Itinerary · Tampa · United States
One day in Tampa
A day-by-day plan grouped by neighbourhood, so you spend your time seeing Tampa, not crossing it.
Updated By the AMZBooking editorial team
Quick answer
One day is a taster: the plan below covers the essentials, but most visitors want 4. Day 1: Tampa Riverwalk and Henry B. Plant Museum. Base yourself in Downtown and the Riverwalk.
Key facts
- Days
- 1
- Sights covered
- 5
- Day trips
- None
- Best base
- Downtown and the Riverwalk
- Book ahead
- Nothing essential
Plan a trip to Tampa
Compare flights, places to stay and rental cars, then book with the provider you choose.
Day by day
Day 1: Tampa Riverwalk and Henry B. Plant Museum
Tampa Riverwalk, Henry B. Plant Museum, Glazer Children's Museum and Tampa Theatre, then Ybor City Historic District in the evening. Stops at most 0.5 km apart in a straight line.
Breakfast
Breakfast: Cuban bread
Morning
Tampa Riverwalk
Walk it north at sunset for the view of the Plant Museum's minarets across the river, finishing at Armature Works for dinner. Allow 1–2 hours.
Late morning
Henry B. Plant Museum
Visit in December, when the rooms are decorated for the museum's Victorian Christmas Stroll. Allow 1–1.5 hours.
Lunch
Lunch: Tampa Cuban sandwich
Ybor City bakeries and cafés and long-running Cuban sandwich counters across West Tampa.
Afternoon
Glazer Children's Museum
Bring a change of clothes for the water-play gallery. Allow 2–3 hours.
Café break
Café break: Guava pastries
Late afternoon
Tampa Theatre
Seeing a film is the best way in; guided balcony-to-backstage tours run on some days. Allow 2 hours with a film.
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.
Before you go
If it rains
- Swap in The Florida Aquarium (Channel District): Time your visit with a scheduled dive show at the coral reef tank; the timetable is posted at the entrance.
- Swap in Ybor City Museum State Park (Ybor City): Start your Ybor visit here to make sense of the buildings you will pass on 7th Avenue.
- 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.
Where to stay for this itinerary
$$$ · Best for first-timers, families and solo travellers
Downtown and the Riverwalk
Office towers and hotels along the Hillsborough River, with museums on the waterfront
Pace and daylight
The sights in this plan add up to roughly 9–13 hours of visiting over one day, before meals and getting between them. Daylight runs from about 10.4 hours in December to 13.9 hours in June.
Getting between stops: Tram. The TECO Line Streetcar uses replica vintage cars on a short line between downtown, the Channel District and Ybor City's 7th Avenue, and has been fare-free in recent years.
More or fewer days
Questions travellers ask
+Is one day enough in Tampa?
One day is a taster: the plan below covers the essentials, but most visitors want 4. How many days Tampa needs.