Tampa

Tampa sits on a bay, not the open Gulf, and its own shoreline is mostly seawall and a few modest bay beaches. The real beaches are across the bridges on the barrier islands: Clearwater Beach, St Pete Beach, Pass-a-Grille and the quiet strands of Fort De Soto and Caladesi Island, all within about 35 to 60 minutes by car. The sand there is fine, white and soft, and the Gulf is gentle, with water near 30°C in summer and around 18°C to 20°C in the coldest weeks.

This makes beach days easy and very good, but they are outings rather than the rhythm of the stay. Visitors who want to wake up by the sea usually sleep on the islands and come into Tampa instead.

Tampa has a food identity of its own, rooted in the Cuban, Spanish and Sicilian immigrants who worked in the Ybor City cigar factories. The local Cuban sandwich comes with Genoa salami on pressed Cuban bread, and Ybor still has old bakeries, cafés pouring café con leche and counters frying deviled crab croquettes. The Columbia Restaurant, a tiled Spanish dining room run by the same family for more than a century, is the classic that most visitors try at least once. Along the bay, grouper sandwiches and stone crab are the seafood to look for.

Away from that heritage, the scene is a solid modern American mix: food halls in converted industrial buildings, steakhouses, and casual places in Seminole Heights and South Tampa. There is good eating, but not much depth at the top end.

Tampa's heritage is compact and specific. Ybor City, the old cigar-making district, keeps its brick factories, ironwork balconies and Latin social clubs, and its museum state park explains how the immigrant community lived. Henry Plant's 1891 railway hotel, with silver minarets that make it look like a Moorish palace, now holds the University of Tampa and the Henry B. Plant Museum. Downtown, the Tampa Museum of Art and the Tampa Bay History Center sit along the river.

Two or three days will cover these comfortably. Nothing here is of international rank, and visitors with an interest in art usually head across the bay to St Petersburg.

Going out in Tampa splits into a few clear zones. Seventh Avenue in Ybor City is the loud one, with dance clubs, bars and a young, rowdy weekend crowd that keeps going until the late closing hour. South Howard Avenue, known as SoHo, is the polished alternative, with cocktail bars and patios that draw a South Tampa crowd. Downtown and the Riverwalk have hotel rooftops and brewery taprooms, and the city has a serious craft beer culture.

Every winter, the Gasparilla pirate invasion turns the bayfront into one of Florida's biggest street parties. On other nights, it is a good regional night out rather than a reason to visit.

The land around Tampa is flat and subtropical, and its outdoor appeal is water and wildlife rather than scenery. Kayaking through the cypress swamp in Hillsborough River State Park is a good half-day, as are paddling the mangrove tunnels in the bay, dolphin cruises, and watching manatees gather in the warm water near Apollo Beach in winter. About an hour or more north, the spring-fed rivers around Crystal River and Weeki Wachee are clear and turquoise, and Myakka River State Park has alligators and wide prairie. In town, Bayshore Boulevard is a long waterside path for running and cycling.

Winter and spring are the best seasons. In summer, heat, humidity and afternoon storms push outdoor plans to early morning.

The Tampa Bay area gives a varied set of outings, nearly all by car. St Petersburg, about half an hour across the bay, has the Dalí Museum and an attractive waterfront. Tarpon Springs has Greek sponge docks and bakeries, and Dunedin is a small Scottish-flavoured town with a lively main street. About an hour south, Sarasota has the Ringling estate, with its Venetian-style mansion, art museum and circus museum. Inland, Lakeland has the largest group of Frank Lloyd Wright buildings on one campus, and Bok Tower Gardens is close by.

These make pleasant days out, but none is a reason to travel on its own. There are no historic towns of real age within reach, so the list has more variety than depth.

Tampa works well for children. Busch Gardens combines big roller coasters with an African-themed animal park, and its water park sits next door. ZooTampa is known for its manatee care, and the Florida Aquarium on the channel is good for an afternoon. The Glazer Children's Museum and the playgrounds and splash pads along the Riverwalk fill shorter stretches. The calm, shallow Gulf beaches across the bay are ideal for small children, and Legoland and the Orlando parks are within reach for a longer day.

The catch is logistics. Almost everything means a drive, and from June to September the heat and afternoon thunderstorms shape the day, so spring and autumn are easier.

Tampa is built for cars. Downtown, the Channel District and Ybor City are linked by a heritage-style streetcar, and the Riverwalk makes a pleasant walk along the river, so a short stay in the core can be done on foot. Beyond that, buses are slow and infrequent, and the beaches, Busch Gardens, South Tampa and every day trip are a drive away. Most visitors rent a car or use ride-hailing. Rush-hour traffic on the bridges and interstates adds time.

Shopping in Tampa is mostly mall-based. A large upscale mall near the airport holds the luxury and department-store brands, and Hyde Park Village in South Tampa is a small, pleasant open-air district of boutiques. The one local craft is cigars: in Ybor City, rollers still make cigars by hand in small shops, a living link to the district's past. Beyond that, the range is what any American city of this size offers.

Tampa is middle-of-the-road for the United States, which makes it fairly expensive by world standards. Hotel rates go up in the winter and spring high season, especially at the beaches, while summer is noticeably cheaper. Eating out costs what it does elsewhere in the country once tax and tip are included, though Cuban bakeries and sandwich counters keep lunch affordable. The biggest added cost is transport, because a car is close to essential. Theme parks are a large expense for families.

The Straz Center on the river is the hub, a large multi-hall complex hosting touring Broadway musicals, the resident opera company, ballet and plays. The Florida Orchestra performs here and in St Petersburg and Clearwater. The Tampa Theatre, an ornate 1926 movie palace with a twinkling ceiling, shows films and hosts concerts, and arena tours stop at the downtown sports venues. Smaller rock and indie venues cluster in Ybor City. It adds up to a reliable programme with good touring shows, but there is little homegrown scene that would draw a visitor for it.

Tampa has no bathing tradition of its own. Relaxation here means resort and hotel spas, a few of them substantial, and the slower pace of the Gulf islands across the bay, where days revolve around sunsets and long lunches. The city itself is sprawling, car-bound and humid, and it is not a restorative place. Visitors who want a quiet stay usually book on the barrier islands rather than downtown.