Tampa Travel

Visit Tampa Bay is a tourism site for the area, providing comprehensive resources for visitors. Learn about the city’s variety of attractions including cultural offerings, outdoor activities and natural features, and Tampa’s dining, nightlife and entertainment scene. A calendar of events is also provided.

The New York Times Travel section published a 36-hour guide to Tampa that offers a real glimpse into the city’s sights, people and culture. A few restaurants, attractions and neighborhoods are described in this weekend itinerary, sure to inspire any visitor.

The Travel Channel destination guide to Tampa/St. Petersburg relies mostly on lists, not photos or insightful text, but it offers a good starting point for learning about Tampa’s attractions and transportation. Start out with the “District Guide,” a comprehensive outline of different neighborhoods and areas in Tampa Bay.

The Tampa Bay Beaches section of the Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce site gives you quick access to 12 sandy havens in Tampa Bay. Click on a beach name (in the left sidebar) for a description and link to official beach town Web sites. There are no photos on this site, but you’ll get an introduction to what each beach is like.

Ybor is Tampa’s Latin Quarter, and one of only two historic districts in Florida. Head here to learn of opportunities for dining and nightlife, shopping, historical tours and pleasant strolling and people watching.

Salvador Dali Museum has the world’s largest collection of work by the artist. This stylish site has excellent information and tools to help you prepare for a visit. Learn of current and upcoming exhibits, get information on tours and hours of operation, and read a biography of the artist in the site’s history section.

Florida Craftsmen is a statewide association for crafts and art, holding exhibitions in St. Petersburg and Palm Beach. This is where to go if you’d like to see unique, off-beat work. Visitor information, a calendar of events and artist profiles are included.

Tampa Bay Online is the home of The Tampa Tribune, an area paper that provides news and feature stories, as well as great tools for tourist and visitors. Visit the “Dining” section to find restaurants and read reviews. Also use the “Find Your Fun” tool to learn of concerts, art exhibits, activities for kids and more.

Your Bay Walk is the online portal for Bay Walk, a promenade of shopping, dining and entertainment in downtown Tampa. Events, stores and restaurants are mapped and described in this well organized resource.

The Florida Aquarium site can help you plan a visit and get a preview of exhibits on display. The site is colorful, visual and easy to navigate—the perfect precursor to a family excursion.

Kayak consolidates flight information and fares from hundreds of individual airlines and online travel agents (like CheapTickets and Orbitz). Enter your flight preferences to get a list of possibilities. To learn exactly which airlines and agents Kayak covers, visit the "Providers" page.

Southwest Airlines is a U.S. discount carrier with multiple routes to Tampa. The site is not picked up by Kayak searches, so you might find tickets on the Southwest Web site. Southwest also has a page about Tampa tourism and attractions, vacation packages to Tampa and weather information.

Orbitz organizes car rental information for Tampa in a single, simple page. Use the search tool to find a car rental for your dates of travel, and consult lists of car rental companies in Tampa, and on and off site at Tampa Airport.

NCAA March Madness presents a variety of maps to make navigating Tampa easy, including maps of the TECO Line Streetcar, downtown Tampa transportation and traveler information.

Hillsborough Area Regional Transit runs trolleys and buses around Tampa. Get schedules for local routes, commuter routes and trolleys, and view maps of different lines.

TECO Line Streetcar is a resource for the electric trolleys connecting downtown Tampa, Channelside shopping complex and Ybor City. Find information such as route maps and fares, and a bit of streetcar history.

TripAdvisor supplies hotel listings in Tampa with photos, user reviews and ratings. You’ll be directed to booking sites (for example, Expedia) to reserve your room. Find Tampa accommodation options divided into hotels, bed and breakfasts, and specialty lodging.

Stadium Hotel Network has hotel listings just for sports fans. Find hotels near team stadiums, including NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB teams. Browse listings for hotels near Raymond James Stadium, home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and book directly through the site. Also, view an interactive map of hotels in the Tampa area, and find practical information including game schedules, directions to the stadium and ticket prices.

Plumlee Gulf Beach Realty is part of Century 21 real estate and has many vacation rentals available in Clearwater Beach, Indian Rocks Beach and Madeira Beach.

Craigslist has many listings for vacation rental properties, and home and apartment sublets in Tampa. Browse the offerings or post your own housing wanted ad.

Gram’s Place is a hostel named after singer Gram Parsons. Each of the eight rooms is themed in a different style of music, and real instruments line the walls. There are private rooms and dorms available to reserve online.

Dickens House Bed and Breakfast is a restored 1910 home in the historic district of St. Petersburg. The inn has modern amenities but retains classic features like pine staircases and coffered ceilings. Check for availability and book online. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel has a more detailed article on the inn.