TAMPA AND ST PETERSBURG, FLORIDA
Best Time to Visit Florida
Tampa is Florida's largest city in the west coast and a big business center, while St Petersburg (just twenty miles from Tampa) is one of Florida's most popular beach destinations.See:
Best time to visit Tampa and St Petersburg
St Petersburg has wonderful beaches, sunsets and warm seas, but also some interesting museums and cultural life. Tampa isn't exactly a vacation destintion (most of the travellers end in nearby St Petersburg's beaches), but Tampa has some interesting cultural spots and an intense nightlife, namely in its Ibor city district.
Tampa cultural and travel attractions
Busch Gardens: a major Florida theme-park
Tampa downtown attractions:
Tampa Museum of Art
Tampa Bay Hotel
Henry B. Plant Museum
Ibor city: a Cuban enclave, and a major nightlife center
Florida Aquarium
Museum of Science and Industry
St Petersburg travel attractions
Museums: Salvador Dali, History Museum, Fine Arts Museum, Florida International
Beaches: St Petersburg islands beaches; Southern beaches (Pass-a-Grille, Treasure Island beach, Madeira beach...)
BEST TIME TO TRAVEL TO TAMPA AND ST PETERSBURG
Tampa and St Petersburg are located in the central Florida region, near Orlando and Walt Disney World. So, take the framing travel and climatic facts for this region into account:
- Winter (December-April) is a popular period. Many people visit in the Winter and accommodation costs are higher in this period.
- June to October is the hurricane period and afternoon thunderstorms are very common. Humidity is high in the summer period, but since St Petersburg and Tampa are coastal areas, they benefit from sea breezes.
- It rains less in the winter than in the summer, but showers tend to be short; vacations aren't deeply affected by them. See Tampa and St Petersburg Weather Map
- Transitional months such as April and May (Florida's Spring) and September, October and November (Florida's Autumn) are excellent periods to visit Southern Florida (Autumn is a particularly good period in terms of temperatures and low precipitation). Spring and Autumn have very pleasant weather and since they are rather off-peak you may find accommodation at lower prices.
- Presidents' Day weekend (February), Easter week, Memorial Day weekend (end of May), the Fourth of July, Labour Day weekend (September), Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's tend to be especially packed periods.
Tampa and St Petersburg Weather Map
FLIGHTS AND ACCOMMODATION IN TAMPA AND ST PETERSBURG
If you are looking for budget accommodation, St Petersburg - and the islands and beaches close to it - offers better opportunities than Tampa. Hotels in Tampa are usually more expensive.
