Museums · Tampa · United States
5 best museums in Tampa
The collections worth your time, how long each takes and how to fit them together.
Updated By the AMZBooking editorial team
Pictured: Tampa Riverwalk, Tampa · Photo: Barbthebuilder, CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answer
Start with Henry B. Plant Museum, Ybor City Museum State Park and Tampa Museum of Art. Together the 5 picks below take roughly 7–9 hours across 4 areas; all charge for entry.
Key facts
- Places in this guide
- 5
- Free entry
- 0
- Time to see them all
- 7–9 hours
- Areas
- University of Tampa, Ybor City and Downtown
Plan a trip to Tampa
Compare flights, places to stay and rental cars, then book with the provider you choose.
Museums in Tampa
Museum · University of Tampa
1.Henry B. Plant Museum
Railroad magnate Henry Plant's Tampa Bay Hotel opened in 1891 as a Moorish Revival fantasy topped by 13 silver minarets; it is now the University of Tampa's main building.
- Time needed
- 1–1.5 hours
- Cost
- Low cost
- History
- Architecture
- Rainy day
- Photo spot
Museum · Ybor City
2.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.
- Time needed
- 1 hour
- Cost
- Low cost
- History
- Rainy day
- Off the beaten path
Gallery · Downtown
3.Tampa Museum of Art
The museum's riverfront building in Curtis Hixon Park shows modern and contemporary art and one of the larger collections of Greek and Roman antiquities in the southeastern US.
- Time needed
- 1.5 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Art
- Rainy day
- History
Museum · Downtown
4.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.
- Time needed
- 2–3 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Kids
- Rainy day
Museum · Channel District
5.Tampa Bay History Center
Three floors of exhibits on the region, from the Seminole and earlier Indigenous peoples to cigar factories, Spanish explorers and the pirates of Gulf legend, including a walk-through pirate ship.
- Time needed
- 1.5–2 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- History
- Kids
- Rainy day
Grouped by area
| Area | Places | Time needed |
|---|---|---|
| University of Tampa | Henry B. Plant Museum | 1–1.5 hours |
| Ybor City | Ybor City Museum State Park | 1 hour |
| Downtown | Tampa Museum of Art and Glazer Children's Museum | 1.5 hours + 2–3 hours |
| Channel District | Tampa Bay History Center | 1.5–2 hours |
Booking and timing
Of these 5, 2 low cost, 3 mid-priced. None needs booking far in advance. The longest visit is Glazer Children's Museum; group the rest by area to save travel time.
How to fit them into 2 half-days
Grouped by area and kept to about four hours each, so you walk more than you ride.
- Half-day 1 (University of Tampa, Ybor City and Downtown): Henry B. Plant Museum → Ybor City Museum State Park → Tampa Museum of Art, at least 4 hours.
- Half-day 2 (Downtown and Channel District): Glazer Children's Museum → Tampa Bay History Center, at least 4 hours.
The quietest months for queues
- September: highs of 32°C (90°F), about 13 rainy days, quiet crowds. Still hot and stormy, with the highest hurricane risk of the year; buy flexible bookings.
- August: highs of 33°C (91°F), about 17 rainy days, quiet crowds. The wettest, most humid stretch and the start of peak hurricane risk; hotel prices are at their lowest.
- May: highs of 31°C (88°F), about 4 rainy days, moderate crowds. Hot and still fairly dry before the rainy season; good beach weather with fewer crowds than March.
The neighbourhoods they are in
- Downtown and the Riverwalk — Office towers and hotels along the Hillsborough River, with museums on the waterfront
- Channel District and Water Street — New towers, the cruise terminals and the Florida Aquarium on Garrison Channel
- Ybor City — Brick cigar factories, wrought-iron balconies and the city's busiest bar street
More of Tampa
Questions travellers ask
+Where should I start in Tampa?
Henry B. Plant Museum. Railroad magnate Henry Plant's Tampa Bay Hotel opened in 1891 as a Moorish Revival fantasy topped by 13 silver minarets; it is now the University of Tampa's main building.