I’ve never been to Florida. Would love some tips, suggestions and recommendations for a 1-2 week trip for a family. (Best time of year to go, where to fly-in/out, itinerary, towns, drives, sightseeing, etc).

Anna Maria Island. St Pete Beach.

Krista yes yes. Live AMI and Siesta Key right bellow it.

Rent a car and drive down to Key West.

Doing the airboat on the everglades is a must!!

Cedar
Elliott Roggers oh snap, that'd be incredible

Sanibel island!

The drive to Key West over the Florida Keys is incredible. It feels like you're driving to the Caribbean.

Geoff We are hear right now, delayed for 2 years on what became annual trips for 4 years prior. Tonnes of live music, casual. Must do 2 weeks due to the loss g travel from Van.

If you are driving, take the express/tool routes its worth it or you will be stuck in traffic all times and its stressfull driving with so much crowded roads.

Loved the drive from Clearwater to Naples, wished I had kept on driving to Key West. Did the Miami to Key West drive on a later trip. Found hotels in Key West to be very expensive.
Really enjoyed an airboat tour In The Everglades.
Found summer months very hot and humid.

St Pete’s beach is a cool resort. Little old fashioned. So is Daytona beach.

Fort Lauderdale has lots to do. Beaches (Hollywood), Shopping Malls (The Galleria), Car Rentals can be cheap like $30CAD a day (hotwire), Buffets everywhere but I like IHOP and Dennys. Flights usually good from Vancouver (Cheapest in November or February, like $300 CAD return ). Buses have a/c and a 3 or more day pass can be worth it. Lots of motels and always good to get breakfast included (Travelodge). Disney World should be on the menu if you have time.

Spend a day in Miami, esp in South Beach. Beautiful Art Deco hotels on the beachfront, nice cafés, have a café cubano with a slice of key lime pie, mmmmm!

We did these passes or similar... It was great! https://www.groupon.com/deals/go-city-pass-go-orlando-pass-3
GROUPON.COM
Orlando All-Inclusive Pass to 25+ Things to Do including Kennedy Space Center, LEGOLAND, WonderWorks & Fun Spot

Love New Smyrna beach just south of Daytona.
It’s an hour from Orlando, St. Augustine and Cape Canaveral

Renata Berberih Huric

Miami then you can go to the Everglades little Havana coconut grove plus south beach is a must, weather you want to swim or shop, Art Deco area a good cab driver will tel you some good areas. Embassy suites and hotel you have a bed room plus a living room with a pullout couch microwave and bar fridge normal stuff
You get a buffet type breakfast from dry cereal to eggs and bacon then from 530- to 730 they have managers special some snacks and drinks alcohol or not so that’s all included in your stay. Those things helps the budget

If you’re going to be doing lots of driving sign up for sun pass. A lot cheaper then going through rental agency as they up charge you

Travel to Orlando visit Ebcot center, Disney world ,the drive down to the Kenndy Space Center about a 2 hour drive from Orlando . Fantastic 3 must see places you may even be lucky to see a rocket get launched while down there. Then go south and take in the beach life.May thru June is a great time to visit the area July and August into Sept is Hurucain season.

Just went to Florida for the first time. Ebcot, my fav of the Disney parks, Space centre, well worth it, only about an hour drive from Orlando. Took the Amtrak to Tampa, $13??!!!! Amazing two hour train ride. But yes as per previous comment re Sun Pass if you have a car, who knew they have so many toll roads. Every 20 minutes or so drop in another load of change and you need exact change. Note: flew in to Orlando and out of Tampa.

Joanne Yeah I remember the toll roads....Google Maps should have a feature that allows you to bypass them.

Doris if you have the GPS in your car you can ask no toll route. We did that sometimes it was worth it sometimes not, took you so far away.

Fort Walton Beach is amazingly gorgeous

Mar-a-lago. Fascist paradise - make sure you wear a red hat. Also: don’t be gay or pregnant by your dad.

We did 3 days in the Keys, some great little places for music and seafood. Key West is really cool, we should have stayed put there. Stayed in Lauderdale for about 5 nights at a cute lil BnB a couple blocks from the beach, but it was windy so we didn’t hang out there (the wind sandblasts your skin). Took a bus up to Lauderdale By the Sea, which has a great pier and beach, cool little town centre. Really enjoyed the Jungle Queen paddle wheeler cruise through the canals, very interesting and fun. Also loved riding rental bikes through Hugh Taylor Birch State Park, right in town across from the beach. Beautiful place.
Not into shopping, but I hear the Galleria on Los Oltas Ave is very chic.

Fort Myers Beach, Sanibel and Captiva are our favourite areas.

Everglades tour. If you want to see wildlife then park tour. If you want a thrill then airboat. Alligator alley drive. Thomas Edisons house and workshop. Fort Myers, Sanibel Is(dolpins), Naples. Epcot at DW. South Beach for shopping and great restaurants. Florida keys for laid back vibe.

Tarpon Springs Sponge Docks. Interesting for all ages. Largest Greek community outside of Greece. I’m thinking food and culture as wandering here is commercialized like everywhere but in an authentic way with some examples of people doing things the they have done so for years and years. Kids will like it. You can see and learn about diving for sponges and old diving equipment on display

Are you thinking disney and universal?

Summer heat and humidity is miserable. Winter is the best! I love Sanibel island for a relaxing beach vacation (tons of shells, calm water, bike rides, nature watching).

Love the Florida Keys, Disney world, fort Myers

Depending on the ages of your kids, you may wish to avoid South Beach over spring break.

St. Augustine, St. Pete, Clearwater

Omg! Thanks you guys! I’ll jot some notes as there are so many good nuggets of info.

Sarasota has a fascinating circus museum https://www.ringling.org/visit
RINGLING.ORG
Visit

Never go to Florida in the Summer time! Horrible heat and humidity. Also hurricane season so you never know what may happen

Been many times over the years … Siesta Key was a favourite! Best sand in Florida—cool to walk on and white as icing sugar

Maria, I have been resident of Florida for more than 4 years. I can give you details even for a two weeks trip:
1. History: St. Augustine ( 1 night Max)
2. Theme Parks and Science: Orlando ( 5 nights ) - mix and match Disney, sea world and universal based on ur test. If you are interested in space, visit NASA, an hour drive. If you can, u can even see a launch.
3. Beaches in West: (2 nights)- I love Clearwater area for it’s great resorts and wonderful sunsets. There are many small islands where you can take a ferry. Shell key and Caladesi are few. You can try out many adventure activities as well.
If you have time, you can drive towards Sanibel Island and Fort Myers area. Again white sand beaches. Very scenic and beautiful. Depends on budget and duration of trip.
4. Beaches in East (1
-2 nights): it is worth to visit Miami Area for a day or two. Enjoy the night vibes there. Beaches are also beautiful in that area but crowded esp. in winter days. If you have interest in wild life, u should plan to visit Everglades from here.
If time permits, you can take a drive to Key West. Driving in the same day and coming back might be hectic. You may plan to spend a night in key west. The drive is beautiful but I did not see too many things in key west as destination. You may try out a glass boat ride there or try out some water sports.
Depending on ur duration and budget, you may consider “Florida Pan Handle” (2 nights) area and “Marco Island” (1 night). But if you include, Florida Pan Handle, it will be lot of driving especially if you plan to fly in and out of same airport.
If you want to enjoy everything with minimum of driving, a better idea is: you land near Florida Pan Handle and keep driving towards south and fly out of south.
In terms of weather, my favorite is March and April. It is balanced for enjoying beaches and having long walks in theme parks. But it is dependent on ur heat tolerance.
Hope the above helps…. cheers!!!!

Pallab you rock

What a great reply. Thank you

Florida weather is fabulous in April and October. The west coast is the best coast! Many state parks and fabulous uncrowded beaches especially Indian Shores and Indian Rocks Beach. Clearwater way too crowded with hardly any available parking. I have a 50 year history with Indian Shores and it’s the greatest!

Following

Alisa Ann?

Been there around this time.. but it was humid! haha. We still enjoyed.. Our kid enjoyed NASA and Epcot. Was supposed to go St Augustine too heard its amazing.

Stay away from Florida man !

Xavier why

I have driven twice to almost everywhere in Florida. It is a beautiful place to visit. Wherever you choose to visit study the history of the location for a better understanding of the hardships the pioneers endured. Exciting centre is a must, Disney has really upped their prices. See the off beaten areas like Everglade City. Avoid the college towns when there is a major game especially football on. The hotels will be booked up for at least 50 miles from the stadiums. Florida is one beautiful state to visit and that goes for all of the South.

Keys is a must do. We also stayed in Orlando at Animal Kingdom Lodge and had African wildlife off our balcony.

Gordon African "wild" life?

Sandy it's connected to the animal Ki gdom theme park. Staff are brought in from Africa on a six month rotation

Sandy you know wildlife

dont walk on the shore barefoot or youll get stung by a ray or a horseshoe crab. You only only shuffle. No long walks on the beach here.

What flight pattern do you recommend from YVR? Fly to Toronto, then Florida? Ideally I’d like to fly into a pleasant airport (so not LAX)

Maria I did YVR to YYZ but you could do YUL or go through Denver I guess.