Must see attractions in Tampa

  • Top Choice
    Florida Aquarium

    Tampa's excellent aquarium is among the state's best. Cleverly designed, the re-created swamp lets you walk among herons and ibis as they prowl the…

  • Busch Gardens

    This theme park has 10 loosely named African zones, which flow together without much fuss. The entire park is walkable. Admission includes three types of…

  • Wat Mongkolratanaram

    Why is there a Buddhist Thai temple in the middle of Tampa? Who cares, the noodle soup is amazing. On Sundays hundreds of people show up for the food and…

  • Adventure Island

    This 30-acre water park has everything a modern, top-flight water park requires: a long lazy river, a huge wave pool, bucket-dumping splash zones, a…

  • Y
    Ybor City Museum State Park

    This dusty, old-school history museum preserves a bygone era, with cigar-worker houses (open 10am to 3pm) and wonderful photos. The museum has information…

  • T
    Tampa Bay History Center

    This first-rate history museum presents the region's Seminole and Miccosukee people, Cracker pioneers and cattle breeders, and Tampa's Cuban community and…

  • F
    Florida Museum of Photographic Arts

    This small, intimate photography museum is housed on the 2nd and 3rd stories of the Cube, a five-story atrium in downtown Tampa. In addition to a…

  • L
    Lowry Park Zoo

    North of downtown, Tampa's zoo gets you as close to the animals as possible, with several free-flight aviaries, giraffe feeding, a wallaby enclosure and a…

  • Henry B Plant Museum

    The silver minarets of Henry B Plant's 1891 Tampa Bay Hotel glint majestically, testimony to the vaunting ambitions of its creator who first brought the…

  • Manatee Viewing Center

    One of Florida's more surreal wildlife encounters is spotting manatees in the warm-water discharge canals of coal-fired power plants. Yet these placid…

  • Museum of Science & Industry

    There's something intriguing for all ages at this interactive science museum. Younger kids go straight to Kids in Charge, where a wealth of hands-on…

  • Tampa Riverwalk

    Downtown, the attractive Tampa Riverwalk connects most sights. Located along the Hillsborough River, this undulating green space, with playgrounds and…

  • T
    Tampa Museum of Art

    Architect Stanley Saitowitz's dramatically cantilevered museum building appears to float above Curtis Hixon Park overlooking the Hillsborough River…

  • G
    Glazer Children's Museum

    This crayon-bright, interactive museum provides a creative play space for kids under 10. The staff are delightful and the adjacent Curtis Hixon Park is…