Florida - Gulf Coast (no Disney or NASA)
Discussion
Planning a trip to the US in Feb / March 2025. The primary goal is Mardi Gras, but we will be doing Las Vegas and the desert sites the week before and then we're planning on the Gulf Coast of Florida for the week after. The dates are pretty much fixed - 5th March for a week or so. The final week will all be about relaxing and chilling out, so no sight-seeing and no road-trips - although we might manage a day at Busch Gardens.
The main reason for posting this is to gather any recommendations for exactly where to stay, or where to avoid in Florida.
Initially I was looking around Panama City, but then I remembered a lot of people talk about Clearwater / St Petersburg. We would rent a first line sea view condo with a balcony - no interest in Hotels at all for this week. We would also have a hire car.
What we are looking for is a nice relaxed beach, beach bars and beachfront restaurants. It would be really nice if we could find somewhere where you could walk to a few places. I have been to Tampa before for work, and I have a vague recollection of a place (something City I think) which was full of bars and restaurants, which in turn were full of office workers out for a works do - I'm very keen to avoid that type of place.
Any recommendations?
The main reason for posting this is to gather any recommendations for exactly where to stay, or where to avoid in Florida.
Initially I was looking around Panama City, but then I remembered a lot of people talk about Clearwater / St Petersburg. We would rent a first line sea view condo with a balcony - no interest in Hotels at all for this week. We would also have a hire car.
What we are looking for is a nice relaxed beach, beach bars and beachfront restaurants. It would be really nice if we could find somewhere where you could walk to a few places. I have been to Tampa before for work, and I have a vague recollection of a place (something City I think) which was full of bars and restaurants, which in turn were full of office workers out for a works do - I'm very keen to avoid that type of place.
Any recommendations?
Matt Harper said:
The area of Tampa you refer to is Ybor City.
You might wish to research Anna Maria Island - Bradenton FL. It has pretty much everything you are looking for. Alternate would be Sanibel/Captiva - a little further south and not quite as busy.
It's worth saying you live in FL as you will have way more insight than us visitors You might wish to research Anna Maria Island - Bradenton FL. It has pretty much everything you are looking for. Alternate would be Sanibel/Captiva - a little further south and not quite as busy.
A bit further South than Tampa but Naples is lovely - very classy. Been there lots of times - plenty of nice restaurants & stunning beaches. The panhandle of Florida around Panama City if I remember correctly was called the Redneck Riviera.
We travelled from New Orleans to Sarasota before - around eleven and a half hours if I remember correctly so I decent slog.
We travelled from New Orleans to Sarasota before - around eleven and a half hours if I remember correctly so I decent slog.
Back on 2007 we spent two weeks in the US for a roadtrip and did everything on the fly - never booked anything except a cheap Travelodge on International Drive in Orlando for the first night , and the next day headed up I95 for North Carolina, followed by Tennessee and then down to Pensacola Beach.
Pensacola Beach was nice with a good choice of bars and restaurants. We then found ourselves finding a place to stay in Panama City Beach. We stumbled across the Dunes of Panama - a condo with rentals and ended up staying four nights in a 2 bed apartment overlooking a pool and the beach. Back then it was $70 per night - a steal with £1=$2 at the time. Although there was nothing in the immediate vicinity, it was nice just to relax and use the barbeque pits to cook each evening. The drive back to Orlando was a bit of a hike along the panhandle but the back road to Tallahassee had a lot of nice coastline.
Pensacola Beach was nice with a good choice of bars and restaurants. We then found ourselves finding a place to stay in Panama City Beach. We stumbled across the Dunes of Panama - a condo with rentals and ended up staying four nights in a 2 bed apartment overlooking a pool and the beach. Back then it was $70 per night - a steal with £1=$2 at the time. Although there was nothing in the immediate vicinity, it was nice just to relax and use the barbeque pits to cook each evening. The drive back to Orlando was a bit of a hike along the panhandle but the back road to Tallahassee had a lot of nice coastline.
98elise said:
Matt Harper said:
The area of Tampa you refer to is Ybor City.
You might wish to research Anna Maria Island - Bradenton FL. It has pretty much everything you are looking for. Alternate would be Sanibel/Captiva - a little further south and not quite as busy.
It's worth saying you live in FL as you will have way more insight than us visitors You might wish to research Anna Maria Island - Bradenton FL. It has pretty much everything you are looking for. Alternate would be Sanibel/Captiva - a little further south and not quite as busy.
Where I hope I can add value to visitors is regarding the less tourist-centric stuff - motorsport, weather, traffic, local economy, visas and immigration, staying out of jail - that kind of stuff.
belleair302 said:
I am based a few miles south of Clearwater and currently watching our beaches getting re nourished. Sanibel and parts of Naples are building sites post the hurricane of last year. What do you know about the area and what are you wanting to do?
What we're looking for is a week - 10 days of relaxation. Somewhere to stay with a nice beach view, ideally 1st line - right on the beach. Beach bars / beachside restaurants in walking distance would be a definite plus. I've found a place on AirBnb, looks like it's just south of Manasota Key that looks like it would fit at least some of our requirements, but the immediate surroundings might be a little light on bars / restaurants. We need to find the right combination of peace and quiet and bars / restaurants. Ideally somewhere peaceful, maybe 1/2 - 1 mile away from somewhere a bit more lively.We'll be coming to this part of the holiday from a full-on week in New Orleans during Mardi Gras and we're both knocking on the door of 60, so the focus is definitely on chilling out. We will probably fly from New Orleans to the airport we're flying back to the UK from, and then pick up a rental car from there. We will be flying back from either Tampa, Miami or possibly Atlanta, depending on exactly where we end up staying
I think I've gone off the idea of Panama City - the label "Redneck Riviera" has done the trick.
omniflow said:
belleair302 said:
I am based a few miles south of Clearwater and currently watching our beaches getting re nourished. Sanibel and parts of Naples are building sites post the hurricane of last year. What do you know about the area and what are you wanting to do?
What we're looking for is a week - 10 days of relaxation. Somewhere to stay with a nice beach view, ideally 1st line - right on the beach. Beach bars / beachside restaurants in walking distance would be a definite plus. I've found a place on AirBnb, looks like it's just south of Manasota Key that looks like it would fit at least some of our requirements, but the immediate surroundings might be a little light on bars / restaurants. We need to find the right combination of peace and quiet and bars / restaurants. Ideally somewhere peaceful, maybe 1/2 - 1 mile away from somewhere a bit more lively.We'll be coming to this part of the holiday from a full-on week in New Orleans during Mardi Gras and we're both knocking on the door of 60, so the focus is definitely on chilling out. We will probably fly from New Orleans to the airport we're flying back to the UK from, and then pick up a rental car from there. We will be flying back from either Tampa, Miami or possibly Atlanta, depending on exactly where we end up staying
I think I've gone off the idea of Panama City - the label "Redneck Riviera" has done the trick.
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