Tampa Bay, Florida

For all you sun lovers looking for a quiet getaway, Tampa, Florida might just a perfect option for you if you don’t want to travel too far. Located in Hillsborough County, it is a farely small, very clean and safe area on Florida's west central coastline. Packed with giant palm trees, clear blue skies, retro trolley cars and some well hidden Spanish and organic restaurants, it’s a great city for families and/or group getaways. Also, depending on your time of travel you may even find yourself lucky enough to be visiting during the annual Pirate Festival invasion (the cities own style of Mardi Grais) -  surely good for some laughs. Aside from the oranges,Tampa is well-known for offering up some very beautiful beaches if you are looking quality oasis tanning time.  In 2008 Forbes magazine ranked Tampa one of the 5^th best outdoor cities in the USA. 

 

So, should you find yourself visiting this golden city, or even just passing through, here are some suggestions to help you plan (click on the links below for more information).

The recommended to-do list for in and around Tampa:

• Busch Gardens
• Channelside 
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers NFL game
• Ybor City
• Toronto Blue Jays spring training session (a short drive outside of Tampa)
• Spring Strawberry Festival      
• Gasparilla Pirate Festival                                                                                                            

For serious tanning time:

• Clearwater Beach
• Siesta Beach
• Caspersen Beach
• Sand Key County Park
• Greer Island Beach

For quality good eats visit: 

• La Tereista  
• Cafe Dufrain

Only have one free day while passing though? Here is a suggested one day itinerary. Take the trolley to old Hyde Park Village. From there slap on your bathing suit, lather on the sunscreen and hit the beach for the afternoon with a good book or catch a boat tour. Then enjoy a drink pina colada (or any fruity drink with an umbrella) and dinner at a local tapas restaurant like La Tereista. After dinner find a quiet balcony with a view to sit, relax and watch the golden sunset while sipping on some cava and enjoying a famous Ybor’s cigar made locally in the sunshine state.

Tampa is an area full of colourful coastline homes, stunning yachts, a variety of top hotels and tons of waterside bistro’s and cafes; it has all you would need for a trip focused on some much needed R & R.