Florida 2024
- McKenna Scheppele
- Jun 9, 2024
- 4 min read
Updated: Jun 10, 2024
If you're thinking about visiting the Tampa area, we HIGHLY recommend! It was so relaxing and there is so much to do! They have so many sports teams, yummy restaurants, cute town centers and of course, beautiful beaches! We stayed in a quaint, serene AirBNB and it was perfect for our four day trip. The owners were so accomadating, friendly and left so much information on things to do in the area. This is where we stayed and we would definitely stay there again!
Dunedin
We stayed in the town of Dunedin. We really had no expectations, as we had never been there before, but it was amazing! It is the cutest, homey town where everyone drives a golf cart. The streets fill up with locals and visitors nightly and everyone is out and about on Saturdays. Sunday's start off slow, even one of the coffee shops doesn't open until 9am! Everyone is so friendly and it's really just a place you want to be. It's right on the harbor lined with so many boats and gorgeous views of the water. Between the fisherman, store owners and cute buildings, it's just the perfect little spot. It's only a short half hour drive to Tampa. There are a few beaches to choose from if you live or stay in Dunedin. Honeymoon Island is a quiet beach where you can pay a small fee to enjoy for the day, or if you are a resident, buy a yearly pass. There is lots of parking, showers to rinse off and clean bathrooms. There is wildlife all around and we even saw a turtle crossing the street.
Clearwater
Clearwater is a short drive south from Dunedin and is also a great beach to visit if you are staying there or in Clearwater itself. It's more touristy and definitley a lot busier, but it's beautiful! The beach is huge and there is lots of space to set up an umbrella and chairs and relax for the day. We ate at two different restaurants on the beach and we would recommend both! We went to Frenchy's Rockaway Grill and Palm Pavillion Beachside Bar and Grill. Down a few blocks is a pier where we watched the sunset. You can buy bait to fish and there's some pop ups where locals sell their goods. There was some street entertainment, a playground and public restrooms. It was so lively and fun! The main street running through has so many different restaurants, shops and hotels. It's more hustle and bustle but a great vacation spot! The water was so warm and felt incredible to sit in with it being so hot. We loved spending the day there!
St. Petersberg
We spent a short few hours in St. Petersberg. The beach we went to was beautiful and the homes that lined the sand were incredible. It wasn't our favorite spot on our trip, but we are happy we visited and saw the highly rated beach. We loved a spot in downtown St. Petersberg that had a splash pad, a playgrounds, water access and a restaraunt with pizza and ice cream/snow cones. It's a great place to cool down and have some lunch while youre kids are entertained. The parking was super easy and it was very easy to navigate!
Anna Maria Island
Talk about beautiful, dreamy and never wanting to leave! We fell in love with Anna Maria Island! We drove around the neighborhoods and saw the most incredible real estate. It was such a cute beach town! We spent a bit of time at the beach and the water was nothing short of amazing. The shells that lined the water are so cute. We really didn't want to leave the island! It felt quaint, but was very impressive. A new favorite of ours for sure!
Tampa
Tampa is the cleanest, neatest city that either of us have visited. It was so easy to navigate, there is so much to do there and did I mention it was super clean? Between sports, the aquarium, the zoo, restaurants and the bay, you really can't ever run out of things to do. There are so many yummy places to eat with views all around. There is a cruies port that is very easily accessible and has parking. There are bikes and scooters to rent to get around, which is always fun. We visited a couple neighborhoods that are incredibly beautful with very impresssive real estate. We found Hyde Park, which I completely fell in love with. The charm of the neighborhood is unbeatable and the town center has so much shopping. By far one of ourfavorite cities and we will definitely be back!
We were only in Florida for 4 full days, but we saw a lot, were very impressed and we definitely want to visit again! Being June, it was pretty hot and in the 90s the whole time. The humidity wasn't too bad yet, but we know June-September it gets pretty bad. It's easy to cool off with all the water that surrounds you and every single building is air conditioned. 10/10 recommend Tampa area!
Where We Stayed
What We Ate
Where We Shopped
Beaches We Visited
Clearwater Beach
St. Pete Beach
Anna Maria Island
Honeymoon Island State Park
Edgewater Park
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