80 Best Sights in The Tampa Bay Area, Florida

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 marble-lined, fountain-bedecked dining and shopping hub known in its previous (albeit less upscale) incarnation as Baywalk, this downtown St. Pete shopping center is home to trendy national-brand boutiques (Tracy Negoshian, White House/Black Market), spas for both men and women (The Shave Cave, Marilyn Monroe Spa), and restaurants (Sea Salt, Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, Locale) as well as a 20-screen movie theater.

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.

At this natural and cultural history museum, an aquarium focuses on manatee rehabilitation, and a first-floor gallery features fossils that tell the story of prehistoric Florida. Explore rotating exhibits on various topics; glass cases and roll-out drawers on the second floor showcase items normally out of public view. Topics covered in programs at the Bishop Planetarium (with a domed theater screen) range from black holes to the origin of life itself.

A hidden gem just north of downtown, this garden is a magical place for children and their families. Connect with nature and explore this whimsical world featuring more than 2 acres of gardens, old trees, and imaginative outdoor play structures. The center also regularly presents kid-friendly events—story times, nature walks, arts-and-crafts workshops, and gardening programs—and has a costume room and cottage where children can play dress up.

Set on 6.5 acres in the burgeoning Warehouse Arts District, this ambitious project consists of eight converted factories and warehouses that provide 91,000 square feet of creative space for galleries, studios, and arts organizations and businesses (including a record store). Events–from workshops to markets to festivals—are held here, too. It's also home to the Fairgrounds, an immersive art-and-technology experience.

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.

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.