Photograph: Biederbick & Rumpf/plainpicture/Westend61/Biederbick&Rumpf
1 Miami
In a place as full-on and full of itself as Miami, it’s hard to oversell the city. It’s a giant disco ball of glitz and glamour, but it also has a serious cultural, artistic side to explore if you don’t want to tan and people watch on South Beach all day. The restored art deco architectural razzamatazz along Ocean Drive is only the start. These days there’s the Pérez Art Museum Miami, The Bass Museum of Art, the Frank Gehry designed New World Center and contemporary art in the making amid the graffiti and warehouses of Wynwood, home to the new Rubell Family Collection. Add in the fashion and cuisine, the clubbing and the rich cultural mix found in neighbourhoods such Little Havana and you have a city experience to rival New York and LA.
2 Florida Keys
Sweeping off the tip of Florida, the Keys are the US’s final flourish, a group of islands connected by a series of bridges that offer a gateway to an isolated tropical paradise of mangroves, reefs and sandbars rich in exotic wildlife and even more exotic people. Vaulting off the mainland you immediately find yourself in Key Largo and the John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, one of two state parks there. Walk among tranquil trails and experience the wildlife up close at spots such as the Crocodile Lake National Wildlife Refuge or, if you’re able, dive and snorkel amid the crystal waters. Carry on across the sequence of bridges until you reach the end of the line: Key West, a colourful, non-conformist frontier community that’s long been popular with artists and writers such as Ernest Hemingway, whose home is now a museum. Linger in Papa’s favourite bar Sloppy Joe’s and soak up the vibe.
3 Everglades
It’s the 100th anniversary of the US’s National Park Service and one of the many jewels in its crown is the Everglades, a vast subtropical wilderness in the heart of Florida dominated by 610,000-hectares (1.5m acres) of sawgrass marshes, mangrove forests, hardwood hammocks and wetlands. The sheer abundance of wildlife is extraordinary, from the trademark alligators and crocodiles through to bobcat and even Florida panthers. Dip a toe in the swamplands with a road trip through areas such as Shark Valley and Big Cypress National Preserve. Take an airboat ride or join guided tours to the elevated observation decks at Pahayokee Overlook or, if you can, immerse yourself for longer mountain-biking, hiking, kayaking, fishing and camping trips.
4 St. Petersburg
Given the riches of the Atlantic side, it could be easy to overlook the Gulf Coast on a trip to Florida. St. Pete, as St. Petersburg is known locally, is a city on the rise, boosted by a youthful influx to complement the “snowbirds”, retirees who gravitate there from colder parts of the US every winter. As a result you have a beautiful, vibrant but compact city with a good balance between culture and nightlife. With its striking domed glass waterfall facade, the new Dali Museum on the waterfront is a grand statement, as will be the new pier when it’s finished. The Museum of Fine Arts’ collection of older masters is also very impressive. Naturally, the surrounding beaches on all four points of the compass are stunning: those on Tampa Bay to the east; the scores on the Gulf Coast to the west; Fort De Soto and Pass-A-Grille to the south; and Clearwater and Caladesi Island to the north.
5 Fort Lauderdale
Florida’s south-east coast might appear like one long sprawl, but many places retain their own distinct character, none more so than Fort Lauderdale, the “Venice of America”, a city permeated by canals and waterways. Grand old mansions such as Stranahan House and Bonnet House, as well as smart homes and villas, sit on its many banks. You really need to take to the water yourself to explore – book a boat tour, hop on a water taxi or use paddle power. On dry land much of the action is centred on Las Olas Riverfront or the waterfront, where you’ll find a great mix of shops, bars, cafes and restaurants. The beach, skirted by a wide promenade populated by walkers, skaters, bikes and prams, rolls for seven miles with gay and dog-friendly sections. For some peace and quiet, pop into Hugh Taylor Birch State Park, a beautiful maritime hammock brimming with flora.
6 Naples and Marco Island
Another Gulf Coast gem, Naples was intended to be a mirror of the great southern Italian city the area was reputed to resemble when it was founded in the 1880s. The Italian flavour doesn’t run too deep, but it’s still a cultured, stylish and very wealthy town. The chief cultural landmark is the Baker Museum, a grand gallery dedicated to modernism that’s part of an arts complex that also comprises the Naples Philharmonic, home to one of the US’s best young orchestras. The city also has a pretty botanical garden, a zoo and the ship-shaped Golisano Children’s Museum of Naples. Vanderbilt and Lowdermilk are popular local beaches, but Clam Pass Park is outstanding, a sugary white stretch of coast reached via a boardwalk (or tram) through mangrove forest. Just south of the city, Marco Island is the gateway to the archipelago of the Ten Thousand Islands, a rich estuarine ecosystem.
7 Orlando
No one with children and a conscience could possibly avoid Florida’s theme parks. Two of the most popular are based around Orlando: Walt Disney World Resort and Universal Studios. Disney actually comprises four separate parks spanning 10,360 hectares (40 sq miles): Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios and Epcot (with the new Frozen attraction). Universal, meanwhile, is home to Islands of Adventure, Universal Studios and Wet ’n Wild. The all-new Wizarding World of Harry Potter spans the Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios parks.
8 Fort Myers
Once a quiet, pretty resort town a little way inland of the Caloosahatchee river on Florida’s Gulf Coast, Fort Myers was put on the map by Thomas Edison who built his home, laboratory and botanical gardens there and was then joined by his friend Henry Ford. Today their homes and legacy are conjoined as the Edison and Ford Winter Estates. Aside from Fort Myers’s historic, regenerated riverfront, the town provides a useful base for some great experiences – such as Manatee Park, which attracts hundreds of manatees between November and March, and the spectacular JN Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge, 2,500-hectares (6,000 acres) of South Florida’s wildest wetlands, pearly-white beaches and mangrove forests on Sanibel Island, renowned for its beautiful seashells.
9 Space Coast/Kennedy Space Center
For Florida think sun, sea and … space. This was the home of Nasa’s space programme and today it’s all uniquely preserved for posterity. The sheer scale of human achievement is immaculately documented at the Space Center where you can wander among spent rockets and launch pads, climb gantries, experience simulators and sniff the space dust on the dramatically displayed Atlantis shuttle. Time it right and you’ll even see a real (unmanned) rocket launch. Alongside all this hi-tech splendour you have the Space Coast. Canaveral National Seashore is a barrier island featuring 24 miles of unspoiled coast with dunes, mangroves, lagoons and pristine beach.
10 Kissimmee
Just south of Orlando and clearly visible from the top of Disney’s rollercoasters is the tranquil town of Kissimmee. Here you’ll find Lake Tohopekaliga, one of the biggest lakes in Florida, which is brimming with fish (especially bass) and surrounded by excellent hiking trails. For a change of pace, take an airboat tour across Boggy Creek or Shingle Creek and look out for alligators. Further south is the Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park: at 21,900 hectares (54,000 acres) it’s the largest remaining stretch of Florida dry prairie and home to an array of endangered plants and animals. If it’s entertainment you seek, stay close to Highway 192, which is lined with kitsch gift shops and hundreds of restaurants and attractions. Alternatively, stop off at the unique town of Celebration, a community originally built and run by Disney that’s crammed with boutiques and old-fashioned architecture.
Start planning your Florida adventure at virginholidays.co.uk
