tampa’s art museum consists of seven galleries ranging from classic Greek sculpture to contemporary works from the region and from all over the world.
600 North Ashley Drive, Tampa. (813) 274-8130

Ybor City
The “cigar capital of the world” is Tampa’s historic district, begun by a Cuban immigrant who relocated his cigar factory here from Key West. The district contains 14 square blocks of ethnic restaurants and shops that reflect its mix of Cuban, Italian, Spanish and German roots. The Ybor City State Museum is a good place to start your adventure here.
1818 9th Avenue, Tampa. (813) 247-6323

Beaux Arts Society
Originally in the old Royal Palm Hotel in Pinellas Park, built by the founder’s family in 1914, Tom Reese’s beloved “Beaux,” perhaps the oldest living coffee house in the country, has hosted such legends as Jack Kerouac and Jim Morrison, and always has encouraged local musicians, underground and art film lovers, and all who love the arts by providing a casual place just to quietly soak up the decades of spirit and talent which it has both hosted and fostered.
2635 Central Avenue, St. Petersburg. (727) 328-0702

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