Tampa travel guide
Where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Things to do in Tampa, planned over three days
Best time to visit Tampa
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Winter peak season, dry and sunny with highs in the mid 60s to mid 70s, and the best golf and patio weather.
Spring is the locals' favourite, warming into the 80s. Late April to May is the value meets weather sweet spot.
Hot, humid and stormy with near daily afternoon thunderstorms and hurricane season. Lowest hotel rates.
Autumn reset and second sweet spot, humidity breaks, highs in the 70s to 80s, thin crowds until Thanksgiving.
Worst window, late August to September, for peak heat, humidity, storm and hurricane risk unless low rates are the point.
What's on
- Gasparilla Pirate Fest Last Saturday of January
Flotilla invasion and parade down Bayshore with about 300,000 people. Book hotels months ahead or avoid the weekend.
- Florida State Fair February
State fair held in Tampa during the winter season.
- Florida Strawberry Festival Late February to early March
In Plant City, 30 minutes east, with concerts and strawberry shortcake.
- Valspar Championship March
PGA Tour event on the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort.
- Howl-O-Scream September to October weekends
Busch Gardens coaster and horror event, a major draw for groups.
- ReliaQuest Bowl Around New Year
College bowl game at Raymond James Stadium around New Year; hotels near Westshore fill.
Worth the trip for
Best things to do in Tampa
Tampa Riverwalk
A free 2.6 mile riverfront walk linking museums, Sparkman Wharf and Armature Works, ideal for orientation.
Ybor City
Tampa's historic cigar district with brick streets, hand rollers, roaming chickens and Cuban sandwich history.
Busch Gardens Tampa Bay
A full day combining top coasters like Iron Gwazi with a large zoo and Serengeti Plain safari.
The Florida Aquarium
A Florida water journey from wetlands to a huge coral reef gallery, ideal for families and hot afternoons.
Henry B. Plant Museum
A Gilded Age railroad palace with Moorish minarets and restored rooms showing how resort Tampa began.
Tampa Theatre
A 1926 atmospheric movie palace with a starry ceiling and Wurlitzer organ for films, concerts and tours.
Armature Works
Two local food hall hubs, Armature Works and Sparkman Wharf, bookending the Riverwalk for eating and hanging out.
Bayshore Boulevard
A 4.5 mile waterfront promenade for sunrise or golden hour walks, rides and skyline views at Ballast Point.
Where to stay in Tampa
Water Street / Channel District
first trip, all-round base
New waterfront district with major hotels, Sparkman Wharf, arena, aquarium and Riverwalk in a short walk.
Downtown core / Riverwalk north end
value with location
Older business hotels near museums and the Straz, quieter after office hours but walkable to the centre.
Hyde Park / SoHo
food, couples and a local feel
Pretty old streets near Bayshore and Hyde Park Village with Bern's and South Howard restaurants on the doorstep.
Ybor City
nightlife groups who know the trade-off
Historic and characterful nightlife centre, rowdy late at night, so light sleepers and families should base elsewhere.
Westshore / airport corridor
first or last night and work trips
Functional business district between downtown and the airport, not a sightseeing base as it means driving everywhere.
Clearwater Beach / St. Pete Beach
trips where the beach is the point
Sleep at the beach and day trip to Tampa city sights if beach days outnumber city days.
Think twice about
- Busch Gardens and USF motel strips
Cheap hotels on Fowler, Fletcher, Busch Blvd and Nebraska are worn and car bound, far from the bay and the restaurants.
- East Tampa and East Ybor beyond the historic core
Residential areas east of 22nd Street with no hotels or late night life, whatever a 'minutes to Ybor' listing says.
- Ybor late-night fringe streets
After midnight on Fridays and Saturdays 7th Avenue is dense and drunk and side streets empty quickly. Stay on the lit strip.
- Drew Park and the Dale Mabry adult-entertainment corridor
A strip club and adult business stretch west of downtown, not a lodging area even when listings sell it as near the stadium.
Best restaurants in Tampa
Bern's Steak House
Since 1956, dry aged steaks, a vast wine cellar and the Harry Waugh Dessert Room make this the trip pick dinner.
Columbia Restaurant
Florida's oldest restaurant, serving the 1905 Salad, Tampa Cuban sandwich and paella with flamenco at dinner.
Rocca
A starred Italian room known for handmade pasta, the mozzarella cart and dry aged duck.
Rooster & the Till
A small open kitchen doing inventive American small plates, the restaurant Tampa chefs name for themselves.
On Swann
A reliably excellent neighbourhood bistro for kale salad, short rib pasta and brunch in South Tampa.
Ulele
Native inspired Florida cooking and house brewed beer on a spring fed lagoon with the best sunset patio downtown.
Koya
Tampa's starred omakase pair, intimate eight seat Koya and larger sibling Kosen, both booking out ahead.
Ebbe
A tiny chef's counter serving a Scandinavian inflected tasting menu, the most ambitious formal cooking in Tampa.
Outdoor things to do in Tampa
Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort
The PGA Tour Valspar course, a long tree lined test famous for the closing Snake Pit holes 16 to 18.
Streamsong Resort
Three nationally ranked courses on reclaimed dunes with no houses, a bucket list golf splurge near Tampa.
TPC Tampa Bay
A Bobby Weed stadium course through wetlands, closer and easier to book than Copperhead or Streamsong.
Lettuce Lake Park
Paddle a cypress shaded stretch of the Hillsborough River with herons, turtles and alligators, plus a boardwalk.
Weedon Island Preserve
A marked paddling trail through mangrove tunnels and flats with dolphins, manatees, a pier and boardwalks.
TECO Manatee Viewing Center
Free boardwalks where hundreds of manatees gather in warm water from November to mid April.
Shallow Point Charters
A small private inshore charter for snook, redfish and trout year round, plus tarpon in late spring.
Pirate Water Taxi
See Tampa from the water by hop on taxi, or upgrade to a captained charter to Egmont Key or a sunset cruise.
Best hotels in Tampa
JW Marriott Tampa Water Street
Floor to ceiling water views, a big rooftop pool and the best position between arena, wharf and Riverwalk.
The Tampa EDITION
Tampa's luxury statement hotel with rooftop pool, spa and seven venues including Lilac restaurant.
Epicurean Hotel
A culinary boutique hotel opposite Bern's with a cooking theatre and rooftop bar, ideal if dinner is the trip.
Palihouse Hyde Park
A small stylish hotel on South Howard that feels like a friend's Hyde Park flat in the dining neighbourhood.
Tampa Marriott Water Street
The JW's sister hotel with renovated rooms, rooftop pool and balconies over the bay at a step down in price.
Le Meridien Tampa, The Centennial
A 1905 federal courthouse turned hotel with marble and a grand courtroom, two blocks from the Riverwalk.
Hotel Haya
A well designed boutique on 7th Avenue with pool and cafe bar, the best Ybor base.
Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay
A bayfront resort feel on a 35 acre nature reserve near the airport, good for a relaxed first or last night.
Is Tampa expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | $110 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | $200 a person |
| Splurge | $450 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Busch Gardens Tampa Bay: a few days ahead
- The Florida Aquarium: a few days ahead
- Tampa Theatre: a few days ahead
- Benchmark International Arena: weeks ahead
- ZooTampa at Lowry Park: a few days ahead
- Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort: weeks ahead
- Streamsong Resort: weeks ahead
- TPC Tampa Bay: a few days ahead
- Bern's as soon as reservations open, plus Koya, Kosen, Ebbe and Rocca, and On Swann on weekends.
- Busch Gardens tickets on school holidays, Copperhead and Streamsong tee times, tarpon charters in May and June, and Gasparilla hotels.
Is Tampa safe?
- Do not base around Busch Gardens and USF or in East Tampa, and treat late night Ybor as a rowdy club district.
- Lock cars and hide valuables at beaches and trailheads. Watch for rip currents, alligators in freshwater, and summer lightning.
- Check your government's current travel advice before you go.
Tampa travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Hotels implying a walk to the beach. Tampa is a bay city, and the Gulf beaches are 30 to 60 minutes away across the bay.
- Packaged Ybor bar crawls, Busch Gardens motel deals, and eating at food halls on peak Saturday night without a plan.
Getting around Tampa: public transport and more
- Downtown and Water Street are walkable and the free TECO streetcar links downtown, Channel District and Ybor City.
- The Pirate Water Taxi covers Riverwalk stops. Beyond downtown Tampa is a driving city, so rent a car for beaches, golf or day trips.
Who Tampa suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Great |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Great |
| Families | Great |
| Bachelorette parties | Great |
Make Tampa your trip
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