Things to Do in Florida
4 destinations and 75 things to do, and they are not interchangeable. Every one below has its own page with the real ticket price and what the booking page doesn't mention.
Tampa · Clearwater · +2 more
Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay splits in two and the causeway between them decides your day.
10 things to do in Tampa Bay
Lake Buena Vista · Orlando · +5 more
Orlando
Orlando runs on gate pricing. The theme parks set date-based rates that climb with demand, so a July Saturday costs more than a February Tuesday for the exact same ticket.
38 things to do in Orlando
Miami · Homestead · +3 more
Miami
Miami spreads out, and the driving decides your day more than the opening hours do.
21 things to do in Miami
Photo: Joe Parks from Berkeley, CA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Browse by what you want to do
The same 75 things to do, sorted by what they are rather than where they are. The counts are what we cover, not everything Florida has.
Theme parks
7 in 2 destinations
Gate tickets you plan a whole day around. Dated, priced by demand, and rarely refundable once bought.
Not covered in Miami or Key West.
Water parks
7 in 3 destinations
Slides and wave pools, and the first thing a cold snap or an afternoon storm shuts.
Not covered in Key West.
Landmarks & views
2 in 2 destinations
A view from height and a short visit. Easy to pair with something else nearby.
Not covered in Tampa Bay or Key West.
Museums & indoor fun
20 in 4 destinations
Indoors, which is what a summer afternoon calls for. Serious galleries through to hands-on rooms.
Wildlife & nature
11 in 4 destinations
Animals, gardens and the water. Mostly outdoors, so the forecast gets a vote.
Tours & cruises
10 in 3 destinations
Someone else does the driving or the steering: boats, open-top buses and walking tours.
Not covered in Orlando.
Airboat tours
4 in 2 destinations
Sawgrass, a loud fan and gators. The ride is short, and lightning stops it.
Not covered in Tampa Bay or Key West.
Dinner shows
6 in 1 destination
One ticket for the meal and the show, at a fixed seating time. Book the time, not just the day.
Not covered in Tampa Bay or Miami or Key West.
Attraction passes
6 in 3 destinations
One ticket across several venues. It starts paying off at the third stop, not the second.
Not covered in Key West.
Getting around
2 in 1 destination
Getting between the airport, the hotel and the parks without renting a car.
Not covered in Tampa Bay or Miami or Key West.
Choosing between the four
Distance separates these four more than the attractions themselves do. Orlando and Miami are drives. Tampa Bay is a decision about which side of the bay you spend the day on. Key West you can walk once the car is parked, which is also the one place where parking it is the expensive part.
- If you want it walkable
- Key West. The museums, the aquarium, Duval Street and Mallory Square sit within a few blocks of each other, and the city garage on Grinnell Street covers the bus for everyone in your car.
- If the trip is mostly tickets
- Orlando. Gate prices move with the date, so the levers that matter are which ticket, how many days, and what the pass leaves out. Multi-day tickets drop the per-day cost fast.
- If you want beach days with a wet-afternoon plan
- Tampa Bay. The Dali, The Florida Aquarium and Clearwater Marine Aquarium are indoors and each take two to three hours, which is roughly the length of a summer storm. The water parks close in weather.
- If you don't mind driving
- Miami. The list runs from the Bayside cluster downtown out to Zoo Miami and two separate Everglades airboat docks, one west on Tamiami Trail and one south in Homestead.
Booking a room to go with the plans? The hotel side of the site covers the same ground, with the resort fee and the parking rate spelled out before you tap through to a live rate.
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