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Visit Fort Lauderdale and Tampa to see a different face of Florida
From tranquil beaches to a buzzing city life and art scene, discover the unique trails of the American Sunshine State
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Your support makes all the difference.For most people, I contend, the Sunshine State divides into just three components: there’s South Beach, Miami, and its cultural hinterland which extends all the way to Ernest Hemingway’s old house in Key West; Orlando and central Florida, a glorious fun park from Walt Disney World across to Kennedy Space Center; and everything else, including that odd “Panhandle” part extending to Alabama. All this means that for travellers who like to delve a little deeper, there is a different face of Florida to discover.
Venice of America
My preferred fast track for South Florida is Fort Lauderdale — a compact, friendly gateway that is so efficient and close to the city that you can fly out on British Airways from London Gatwick in the morning and spend the best part of the afternoon on the beach. This is separated from the rest of Fort Lauderdale by the remarkable Intracoastal Waterway, which parallels America’s eastern seaboard.
The water provides a splendid extra dimension to the city (as well as the nickname “the Venice of America), and means you can see the top attractions by water taxi. A $26 ticket buys you unlimited rides all day. Step ashore to discover the 1936 Riverside Hotel, wander around the global aquatic shrine that is the International Swimming Hall of Fame and dine at the legendary Southport Raw Bar — the city’s biggest purveyor of oysters.
Early one morning, enjoy the sunrise from the Atlantic, stop for breakfast at the riotously retro Lester’s Diner, then head west. Alligator Alley (officially the Everglades Parkway) takes your through swampland where primeval creatures prevail to the laid-back ambience of Naples — where art, shopping and dining *This content was commissioned and approved by British Airways combine seductively easily. After this aim north, stopping if you wish at one of a string of islands and keys, and take the Sunshine Skyway bridge across the mouth of Tampa Bay to St Petersburg: the Sunshine City, indeed.
How sunny? Well, during the 20th century, the Evening Independent offered copies free following a day when the sun failed to shine. Over the 76-year lifetime of the offer, the average was below four days a year.
St Pete Beach is the place to sip a sundowner at the end of your sunrise to sunset drive, but after dark the action moves across the bay to Tampa, specifically to Ybor City, which was built in 1886 as a company town for Vicente Martinez Ybor’s cigar factory. Cubans, Germans, Italians and Spanish workers converged on the city, and their imprint remains after decades of decline were followed by energetic renewal.
Here, the Columbia Restaurant, founded in 1905, boasts it is both the oldest restaurant in the Sunshine State and the biggest Spanish restaurant in the world. And after celebrating a final Florida meal, the BA flight awaits just 10 minutes away.
Off-the-beaten-track Florida is as easy as it is engaging.
Book a British Airways holiday with a deposit and pay the balance as late as five weeks before you travel (£150 per booking up to a holiday of £1,500). Terms and conditions apply. Visit BA.com/wintersun