85 Best Sights in The Tampa Bay Area, Florida

With miles of trails that wind through wetlands and mangroves to lookout towers and peaceful waterfront spots, this Manatee County park is a must for anyone who likes a quiet walk (or run) and sweeping views of the landscape and the wildlife that inhabit it. There's also a kayak launch here, which links into a network of trails for small watercraft.

Toward the front of the property, the historic Valentine House, which was moved from its original site in Palmetto and restored, now serves as a visitor center and offers a few wonders of its own, including reptiles and shells the kids will dig.

In addition to a lovely beach (a mellow alternative to the often-crowded Clearwater Beach to the north), this 95-acre park has plenty of green space, a playground, and a picnic area. Parking is a flat $5. Amenities: food and drink; lifeguards; parking (fee) showers; toilets. Best for: solitude; sunset; swimming.

One of the state's charming, family-owned and -operated attractions fills 10 acres with native and exotic plants and animals. The gardens date from 1939, and still have an Old Florida feel. Residents include red-tailed hawks and great horned owls, American alligators, and a variety of snakes, as well as furry creatures such as lemurs and prairie dogs. You can talk to trainers; take in the Wildlife Wonder, Reptile, or Jungle Bird shows; wander through a butterfly house and garden; hand-feed flamingoes; and learn about plants like the rare Australian nut tree and the Peruvian apple cactus. A café and a jungle-theme playground are also among the offerings.

When pelicans and other birds become entangled in fishing lines, locals sometimes carry them to this nonprofit sanctuary dedicated to the rescue, repair, recuperation, and release of sick and injured birds. Formerly the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary, this beachfront spot played a big role after the Gulf oil disaster in 2010. At times there are hundreds of land and sea birds in residence, including egrets, herons, gulls, terns, sandhill cranes, hawks, owls, and cormorants.

Shuttles to this pristine paradise run out of Pass-a-Grille and Dolphin Landings, and you can catch them in the morning and early afternoon most days. If you do, expect some amazing snorkeling, shelling, and bird-watching. (You can also kayak or canoe here from a launch near Ft. De Soto.) Rustic overnight camping is allowed here in the part of the island not designated as a bird sanctuary. Watch for rip currents when swimming, as they can be pretty strong. Amenities: none. Best for: solitude; swimming; walking.

For a visit to the wild and weird side, particularly fun for children, head to this "castle" about 45 minutes east of Bradenton through orange groves and cattle farms. Artist and Renaissance man Howard Solomon began building the 12,000-square-foot always-in-progress work out of thousands of aluminum offset printing plates. Inside, you'll find tons of intrigues—everything from a knight assembled with Volkswagen parts to a chair fashioned out of 86 beer cans to an elephant made from seven oil drums. A restaurant serves sit-down lunches in a full-scale model of a Spanish galleon.

The land for this 100-acre park, situated at the southern tip of the island, was originally purchased by John Ringling in 1920 as part of an ambitious plan to develop properties; alas, his scheme collapsed with the Florida land bust of 1926. The park sits amid four significant bodies of water: the Gulf of Mexico, Big Pass, Sarasota Bay, and Brushy Bayou.

Although it has one of the region's best beaches, swimming isn't recommended owing to the swift rip current, and there are no lifeguards. Still, the stretch of sugary sand has plenty of early-morning sand dollars to find, and there are nature trails to hike and canoe and kayak trails to paddle. The park is also a popular place to fish, enjoy a picnic, or watch as the sun sets amid the Australian pines and into the water. Amenities: showers; toilets. Best for: solitude; sunset; walking.

Paralleled by a busy boulevard lined with sponge shops and Greek restaurants, this several-blocks-long waterfront showcases Tarpon Spring's Greek roots as well as the industry that first made the town thrive over a century ago. Stroll along the docks, and tons of small boutiques, bakeries specializing in baklava and the like, and several boat tours of the surrounding waters. Pop into the Sponge Docks Museum to see a film about the much-sought-after creatures from the phylum porifera and how they helped the town prosper in the early 1900s. You'll come away converted to (and loaded up with) natural sponges.

It's a replica of St. Sophia's in Istanbul and an excellent example of new Byzantine architecture. It's also the home of a weeping icon that received national and international headlines in the 1970s.

Though this sandy stretch is technically in the city of Treasure Island, the city of St. Petersburg owns and maintains it. Due in part to a concession stand and playground, it's excellent for families. The beach here is extremely wide, near hotels, and great for volleyball. Amenities: food and drink; parking; showers; toilets. Best for: solitude; partiers; sunset; swimming.

Learn about the history of the Tampa Bay region, from indigenous Tocobaga people to St. Pete's spring training history to America's first commercial airline, at the St. Petersburg Museum of History. Exhibits include those on Native American primitive shell tools and thousands of baseballs signed by the likes of Babe Ruth. There's also a full-size replica of the Benoist Airboat flown by pioneer aviator Tony Jannus.

You may not be able to find monkeys in the wild in the Tampa Bay area (at least not naturally), but you can catch them bouncing around in their cages at this low-key facility. The alleged final home of Cheetah, the chimp who played Tarzan's sidekick for a couple of years in the 1930s, the sanctuary houses a whole slew of primates. One of the first you'll meet is Pongo, a massive Bornean orangutan; if he's in the right mood, he will greet you when you walk up.

The sanctuary also hosts baboons, lemurs, spider monkeys, macaques—you name it—many of them former pets or onetime laboratory test subjects that aren't deemed able to make it in the wild. There are also a few reptiles (you can get a picture of yourself holding a baby alligator) and a colorful array of birds. You may find the colorful plastic toys in the primate enclosures odd, but they actually serve to enhance the animals' senses.

A cool oasis amid St. Pete's urban clutter, this lush 4-acre plot was created from a lake that was drained in 1903. Explore the cascading waterfalls and koi ponds, and walk through the butterfly house and exotic gardens where more than 50,000 tropical plants and flowers from across the globe thrive amid groves of some of the area's most spectacular palm trees. The flock of wading flamingoes is a favorite here.

As the name suggests, this beach park is known as one of the best places in North Pinellas County to watch the sunset. It's a small beach but a great place to barbecue. From April through November there's a weekly concert. Amenities: toilets. Best for: sunset; swimming.

Tampa has long been a baseball city. The first Tampa team was organized in Ybor City in 1887, and the love of the game grew with the influx of Cuban immigrants who flocked to the area to work in the then-thriving cigar industry. Housed in the childhood home of Al Lopez, Tampa’s first Major League Baseball player, manager, and Hall of Fame inductee, this museum honors baseball heritage with exhibits that highlight, among other things, the city's factory, inter-social, municipal, Cigar City, and Negro leagues. 

From the early civilizations that once flourished on its shores to the 2000 presidential vote recount, the Tampa Bay region has long played integral roles in the history of Florida and the rest of the nation. The interactive exhibits here let you peer back in time at the people and events that helped shape the area. You'll learn about the Tocobaga and other coastal peoples, as well as the Spanish explorers who encountered them. You'll get insight on pirates with the help of a massive replica ship.

Information and artifacts also highlight the Seminole Wars, Ybor City's cigar industry, and the Florida crackers who once drove their cattle in areas now saturated with busy roads and shopping centers. Exhibits also cover sports teams that have called Tampa Bay home, not to mention the war heroes and politicians of the 20th and 21st centuries. When it's time for a bite to eat, you're in for a treat: the café here is a branch of Columbia, Tampa's most famous and historic restaurant.

Housed in an exquisitely designed building—overlooking Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park, the towering minarets of the University of Tampa, and the Hillsborough River—this museum is emblematic of the city's efforts to revitalize its Downtown riverfront. The main, 66,000-square-foot gallery space displays an impressive permanent collection of 20th- and 21st-century sculpture as well as Greek and Roman antiquities. Five additional galleries host traveling exhibits ranging from the classics to some of the most prominent artists working today. At night, the building's exterior comes alive with colorful LED lights, a sight best viewed from the Curtis Hixon park.

Although it's not on par with larger facilities in Tampa and Clearwater, this is certainly an entertaining and interactive attraction. There are some good exhibits, including a 120,000-gallon shark tank complete with a coral reef. (Divers feed the sharks several times daily.) Also look for tropical fish exhibits and a tank where you can touch baby sharks and stingrays.

Large, wide swaths of uncrowded sands abound, but some areas can be busy, especially on weekends. The Sunday-evening drum circle, which happens around sunset just southwest of the Bilmar, makes for some interesting people-watching, as do the many festivals occurring here each month. It's also the only beach that allows alcohol, as long as it's not contained in glass. Plus, getting here is super easy—just head west on St. Petersburg's Central Avenue, which dead-ends smack-dab in the middle of T.I. (that's what the locals call it), where the iconic Thunderbird Beach Resort sign towers over the boulevard. Hang a left at the light. There's a Publix right across the street if you're up for an impromptu picnic or don't want to pay beach-bar prices for a beer. Amenities: food and drink; parking; showers; toilets. Best for: partiers; solitude; sunsets.

A 14-acre beach-park that's popular with families, Turtle has 2,600 linear feet of beach frontage and is more secluded than most Gulf beaches. Though narrower than most of the region's sandy stretches, it's also much less crowded, so it doesn't feel so narrow. It's also known for abundant sea turtles and has covered picnic shelters, grills, and a volleyball court. Locals like the 40-site campground that is also open to visitors with advance reservations. Fittingly enough, this beach is near the ubermellow Turtle Beach Resort. Amenities: toilets. Best for: solitude; sunset; swimming; walking.

One of the most notable things about this popular beach is the series of large objects that look like yellow school buses buried in the sand. These are actually designed to stabilize the shoreline (this beach is known for rapid erosion). The structures, called T-groins, may not please the eye, but that doesn't keep locals from flocking here. Upham is a wide beach with tons of natural landscaping, and it's near Postcard Inn and the TradeWinds. There's a snack bar that slings burgers and beer at its north end. Amenities: food and drink; showers; toilets. Best for: partiers; sunset; swimming; walking.

Tampa's Latin quarter is one of only a few National Historic Landmark districts in Florida. Bordered by I–4 to the north, 22nd Street to the east, Adamo Drive to the south, and Nebraska Avenue to the west, it has brick-paved streets and wrought-iron balconies. Cubans brought their cigar-making industry to Ybor (pronounced EE-bore) City in 1886, and the smell of cigars—hand-rolled by Cuban immigrants—still wafts through the heart of this east Tampa area, along with the strong aroma of roasting coffee. Former cigar factories and social clubs have been transformed into boutiques, art galleries, restaurants, and nightclubs. Nevertheless, it can also be seedy and rowdy at times.

This park provides a look at the history of the cigar industry. Admission includes a tour of La Casita, one of the shotgun houses occupied by cigar workers and their families in the late 1890s. Tours are held every hour between 10 am and 3 pm.

This state park has the remains of a circa-1851 sugar mill and other remnants of a 5,100-acre sugar plantation owned by Florida's first U.S. senator, David Levy Yulee. Interpretive panels spaced throughout the mill ruins describe early methods of the sugar-making process, the plantation's role in the Civil War, and the harsh conditions endured by the 1,000 enslaved people who worked here.

Natural-habitat exhibits such as Safari Africa, where a herd of elephants roams, make the 56-acre ZooTampa one of the country's best midsize facilities. Visit the Asia Gardens to see Komodo dragons and Indian rhinos. Stars of Primate World range from cat-size lemurs to heavyweight Bornean orangutans that love to ham for the camera. The free-flight Main Aviary features up-close looks at myriad winged creatures, as well as a resident sloth.

ZooTampa also emphasizes rehabilitation. The Florida Wilds area offers unobstructed views of panthers, black bears, owls, skunks, and other rescued animals. The David A. Straz, Jr. Manatee Critical Care Center, the world's first nonprofit manatee hospital, cares for critically injured, sick, or orphaned Florida manatees.