Early 2024 will see the opening of Conrad Orlando in the sprawling Evermore Orlando Resort, with its sparkling man made lagoon and lavish vacation homes for rent. And near the airport, the neighborhood of Lake Nona and the Lake Nona Wave Hotel are ideally situated for strolling out to markets, dining and entertainment at places like Boxi Park and just getting some exercise in fresh air on pathways lining the area’s many lakes. In downtown Orlando, AC Hotel Orlando Downtown is within walking distance of the city’s green lung, Lake Eola Park, that hosts another excellent weekly farmers market on Sundays, complete with a beer garden under a canopy of live oak trees.
Courtesy Salvador Dalí Museum, Inc.
Dana Hoff/Courtesy Salvador Dalí Museum, Inc.
St. Pete Beach and Clearwater Beach
Two wings of the same bird, St. Pete Beach and Clearwater Beach, just west of downtown Tampa, deliver some of Florida’s most enviable white sand beaches, each with a distinct beach town ambience. Edgier St. Petersburg is known for its vast collection of street murals scattered throughout downtown, the Dalí Museum (with a great onsite cafe serving Spanish tortilla and crema Catalana) and grand hotels like the cotton candy-hued Don CeSar (on the beach), or The Vinoy, which recently emerged from a comprehensive renovation in 2023.
The spectacularly modern and intuitive St. Pete Pier—with its bikeable perimeter, rooftop tiki bar, beach on the bayfront, playground, and art installations—has completely upgraded the downtown St. Pete experience for pedestrians and is a joy to stroll.
Clearwater Beach gets crowded during peak vacation times but skews extra family friendly, with sands that are particularly powdery, shallow waters for swimming, nightly sunset celebrations at Pier 60, and stylish beach resorts fronting the Gulf of Mexico that include the Sandpearl Resort, Opal Sands Resort, and the Wyndham Grand Clearwater Beach.
Panama City
Spring breakers make for Panama City Beach. But neighboring Panama City proper is a Panhandle revelation home to an Oyster Trail with a dozen restaurants proffering the fruits of the local Gulf and a burgeoning Mural Trail, too. Less than a five-hour drive from cities like Atlanta, Birmingham, New Orleans, and Jacksonville, Panama City—with its historic downtown and easy access to the nearby sugar sand beaches of Panama City Beach—might surprise you. Right downtown, the History Class Brewing Company is a brand new gastropub that nods to the city’s history with old time artifacts in its design, and mango and guava infused wheat beer on tap. Don’t miss a visit to nearby Historic St. Andrews, ten minutes away, a funky fishing village with streets lined with oyster shells, a few decent waterfront restaurants for a seafood meal, and pretty Oaks by the Bay Park, with its highly Instagrammable and ancient oak tree, “Old Sentry,” estimated to be more than 250 years old. Stay nearby at The Pearl in Rosemary Beach, where a boardwalk over the dunes leads to the most beautiful beach.
Jacksonville Beaches
The first major beach resort area you hit heading south along Interstate-95 into Florida, the Jacksonville Beaches are a string of several laid-back and surf-centric communities. Atlantic Beach—home to the oceanfront One Ocean resort, retro boutique hideaway The Hotel Palms and miles of dunes backed with stately oceanfront homes—and the friendly little surf community of Neptune Beach are our favorites for their untrammeled-by-the-masses appeal. If you’re here on the third Thursday of the month, the monthly Art Walk in Atlantic Beach and Neptune Beach is a perfect outdoor outing before grabbing dinner at one of the nearby restaurants, like the open-air Sliders Oyster Bar or Flying Iguana, with excellent margs and guacamole prepped tableside.You can mingle with the locals during a beach cleanup event organized by Beaches Go Green.
St. Augustine
It’s an easy 33-mile road trip south from Jacksonville to visit St. Augustine, which claims to be the oldest city in the U.S. and is home to historic sites and preserved buildings, such as the 17th century Castillo de San Marcos National Monument (check the website for closures), a Spanish fortress with a commanding waterfront location. If you’re a surfer, catch some waves at Vilano Beach before sunset cocktails just back from the breakers at The Reef.
Naples and Marco Island
Continuing south from Fort Myers, the areas of Naples and nearby Marco Island make up Florida’s Paradise Coast, which has a tropical feel thanks to the mangroves (and mangoes, when in season, from late May to October) everywhere. You’re also close to one of the most renowned wilderness areas in the U.S., Everglades National Park. The Gulf Coast Visitors Center entrance is in Everglades City—an easy road trip of less than an hour southeast of Naples—where you can head out on pontoon boat cruises into the Ten Thousand Islands then feast on stone crab claws for lunch at the dockside Camellia Street Grill as air boats and fishing boats cruise by. For a beautiful beach stay that will facilitate all those nature outings and plenty of strolls past the outdoor cafes along Naples’ Fifth Avenue, make your base LaPlaya Beach Resort or Edgewater Beach Hotel in Naples. Another beachfront beauty, The Ritz-Carlton, Naples is better than ever after emerging from comprehensive renovations in 2023, with a brand new tower and Champagne lobby bar among the many upgrades.
