Northeast Florida
Across from Gainesville's little Lake Alice, adjacent to a student garden, stands what appears to be two oversized birdhouses. However, these stilted gray…
Must-see attractions in Florida
Virginia Key Beach North Point Park
Key Biscayne
This lovely green space has several small but pleasing beaches, and some short nature trails. Pretty waterfront views aside, there are two big reasons to…
Long Key State Recreation Area
Upper Keys
The 965-acre Long Key State Recreation Area takes up much of Long Key. It’s about 30 minutes south of Islamorada, and comprises a tropical clump of gumbo…
Fort Matanzas National Monument
Northeast Florida
The tiny, 1742-built Fort Matanzas National Monument is located on Rattlesnake Island, near where Menéndez de Avilés executed hundreds of shipwrecked…
Southwest Gulf Coast
At 8 miles long, Siesta Key is the area's most popular beach hangout, with a family-friendly village and a public beach of pure quartz sand so fine it's…
Windley Key Fossil Reef Geological State Site
Upper Keys
To get his railroad built across the islands, Henry Flagler had to quarry out some sizable chunks of the Keys. The best evidence of those efforts can be…
Upper Keys
Here’s one for the movie fans, particularly Bogie buffs: the lively Caribbean Club Bar is, in fact, the only place in Key Largo where Key Largo, starring…
Laura Quinn Wild Bird Sanctuary
Upper Keys
This 7-acre sanctuary serves as a protected refuge for a wide variety of injured birds. A boardwalk leads through various enclosures where you can learn a…
Florida Panhandle
You'll find over half a million acres of longleaf pine, bottom land forest, blackwater streams, cypress hammock, lakes, rivers, woody swamps, wiregrass,…
Florida Keys
This is one of the nicest spots on the island to stop and smell the roses. And the pinelands. And the palm hammock – a sort of palm jungle (imagine…
Palm Beach
This quarter-mile, palm-tree-lined strip of more than 200 high-end brand shops is like the Rodeo Dr of the East. You can trace its history back to the…
Florida Keys Eco-Discovery Center
Key West
This 6000-sq-ft center is one of the best places in the Keys to learn about the extraordinary marine environments of South Florida. Start off with the 20…
Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park
Northeast Florida
Wild horses and bison roam the 20 biological communities that constitute 21,000-acre Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park. This slightly eerie preserve's…
Tarkiln Bayou Preserve State Park
Gulf Coast
This fascinating park preserves ecosystems that run from wet prairie to sandy shoreline to the eponymous Tarkiln Bayou, an eerie, alluring spill of dark…
Northeast Florida
This state park was once an amusement park – glass-bottomed boats were invented here in 1878 to show visitors the natural springs and stunningly clear…
Northeast Florida
The second-largest nationally protected forest in the state of Florida, Ocala National Forest is a treasure to be savored. Hidden within 607 square miles…
Wynwood & the Design District
Housing one of Miami's finest private collections, this 30,000-sq-ft gallery has a treasure trove of contemporary works scattered across three floors,…
Patricia & Phillip Frost Museum of Science
Downtown Miami
This sprawling new Downtown museum spreads across 250,000 sq ft that includes a three-level aquarium, a 250-seat, state-of-the-art planetarium and two…
Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuge
Florida Panhandle
Home to 250 species of bird (including ibises, pelicans, egrets, herons and double-crested cormorants), 10 species of reptile and one romantic lighthouse,…
Tampa Bay
Union troops were stationed on uninhabited Egmont Key during the Civil War, and you can visit Egmont’s ruined Fort Dade by ferry from Fort DeSoto Park…
Downtown Miami
If you'd like to meet local artists and see how life is lived on a smaller, more modest scale in Miami's creative pockets, visit this arts collective –…
Southeast Museum of Photography
Daytona Beach
We love this hidden treasure in Daytona, a service of the Daytona State College: it's the only museum in Florida dedicated solely to photography. This…
Northeast Florida
Traveling with kids? This awesomely named museum (MOSH) offers dinosaurs, all things science and exhibits on Jacksonville's cultural and natural history…
Florida Keys
Perhaps the best-named island in the Keys, No Name gets few visitors, as it’s basically a residential island. It’s one of the most reliable spots for Key…
Northeast Florida
Deposit your fee in the blue envelope and pull into the lone parking lot at this stark but lovely park. Take your camera on the short trail to Boneyard…
Little Talbot Island State Park
Northeast Florida
This pristine island (which despite the name is almost the same size as Big Talbot Island) has 5 miles of unspoiled beaches, river otters, marsh rabbits,…
Gulf Coast
This alluring coastal state park protects the 247-acre barrier island of the same name, a windblown, sand-strewn landscape of rolling dunes, tufts of…
Sarasota
Sarasota's marina is notable for Island Park, an attractive green space poking into the harbor: it has a great playground and play fountain, restrooms,…
Tampa Bay
This park, so named in the 1940s when marketeers pitched the island as the perfect getaway for newlyweds, is graced with the Gulf Coast's legendary white…
Gulf Coast
Our favorite beach area in Destin is this state park, which includes a 0.8-mile nature trail. There are also some excellent beachside campsites ($30),…
Gulf Coast
Although all of Destin's beaches are family-friendly, this beach is maybe a little more family-friendly, given the presence of restrooms, a picnic area…
Gulf Coast
This sub-section of gorgeous Gulf Islands National Seashore includes parking, beach access and a picnic area.
Walt Disney World
Quintessential Disney, Fantasyland is the highlight of any Disney trip for both the eight-and-under crowd and grown-ups looking for a nostalgic taste of…
Orlando
One of Orlando’s largest theme parks, SeaWorld is an aquatic-themed park filled with marine animal shows, roller coasters and up-close sea-life encounters…
Miami
Finding a fully intact medieval monastery in North Miami Beach is yet another reason why the moniker 'Magic City' seems so fitting. Constructed in 1141 in…
Southwest Gulf Coast
Explore layers of history at this environmental and archaeological site, which covers a 30-acre peninsula jutting out into Little Sarasota Bay. Covered in…
South Beach
The best art museum in Miami Beach has a playfully futuristic facade, a crisp interplay of lines and a bright, white-walled space – like an Orthodox…
Everglades National Park
Shark Valley sounds like it should be the headquarters for the villain in a James Bond movie, but it is in fact a slice of National Park Service grounds…
West Palm Beach
Plopped right off the northeastern corner of West Palm, Peanut Island was created in 1918 by dredging projects. Originally named Inlet Island, the spit…
Fort Zachary Taylor State Park
Key West
‘America’s Southernmost State Park’ is home to an impressive fort, built in the mid-1800s that played roles in the American Civil War and in the Spanish…
