3 days in Tampa

Day by day

1. Day 1: Tampa Riverwalk and Henry B. Plant Museum

   Tampa Riverwalk, Henry B. Plant Museum and Glazer Children's Museum, then Ybor City Historic District in the evening. Walkable: no hop is over 0.5 km as the crow flies.

   1. Breakfast

      Breakfast: Cuban bread

   2. Morning

      Tampa Riverwalk

      A continuous waterfront path of about 4 km runs from the Channel District along the Garrison Channel and the Hillsborough River to Tampa Heights.

   3. Late morning

      Henry B. Plant Museum

      Visit in December, when the rooms are decorated for the museum's Victorian Christmas Stroll.

   4. Lunch

      Lunch: Tampa Cuban sandwich

      Ybor City bakeries and cafés and long-running Cuban sandwich counters across West Tampa.

   5. Afternoon

      Glazer Children's Museum

      A hands-on museum on the edge of Curtis Hixon Park with play zones on themes from water and weather to grown-up jobs, including a large water-play gallery and a multi-level climbing structure, aimed at children up to about ten.

   6. Café break

      Café break: Guava pastries

   7. Evening

      Ybor City Historic District

      Visit by day for the history and cigar shops, then come back after dark if you want the bars on 7th Avenue.

2. Day 2: Busch Gardens Tampa Bay and Lettuce Lake Park

   Busch Gardens Tampa Bay and Lettuce Lake Park, then Columbia Restaurant in the evening.

   1. Breakfast

      Breakfast: Café con leche and Cuban toast

   2. Morning

      Busch Gardens Tampa Bay

      Ride the big coasters in the first hour, before queues build and summer thunderstorms close them in the afternoon.

   3. Late morning

      Lettuce Lake Park

      A county park on the Hillsborough River with a boardwalk through cypress swamp and an observation tower over the water, where alligators, turtles, ibis and herons are common.

   4. Lunch

      Lunch: Deviled crab

      Cuban bakeries, Ybor City cafés and old-school West Tampa sandwich shops.

   5. Evening

      Columbia Restaurant

      Book the flamenco dinner show ahead; at lunch, the café side serves a classic Cuban sandwich without a reservation.

3. Day 3: The Florida Aquarium and Tampa Theatre

   The Florida Aquarium, Tampa Theatre and Ybor City Museum State Park, then Armature Works and Heights Public Market in the evening. Walkable: no hop is over 2.4 km as the crow flies.

   1. Morning

      The Florida Aquarium

      The aquarium follows a drop of water from Florida's springs and wetlands to its coral reefs, with a mangrove gallery under a glass dome, a large coral reef tank and a penguin habitat.

   2. Late morning

      Tampa Theatre

      Seeing a film is the best way in; guided balcony-to-backstage tours run on some days.

   3. Lunch

      Lunch: Spanish bean soup

      The Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City is the classic place to try it, often with the 1905 Salad.

   4. Afternoon

      Ybor City Museum State Park

      Housed in the 1923 Ferlita Bakery building, the museum explains how cigar making shaped Tampa, from the readers (lectores) who read newspapers to factory workers to the immigrant clubs.

   5. Evening

      Armature Works and Heights Public Market

      Take the Pirate Water Taxi from downtown and arrive by river.

Before you go

• Busch Gardens Tampa Bay: Tickets bought online in advance are usually cheaper than at the gate; safari truck tours sell out on busy days.

If it rains

• Swap in J.C. Newman Cigar Company (El Reloj) (Ybor City): Book a tour slot online; you can buy cigars rolled on site at the shop afterwards.
• Swap in Tampa Museum of Art (Downtown): Combine it with the Glazer Children's Museum and the Curtis Hixon park lawns next door.
• Swap in Tampa Bay History Center (Channel District): The map gallery upstairs holds centuries of rare Florida maps and is easy to miss.

Where to stay for this itinerary

With 3 nights, Downtown and the Riverwalk keeps most of this route within easy reach. For a calmer or cheaper base, Channel District and Water Street ($$$$) suits families, luxury and first-timers. Compare every area.

Pace and daylight

The sights in this plan add up to roughly 22–30 hours of visiting over 3 days, before meals and getting between them. Daylight runs from about 10.4 hours in December to 13.9 hours in June.

More or fewer days

• One day in Tampa
• 2 days in Tampa
• 5 days in Tampa

Questions travellers ask