Florida attractions

The Hugh Taylor Birch State Park, which spans 80 acres (73 hectares) of land, is a ruggedly beautiful park in the middle of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. There’s something for everyone here: paved paths for bicyclists, several nature trails for hikers, and more than 200 plant species. A freshwater lagoon is a great place for canoeing or kayaking, and you can fish here, too.

Disney’s Animal Kingdom® Theme Park is one of the four parks that make up Walt Disney World® Resort. This park combines characteristics of a zoo and a theme park to provide visitors with a unique and memorable experience. Once there, guests can discover exotic animals, witness enchanting new worlds like Pandora—The World of Avatar, and take a magical ride on the rapids of a river.

Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve is a protected mangrove estuary and research center in Naples, Florida. The land was purchased in the 1960s to prevent further destruction to Collier County’s ecological area. Today, these untouched mangroves offer on-water exploration while the research facility provides interactive and educational events.

Engage your mind and your imagination at WonderWorks Orlando. Located in an “upside-down” secret laboratory, WonderWorks is an indoor amusement park for the mind. With more than 100 interactive exhibits, a glow-in-the-dark ropes course, laser tag, a 4D motion ride, and more, it offers a fun and educational day for the whole family.

The Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science is an aquarium, planetarium, and science museum all in one, and is one of Miami’s top destinations for an educational experience. Here, you can learn about everything from coral reefs to the hunt for dark matter, or how prehistoric animals evolved to fly. Expect interactive exhibits that offer a fun, hands-on experience and the opportunity to see a variety of marine life at the multi-level aquarium.

Magic Kingdom® Park is one of the four theme parks that make up Walt Disney World® Resort near Orlando, Florida. The park features a plethora of enchanting displays such as fireworks, musical parades, and close-up encounters with Disney characters. It’s home to the iconic Cinderella Castle and Space Mountain® roller coaster, and it includes different magical lands such as Frontierland®, which emulates America’s Wild West with cacti and geysers.

Busch Gardens® Tampa Bay combines the thrills of a theme park—replete with looping roller coasters, drop towers, white-water rafting, and more rides for all ages—with the educational discovery of a zoo. One of the largest zoos in North America, Busch Gardens is home to more than 200 species, from rhinos and zebras to cheetahs and gorillas, that you can see up close on a Serengeti-style safari.

More than a museum, the Clearwater Marine Aquarium is a working animal hospital that rescues, rehabilitates, and, in many cases, returns marine creatures to the wild. The waterfront center gained fame when it successfully created a prosthetic tail for Winter, an injured baby dolphin that later starred in the Dolphin Tale movies. You’ll hear similar inspiring stories when visiting the aquarium’s resident sharks, sea turtles, and other creatures.

Historic St. Augustine is home to several religious landmarks and the Memorial Presbyterian Church is at the top of that list. You can admire towering spires and smooth white stone on its exterior, but a visit inside will unlock fascinating details about the history and art of the building. This church is open for regular worship and free, docent-led tours.

Test your mettle at St. Augustine's Medieval Torture Museum, the first museum of its kind in the United States. This trove of recreated torture instruments, enriched by academic research, demonstrates just how much suffering humanity infllicted during the Middle Ages. Uncover how these deadly objects were employed and why they were used.

The Tampa Museum of Art is a century-old museum housing one of the southeast’s most extensive collections of Roman and Greek antiquities. Moved to its current location in the early 2000s, the renovated space now features polished stone flooring and translucent ceilings, making the building as aesthetically pleasing as its modern and classical art. The museum also hosts special events and classes that take place weekly throughout the year.

The extensive Salvador Dali Museum is home to the largest collection of works by the famous Spanish surrealist outside of Europe. Visitors to the St. Petersburg highlight can view key works from every stage of Dali’s career as well as exceptional pieces from every medium of his artistic endeavors—oil paintings, original drawings, prints, sculptures, and photos—along with manuscripts and an extensive archive of documents.

Located only 30 minutes outside of downtown Fort Lauderdale, Sawgrass Recreation Park offers guided airboat tours in the Florida Everglades. Visitors can glide through the marshy swamp waters while learning about the local ecosystem and wildlife. Potential sightings in this area include alligators, native birds, pythons, and even black leopards. On land, there’s a wildlife sanctuary where visitors can see rescued reptiles and mammals.

Conveniently located between Orlando and Tampa, LEGOLAND® Florida Resort is one of Central Florida’s most imaginative theme parks. Opened in 2011, the resort comprises a theme park, water park, and a botanical garden, and is home to more than 50 rides, sideshows, and restaurants.

Featuring spectacular views of the Florida Bay and the Atlantic, this 113-mile (182-kilometer highway crosses a necklace of islands and 42 bridges from Key Largo to Key West. Along the way, find turquoise water, postcard-perfect beaches, and swaying palm trees, along with the kind of kitschy roadside attractions found only in Florida.

Spanning the entire island of Key Biscayne, Rickenbacker Trail is an 8.5-mile (13.7-kilometer) path that includes well-known spots like Virginia Key Beach, Crandon Park, and the Miami Seaquarium. It begins in southern Miami before continuing south along Rickenbacker Causeway/Crandon Boulevard, and it’s one of the area’s best biking trails, with its stunning views of the city skyline.

Universal CityWalk™ in Orlando is where daytime fun and nighttime excitement meet. Located right by Universal's Islands of Adventure™ and Universal Studios Florida™, this dining, shopping, and entertainment hub makes a convenient stop between rides, as well as a spot to spend a balmy evening. Plus, its restaurants serve up a range of cuisine, from burgers to Mexican food to sushi.

Universal Volcano Bay™ is a tropical-themed water park located within Universal Orlando™. At its center, visitors can find Krakatau™, a 200-foot (61-meter) volcano that anchors several major water slides. It also features waterfalls and lava effects. The park offers a wide mix of attractions, from water coasters and giant slides to wave pools and lazy rivers, ensuring fun for visitors of all ages and thrill levels.

Dating back to 1847, the sprawling Key West Cemetery is filled with fascinating history and makes an excellent stop on a tour of the Floridian island city’s off-the-beaten-path spots. As many as 100,000 people are buried there (far more than the population of Key West), and it harbors countless stories.

Situated fittingly beside the allegedly haunted Castillo de San Marcos National Monument, Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! brings oddities, artifacts, and haunted history to St. Augustine. This museum is one of dozens of global Ripley’s-branded attractions, and this one offers haunted tours, a mini-golf course, and a Red Train Tour around the city.

Not to be confused with Sea World, 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) away, SEA LIFE Orlando is a separate aquarium in the ICON Park entertainment complex. As part of the largest family of aquariums on the continent, SEA LIFE Orlando is an educational tourist attraction and a facility providing marine health care.

Roughly 10 miles (16 kilometers long and 2 miles (3 kilometers wide, Chokoloskee Bay is located along Florida’s Gulf Coast and is separated from the Gulf of Mexico by the Ten Thousand Islands. The bay is known for its fishing and water sport activities.

The scenic 2-lane Tamiami Trail stretches across the bottom of the Florida peninsula from Tampa to Miami. And while it may not be the quickest way to explore the region now, at the time of its completion in 1928 it was considered a feat of engineering comparable to the Panama Canal.

As one of the four theme parks that make up Walt Disney World® Resort, Disney’s Hollywood Studios® is all about experiencing movie magic in real life. The park doubles as a working movie studio where animation and motion pictures are made, and the attractions and rides are all inspired by Hollywood films, television shows, and the best of musical theater.

Hard Rock Key West is in the center of the island action on Duval Street. It serves up American fare and features plenty of rock ’n’ roll memorabilia—similar to the chain’s other locations, but here it's with a tropical twist. When you dine al fresco on the patio, enjoy a hearty helping of ocean breeze along with live entertainment.

More than 200 interactive exhibits await families at this Fort Lauderdale museum, which is dedicated to curiosity and exploration. With the largest captive live Atlantic coral reef habitat, an IMAX theater, an Everglades Airboat Adventure, and an FA-18 cockpit 7D simulator, the museum offers children and their parents a day of exploration.

Extending a quarter mile (1,300 feet) over the Atlantic Ocean, the Edward B. Knight Pier is perhaps the best place in Key West to see the sunrise. The concrete, Brutalist-style pier is also an excellent place to soak up ocean views at any time.

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter™ is a popular attraction at Universal Orlando™, spread out across three parks at the resort: Hogsmeade™ at Universal Islands of Adventure™, Diagon Alley™ on the Universal Studios Florida™ side, and the Ministry of Magic™ at Universal Epic Universe™. The parks are connected by the Hogwarts Express train, and each offers environments with rides, shops, and eateries drawn from the magical books and movies.

One of the United States’ most storied racetracks, the Daytona International Speedway is best known for hosting the Daytona 500: the most important annual race in the NASCAR calendar. Built in 1959 and located just a few miles from Daytona Beach, the course also holds other events, including Motocross racing, triathlons, and more.

Flamingo Gardens celebrates Florida’s native jungle ecosystem with a 60-acre (24-hectare) landscape that’s home to more than 3,000 plant and flower species. As well as being one of the oldest botanical gardens in South Florida, it also houses a wildlife sanctuary with diverse species, including alligators, panthers, and river otters. This makes it a fun day out for the whole family.