Places to vacation on the gulf coast
Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay Area is a popular American tourist destination, with St. Petersburg serving as its unofficial hub for business and leisure travel throughout Hillsborough County and Pinellas County. The area has experienced growing popularity throughout the years, and draws tourists from nearby Orlando as well as internationally. There are many beaches to relax on here, as well as historical sites, and unique Florida wildlife to view.
Magic Kingdom
Magic Kingdom is located in Orlando, Florida. It is owned by Walt Disney World Resort, which is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world. The park gets more than 18 million visitors each year and more than 50 million people visit all four parks combined each year. The park has many rides and attractions including Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. The park also offers live music performances throughout the day as well as fireworks shows at night.
Epcot Center
Epcot Center has two theme parks called Future World and World Showcase that represent different countries around the world such as China, Norway and Mexico among others. It also has an indoor theme park called Innoventions where you can find educational exhibits about technology and innovation during your visit to this location which is located inside Epcot Center itself instead of being separated from it like most other theme parks tend to be located nowadays because those would be too expensive for most people if they had been built outside but that’s not something we
Panama City Beach
Panama City Beach on the Florida panhandle offers 27 miles (43 km) of white sand beaches on the Emerald Coast. The beach is a popular destination for residents of the southern United States as well as tens of thousands of high school and college students on spring break.
Besides having fun in the sun in the emerald green waters, this town of just over 12,000 permanent residents offers sports fishing on the gulf, plenty of golfing, marine parks including one for alligators, amusement and water parks …in short, something for everyone in the family.
Naples
Naples may have had rustic beginnings, but today this Gulf of Mexico city is one of the wealthiest cities in the United States, with houses selling for more than $40 million. As on Sanibel and Captiva Islands, development along the shoreline has been kept residential.
It got its name because the bay it’s located on was said to be prettier than the Bay of Naples in Italy. Besides its beautiful city beach, the nearby wildlife refuges make it a popular tourist destination.
These include Everglades National Park, Florida Panther National Wildlife Reserve and Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary that has a 2.5-mile long boardwalk meandering through it. Naples also has vibrant arts and shopping districts.
Sanibel Island
Sanibel Island is located just off Fort Myers in the Gulf of Mexico. It is connected to the mainland by a causeway. It is known as a quiet, natural travel destination, well-suited for families.
Wildlife refuges take up more than half of this long narrow island, whose beaches are also popular as places to hunt for shells. This island of less than 7,000 permanent residents may have harbored pirates in the days of yore, if local legends are to be believed.
Aside from beachcombing and looking for wildlife, attractions include a highly-rated historical museum, a botanical garden, a lighthouse and an arts center.
Fort Lauderdale
No longer the Spring Break destination of popular imagination, Fort Lauderdale is today a sophisticated cultural center with an increasingly upmarket social scene. Located on the Atlantic Ocean about 23 miles (37 km) north of Miami Beach it is also known as the “Venice of America” due to its expansive canal system.
The city has an impressive tourist infrastructure with plenty of hotels, golf courses, marinas and museums. The city’s Port Everglades is one of the busiest cruise-ship ports in the world, with megaships departing daily for the Caribbean, Mexico and beyond.
The most popular section of the city beach is called “The Strip” with eating and drinking establishments that run along the land side of the beach road.
Clearwater Beach
Boasting miles of white sandy beaches, Clearwater Beach is separated by the city of Clearwater by the Intracoastal Waterway. USA Today readers in 2013 named it Florida’s Best Beach Town. Besides laying in the white sand and swimming in the clear water there are also many activities offered such as fishing, sailing, kayaking, and dolphin tours. A lot of people get married on the beaches here.
A spot popular with visitors is Pier 60, a long fishing pier that hosts a playground, snack bar and day-long entertainers. At night, you can buy crafts from local artisans.
Stroll along Beach Walk where you’ll find drinking fountains and showers to wash the sand off you. If you come alive when the sun goes down, Clearwater Beach has a lively night scene.
Everglades
One of the country’s best natural treasures, the Everglades feature a unique combination of ecosystems that include swamps, sub-tropical jungles, saw-grass prairies and the largest mangrove complex in the Western Hemisphere.
Located in South Florida, much of the Everglades are protected within the Everglades National Park and provide shelter to a wide variety of birds, fish, animals and reptiles, including endangered species like the West Indian manatee, the American crocodile and the Florida panther.
One of the largest national parks in the USA, the Everglades National Park features four different visitor centers that provide education about the Everglades as well as a variety of tours and outstanding experiences.
The visitor centers of Ernest Coe and Flamingo also offer ranger-led tours and programs. An air boat tour is one of the most exciting ways to experience the Everglades. What’s more, numerous hiking trails, biking trails and fishing are also available within the national park.
San Antonio’s River Walk
Stretching for several miles along the San Antonio River in the heart of the city, the River Walk is lined with restaurants and lovely outdoor patios, where you can sit and dine alongside the river. Built below street level, this pedestrian walkway hugs the river as it winds and weaves through the city, and is as popular among locals as it is for tourists, day and night.
Although strolling along the river is the most popular thing to do here, another great way to enjoy the ambience of the area is on a leisurely cruise on a river boat. These run all the time and range from standard sightseeing trips to dinner cruises.
The Alamo
The Alamo is one of the most important historic sites in America. Part of a mission station established in 1718, it was built by Franciscans in 1744 and by 1836, had been converted into a fort. It became famous during the Texas Revolution, when a small force, including Davie Crockett and James Bowie, barricaded themselves in against an overwhelmingly superior Mexican army some 3,000 strong. While the defeat saw all 187 defenders killed, the cry of “Remember the Alamo!” rallied the state to eventually overcome the Mexicans.
Today, you can visit this landmark to see its restored buildings and the cenotaph commemorating the fallen Texans. Inside is a museum with changing displays, featuring weapons and artifacts related to the events and the history of the mission.
If you have time, it’s worth visiting some of the other missions in the area, which are all part of the San Antonio Missions National Historic Park, and connected by the Mission Trail.
Space Center Houston
Just 30 minutes’ drive from the heart of Houston, Space Center Houston is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Texas. This is a wonderful place to learn about space exploration, upcoming missions, NASA’s latest projects, and possibly even meet an astronaut. Space Center Houston is also home to Johnson Space Center and Mission Control, which can be visited on a tour.
Plan to spend at least a half-day exploring the entire complex, which includes a space shuttle replica mounted on a shuttle carrier. Visitors can walk inside the shuttle and the carrier. You can also walk inside a replica of America’s first space station, Skylab. Other highlights include seeing rockets and touching a rock from the moon and Mars.
The center provides a fascinating insight into the operations of the world’s largest space program, with countless exhibits, as well as films, models, astronaut-related artifacts, and displays on the experiments and developments at NASA.
Big Bend National Park
In the Chihuahuan Desert of West Texas, on a huge bend in the Rio Grande River, lies some of the most dramatic and uniquely beautiful scenery in the state. Mountains, canyons, and the river flowing along the border, separating the United States from Mexico, offer a diverse range of recreational and sightseeing opportunities for visitors to Big Bend National Park.
While most people simply enjoy touring along the roads, the park offers a full range of things to do. Outdoor enthusiasts will enjoy the extensive network of hiking trails and the beautiful campgrounds. Paddling along the Rio Grande or enjoying a picnic and wading into the water are other popular activities on warm days.
With more than 400 species of birds, birdwatching is another prominent pastime in the park, but even if you are not looking for them, you are likely to see roadrunners darting across the roads or trails.
Padre Island National Seashore
The world’s longest undeveloped barrier island, Padre Island is just a short drive south of Corpus Christi and stretches 70 miles from end-to-end. One of the most important conservation areas in Texas, Padre Island consists of more than 130,000 acres of beach, dunes, and grassland habitats, and is home to rare sea turtles and countless migratory birds, making it a birder’s paradise. In fact, 350 different species visit this stopover on the Central Flyway migratory route.