A family-friendly Gulf Coast city in the Sunshine State

On the Gulf Coast of the Florida, Tampa is a vibrant and cultural city and popular holiday destination in the Sunshine State. Its superb weather, excellent family facilities and a wide variety of amusements, such as the ever-popular Busch Gardens, ensure that holidays in Tampa are an excellent choice for families with children. With a Latin flavour still evident in central Tampa's Ybor city, Tampa even has a historic, cultured European air to it. The six main districts in Tampa include Hampton Terrace, Hyde Park, Seminole Heights, Tampa Heights, Historic West Tampa and Ybor city. For holidays to Tampa, the exciting nightlife of Ybor City, with its Cuban influence, wonderful architecture and plentiful bars and eateries, make it the ideal place to go for a day of shopping and an evening spent relaxing in a family-friendly restaurant.

Why Go?
For a superb family holiday, Tampa is without doubt one of Florida’s top destinations, with exciting theme parks, great nightlife and a healthy scoop of culture in the historical Ybor City area. With St Petersburg and Clearwater resorts nearby, Tampa holidays are the perfect blend of high-rise sophistication and laid-back family holiday.

When to Go?
Weather in Tampa's subtropical climate is generally hot throughout the year. The best time to visit is in spring between March and May when temperatures get into the 80s but it is still generally dry. In the summer months between June and September, temperatures and humidity levels climb even higher and thunderstorms are a regular occurrence.

How to get there?
Flights to Tampa International Airport (TPA) are operated by British Airways, direct from London Gatwick. The airport is 5 miles from the city, but hotel transfers are easy to organise by taxi or hotel shuttle. There are several options for indirect flights to Tampa with Delta Airlines, Air France, KLM and several others. Another Tampa airport, St Petersburg-Clearwater International is close by, but currently there are no direct Tampa flights to this airport from the UK.

Must see
The main attraction in Tampa is Busch Gardens, a huge theme park zoo. It has an African theme with all manner of thrill rides, shops, restaurants and live entertainment venues to add a bit of excitement to family holidays in Tampa. The zoo section of the Busch Gardens features several thousand animals living in as natural an environment as possible. Tampa Museum of Art is a 66,000-square-foot waterfront building containing ancient Greek and Roman sculptures and ceramics, as well as contemporary artworks.