Things to do · Tampa · United States
17 best things to do in Tampa
17 sights and experiences ranked for a first visit, with honest notes on time, cost and crowds.
Updated By the AMZBooking editorial team
Pictured: Ybor City Historic District, Tampa · Photo: Peter K Burian, CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answer
The essential sights in Tampa are Tampa Riverwalk, Ybor City Historic District and Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. Of the 17 picks below, 4 are free, 8 work on a rainy day and 7 suit children. Allow about 4 days to see the highlights without rushing.
Key facts
- Top sight
- Tampa Riverwalk
- Free sights
- 4
- Good on a rainy day
- The Florida Aquarium
- Time to see the highlights
- 4 days
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At a glance
| Sight | Area | Time needed | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tampa Riverwalk | Downtown | 1–2 hours | Free |
| Ybor City Historic District | Ybor City | Half a day | Free |
| Busch Gardens Tampa Bay | North Tampa | Full day | Expensive |
| The Florida Aquarium | Channel District | 2–3 hours | Mid-priced |
| ZooTampa at Lowry Park | Lowry Park | Half a day | Mid-priced |
| Henry B. Plant Museum | University of Tampa | 1–1.5 hours | Low cost |
| Bayshore Boulevard | Hyde Park | 1–2 hours | Free |
| Columbia Restaurant | Ybor City | 1.5–2 hours | Mid-priced |
| Ybor City Museum State Park | Ybor City | 1 hour | Low cost |
| J.C. Newman Cigar Company (El Reloj) | Ybor City | 1.5 hours | Low cost |
| Tampa Theatre | Downtown | 2 hours with a film | Low cost |
| Tampa Museum of Art | Downtown | 1.5 hours | Mid-priced |
| Glazer Children's Museum | Downtown | 2–3 hours | Mid-priced |
| Armature Works and Heights Public Market | Tampa Heights | 1–2 hours | Low cost |
| Tampa Bay History Center | Channel District | 1.5–2 hours | Mid-priced |
| Manatee Viewing Center | Apollo Beach | 1–1.5 hours | Free |
| Lettuce Lake Park | North Tampa | 1.5 hours | Low cost |
The 17 best things to do
Waterfront · Downtown
1.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. It passes the convention centre, Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park, the Tampa Museum of Art and Armature Works, with bronze busts of local historical figures along the way.
Walk it north at sunset for the view of the Plant Museum's minarets across the river, finishing at Armature Works for dinner.
- Time needed
- 1–2 hours
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- Outdoors
- Views
- Couples
- Iconic
Neighbourhood · Ybor City
2.Ybor City Historic District
Tampa's cigar district grew from 1886 into the city's immigrant centre, and 7th Avenue still has the brick factories, social clubs and balconied storefronts of that era. Cigar rollers work in shop windows, the Columbia Restaurant fills a whole block, and the protected Ybor chickens wander the pavements.
Visit by day for the history and cigar shops, then come back after dark if you want the bars on 7th Avenue.
- Time needed
- Half a day
- Cost
- Free
- Iconic
- History
- Free
- Food
- After dark
Theme park · North Tampa
3.Busch Gardens Tampa Bay
An Africa-themed theme park with some of Florida's biggest roller coasters, including the dive coaster SheiKra, the inverted Montu and the wooden-steel hybrid Iron Gwazi. Between rides, the 65-acre Serengeti Plain holds giraffes, zebras and rhinos that you can see from trains or on a guided safari truck.
Ride the big coasters in the first hour, before queues build and summer thunderstorms close them in the afternoon.
- Time needed
- Full day
- Cost
- Expensive
- Book ahead
- Tickets bought online in advance are usually cheaper than at the gate; safari truck tours sell out on busy days.
- Kids
- Iconic
- Active
- Nature
Aquarium · Channel District
4.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. It runs a coral conservation programme for the Florida Reef Tract, and an outdoor splash area suits younger children.
Time your visit with a scheduled dive show at the coral reef tank; the timetable is posted at the entrance.
- Time needed
- 2–3 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Kids
- Rainy day
- Nature
Zoo · Lowry Park
5.ZooTampa at Lowry Park
A medium-sized zoo north of downtown known for its Florida section and its manatee critical care centre, which treats injured and sick manatees from across the state; visitors can watch through underwater windows. There are also African, Asian and Australian sections and animal encounters for children.
Head to the manatee area first; it is one of the few places to see manatees up close outside the winter season.
- Time needed
- Half a day
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Kids
- Nature
- Outdoors
Museum · University of Tampa
6.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. One wing is a museum of the hotel's Gilded Age furnishings and its role as headquarters during the Spanish–American War.
Visit in December, when the rooms are decorated for the museum's Victorian Christmas Stroll.
- Time needed
- 1–1.5 hours
- Cost
- Low cost
- History
- Architecture
- Rainy day
- Photo spot
Waterfront · Hyde Park
7.Bayshore Boulevard
About 7 km of uninterrupted waterfront pavement with a white balustrade runs along Hillsborough Bay from downtown towards South Tampa, lined with historic mansions on the landward side. It is the city's favourite running and cycling route and the parade route for Gasparilla.
Go at sunrise or sunset to avoid the heat, and look out for dolphins in the bay.
- Time needed
- 1–2 hours
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- Outdoors
- Views
- Active
Historic site · Ybor City
8.Columbia Restaurant
Opened in 1905 as a corner café for cigar workers, the Columbia has grown into a tiled Spanish restaurant of 15 dining rooms covering a city block, still run by the founding family. Order the 1905 Salad tossed at the table and the Spanish bean soup, and see a flamenco show in the evening.
Book the flamenco dinner show ahead; at lunch, the café side serves a classic Cuban sandwich without a reservation.
- Time needed
- 1.5–2 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Food
- History
- Couples
- After dark
Museum · Ybor City
1.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. Restored casitas — small cigar workers' cottages — and a garden stand beside it.
Start your Ybor visit here to make sense of the buildings you will pass on 7th Avenue.
- Time needed
- 1 hour
- Cost
- Low cost
- History
- Rainy day
- Off the beaten path
Historic site · Ybor City
2.J.C. Newman Cigar Company (El Reloj)
The red-brick El Reloj factory, with its clock tower, has been rolling cigars since 1910 and is the last of Tampa's historic cigar factories still in production. Guided tours walk past century-old machines and hand-rollers, with a museum on the family-owned company's history.
Book a tour slot online; you can buy cigars rolled on site at the shop afterwards.
- Time needed
- 1.5 hours
- Cost
- Low cost
- History
- Off the beaten path
- Rainy day
Architecture · Downtown
3.Tampa Theatre
John Eberson's 1926 atmospheric movie palace makes you feel you are sitting in a Mediterranean courtyard under a night sky, with twinkling stars in the ceiling. It is run by a non-profit and still screens independent and classic films, often with a pre-show on the Mighty Wurlitzer organ.
Seeing a film is the best way in; guided balcony-to-backstage tours run on some days.
- Time needed
- 2 hours with a film
- Cost
- Low cost
- Architecture
- History
- After dark
- Rainy day
- Couples
Gallery · Downtown
4.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. Its façade turns into an LED light display at night, visible across the river.
Combine it with the Glazer Children's Museum and the Curtis Hixon park lawns next door.
- Time needed
- 1.5 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Art
- Rainy day
- History
Museum · Downtown
5.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.
Bring a change of clothes for the water-play gallery.
- Time needed
- 2–3 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Kids
- Rainy day
Market · Tampa Heights
6.Armature Works and Heights Public Market
A brick depot built to maintain Tampa's electric streetcars now holds a food hall of local vendors, restaurants and bars, with a riverfront lawn where families spread out on weekend evenings. The Riverwalk and Water Works Park are right outside.
Take the Pirate Water Taxi from downtown and arrive by river.
- Time needed
- 1–2 hours
- Cost
- Low cost
- Food
- After dark
- Outdoors
Museum · Channel District
7.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. It sits on the Riverwalk next to the Florida Aquarium.
The map gallery upstairs holds centuries of rare Florida maps and is easy to miss.
- Time needed
- 1.5–2 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- History
- Kids
- Rainy day
Nature · Apollo Beach
8.Manatee Viewing Center
On cold winter days hundreds of manatees gather in the warm discharge canal of a power station on Tampa Bay, about 30 km south of downtown. A free viewing platform, boardwalk and tidal walk let you watch them surfacing, and stingray touch tanks and exhibits are on site.
Go on the morning after a cold night in January or February, when the most manatees crowd into the canal.
- Time needed
- 1–1.5 hours
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- Nature
- Kids
- Off the beaten path
Park · North Tampa
9.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. Paved trails loop through the hardwood forest and suit walking and cycling.
Visit in the cooler morning hours; wildlife is most active and the boardwalk is shaded.
- Time needed
- 1.5 hours
- Cost
- Low cost
- Nature
- Outdoors
- Kids
- Photo spot
Pick by interest
| Interest | Best picks |
|---|---|
| Art and museums | Henry B. Plant Museum, Ybor City Museum State Park, Tampa Museum of Art and Glazer Children's Museum |
| History | Ybor City Historic District, Henry B. Plant Museum, Columbia Restaurant and Ybor City Museum State Park |
| Views | Tampa Riverwalk and Bayshore Boulevard |
| Outdoors and nature | Tampa Riverwalk, Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, The Florida Aquarium and ZooTampa at Lowry Park |
| Food and markets | Ybor City Historic District, Columbia Restaurant and Armature Works and Heights Public Market |
| After dark | Ybor City Historic District, Columbia Restaurant, Tampa Theatre and Armature Works and Heights Public Market |
| With children | Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, The Florida Aquarium, ZooTampa at Lowry Park and Glazer Children's Museum |
| On a rainy day | The Florida Aquarium, Henry B. Plant Museum, Ybor City Museum State Park and J.C. Newman Cigar Company (El Reloj) |
What to book ahead
- Busch Gardens Tampa Bay: Tickets bought online in advance are usually cheaper than at the gate; safari truck tours sell out on busy days.
Plan the rest of your trip
Questions travellers ask
+What is the number one thing to do in Tampa?
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.
+What can you do for free in Tampa?
Tampa Riverwalk, Ybor City Historic District, Bayshore Boulevard and Manatee Viewing Center. More free things to do.
+What is there to do in Tampa when it rains?
Head indoors to The Florida Aquarium, Henry B. Plant Museum, Ybor City Museum State Park and J.C. Newman Cigar Company (El Reloj).
+What is there to do in Tampa at night?
Ybor City Historic District, Columbia Restaurant, Tampa Theatre and Armature Works and Heights Public Market are best after dark.