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Tampa

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Tampa, Florida, United StatesDowntown Tampa, Florida, Tampa, Florida, United StatesBusch Gardens Tampa Bay, Tampa, Florida, United StatesGlazer Children's Museum Tampa, FL 2, Tampa, Florida, United StatesTampa First Baptist Church02, Tampa, Florida, United States

About Tampa

Tampa is a major city on Florida's Gulf Coast, set at the head of Tampa Bay where the Hillsborough River meets the water. It grew from Fort Brooke, an Army post established in 1824, and boomed in the 1880s when Henry B. Plant brought the railroad and built the lavish Tampa Bay Hotel, whose silver Moorish minarets still crown the University of Tampa campus. At the same time, Cuban, Spanish and Italian immigrants turned Ybor City into the cigar-making capital of the world, giving Tampa a cultural heritage found nowhere else in Florida.

Today Tampa is a city of around 400,000 people at the center of a metro area of more than three million. Its downtown skyline rises along the Tampa Riverwalk, a waterfront path that links museums, parks, restaurants and the Florida Aquarium, while vintage-style streetcars run to Ybor City's brick streets, cafes and nightlife. The city is a sports town too, home to the Buccaneers, the Lightning and spring training baseball.

For visitors, Tampa mixes history, food and big attractions. Busch Gardens Tampa Bay combines roller coasters with an African-themed animal park, ZooTampa at Lowry Park and the Florida Aquarium are family favorites, and Bayshore Boulevard offers one of the longest continuous waterfront sidewalks in the country. Don't leave without trying a Cuban sandwich, the city's signature dish, and if you visit in late January, the Gasparilla Pirate Festival turns the bay and downtown into a giant pirate party.

Best seasonNovember to April for warm, dry days; summers are hot and humid with afternoon storms, and hurricane season runs June to November.
Ideal stayTwo to three days for the Riverwalk, Ybor City, Busch Gardens and the museums, longer with beach days in nearby Clearwater and St. Pete.
ArrivingTampa International Airport is about 15 minutes from downtown, Amtrak serves Tampa Union Station, and Interstates 4, 75 and 275 meet in the city.

Tampa Has So Much to Discover: 12 Highlights

Parks 1

Tampa Riverwalk, Tampa, Florida, United States

Tampa Riverwalk

This waterfront promenade traces the east bank of the Hillsborough River for about 2.6 miles, linking the Armature Works area in T...

Scenic Drives 1

Bayshore Boulevard, Tampa, Florida, United States

Bayshore Boulevard

Running roughly four and a half miles along Hillsborough Bay from downtown toward Gandy Boulevard, Bayshore is lined by a balustra...

Neighborhoods 1

Ybor City Historic District, Tampa, Florida, United States

Ybor City Historic District

Founded in the 1880s by cigar maker Vicente Martinez Ybor, this district grew into a hub of immigrant workers from Cuba, Spain and...

Museums 2

Ybor City Museum State Park, Tampa, Florida, United States

Ybor City Museum State Park

Housed in the old Ferlita Bakery building in the heart of Ybor City, this state park museum tells the story of the cigar industry...
Henry B. Plant Museum, Tampa, Florida, United States

Henry B. Plant Museum

The silver minarets and onion domes across the river from downtown belong to the Tampa Bay Hotel, a lavish Moorish Revival resort...

Arts 1

Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa, Florida, United States

Tampa Museum of Art

Sitting on the Riverwalk inside Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park, the museum occupies a sleek building by architect Stanley Saitowitz,...

Entertainment 2

Tampa Theatre, Tampa, Florida, United States

Tampa Theatre

Opened in 1926 on Franklin Street, Tampa Theatre is one of the finest surviving movie palaces by architect John Eberson, built in...
Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, Tampa, Florida, United States

Busch Gardens Tampa Bay

This big theme park in north Tampa combines thrill rides with an Africa-themed zoo, so a day here alternates between roller coaste...

Family 2

The Florida Aquarium, Tampa, Florida, United States

The Florida Aquarium

Recognizable by its shell-shaped glass dome on the Channelside waterfront, the Florida Aquarium follows water from Florida's fresh...
ZooTampa at Lowry Park, Tampa, Florida, United States

ZooTampa at Lowry Park

North of downtown along the Hillsborough River, ZooTampa is known for its focus on Florida wildlife and conservation. Its manatee...

Food and Drink 1

Armature Works

Built around 1910 to house and repair the streetcars of the Tampa Electric company, this brick industrial hall on the river in Tam...

Events 1

Gasparilla Pirate Festival, Tampa, Florida, United States

Gasparilla Pirate Festival

Every year since 1904, Tampa has been playfully invaded by pirates in honor of the legendary buccaneer José Gaspar. On a Saturday...

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