You’ll find the most diversified activities for your Florida holiday in central Florida—from sunbathing on quiet Gulf-side beaches to riding the waves on the Atlantic Ocean side—plus Disney World in the middle—there is much to enjoy in central Florida.
On the west coast of central Florida, downtown St. Petersburg hugs Tampa Bay on a peninsula that faces its sister city, Tampa. Both cities boast lots to see and do, including museums, gardens, and amusement parks. Don’t miss the Pier in St. Petersburg—a hub of activity including charter and rental boats, fishing, dolphin sight-seeing cruise—or take a trip on a hovercraft to Egmont Key for a day at the beach.
On the east coast of central Florida, north of Cocoa Beach is where you will find Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center. Visit the Kennedy Space Center and see the inner workings of our U.S. space program. The visitor’s center tells the story of space exploration and has spacecraft, rockets, and displays which change constantly. The tour of the Kennedy Space Center (2.5 hours) includes the space shuttle launch pads, the launch complex, and the V Center.
Also on the east coast of central Florida is internationally-popular Daytona Beach. The city has been developed as a year-round vacation spot, and deep-sea fishing as well as river fishing around Daytona Beach are popular pastimes in addition to sunbathing and swimming.
You won’t want to miss Ocala and its nearby neighbor, Silver Springs. There are more than 400 horse farms which raise 10% of the U.S.’s thoroughbred race horses in and around Ocala, and some of the farms allow visitors to tour. Just a mile east of Ocala is Silver Springs, where you can ride glass-bottom boats over the clear spring waters and through the jungles. Many movies have been filmed in Silver Springs, including “Creature From the Black Lagoon†and six Tarzan movies.
Of course, Orlando is located in central Florida as well—don’t miss our special Disney World page on this site!