Florida First Time - ideas please
 

Hi
We are looking to fly to Tampa or Orlando at the beginning of December. This is a late impulse hol so hoping someone could give us ideas where to stay/visit.

We would like to sightsee, shop & relax!! Will have probably 14/15 nights.
Have seen it's only 1 hour flight to Miami so may do this and maybe hire a car to see the keys/coast?

Any ideas greatly appreciated.

With that much time as well as for the weather, I would certainly Fly in & out of Miami & meander out the Keys. Not sure what you could do in Orlando or Tampa for that amount of time.

If you want to see Disney then of course fly into Orlando. If not then Tampa. I love the St Pete area: http://www.tradewindsresort.com/ Explore the area including Johns Pass: http://www.johnspass.com/ Dali Museum http://www.salvadordalimuseum.org/ And then head to Miami and drive to the Keys! It's a lovely, lovely drive! Stopping at Pennekamp State Parkhttp://www.pennekamppark.com/ and Bahia Honda Park http://www.bahiahondapark.com/ A great drive heading towards Key West and explore there for a day before heading back.

On the return trip you might want to stop and wal the Anhinga Trail. It is very short and very interesting: http://www.dongettyphoto.com/Florida/anhinga2.html

Agreed, with this much time, you can travel around the state a bit. Depending on your interests, 2 days in Tampa, 2 days in St. Petersburg and its beaches, 1 day in Tarpon Springs, and 2 days in Sarasota/Bradenton is very reasonable.

Have not been to Orlando, but the small amount of research I've done suggests you could spend a couple days here as well just in the theme parks. Again, haven't been to any of these cities, but the research I've done on Miami, Key West, and St. Augustine suggests you could easily spend 2-3 days in each, or 1-2 days exploring the Everglades.

Feel free to pick and choose from among these according to your interests.

I have spent 14 days in Orlando and had a great time. It depends on how much theme parking you want to do. There are 8 theme parks in (and around Orlando (4 disney parks, 2 Universal Parks, Seaworld, and Busch Gardens) We did all the parks in 14 days and spent off days just relaxing and checking out non Disney stuff. We will do a similar trip again in a few years. To some, the idea of that many theme parks just sounds nuts. I and the wife ( no kids!) love them.

Internal flights within Florida (Tampa-Miami) have always been very expensive, probably more than your flight from home to Florida. If this has changed, wonderful, but I doubt it.

Thanks for all your responses - looking into it all now!