As you plan your Florida travels, here are nine towns that I’ve found make great bases for exploring. Each puts you in the center of outstanding places to hike, bike, kayak and explore history. Each is surrounded by natural beauty.
Old Florida
There are excellent reasons to stop in Islamorada on your Florida Keys trip. Kayak to Indian Key, feed the tarpon at Robbie’s Marina, visit two craft breweries, plus there’s a cluster of cultural attractions and a top-notch museum.
Micanopy is right off I-75 near Gainesville, but it feels far away — like a small town in a Florida long gone. The Micanopy Fall Festival is Oct. 28-29, and in that part of Florida, it looks and feels a little like fall.
What will you see at St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge this fall? There’s a flamingo who has been spotted regularly for several years; monarch butterflies migrate through as do many varied types of birds. It’s a vast place with scenic vistas and a historic lighthouse — a hidden gem in the Big Bend region.
Right in the center of the historic district action, the Key West Aquarium is tiny but its historic building and informative tours make it a fun and appealing stop.
I visited Key West many times before I got around to the aquarium, but I recommend it if you set your expectations correctly.
Legends suggest these places are haunted. I’m dubious, but I know this: These are beautiful, evocative spots worth discovering at Halloween or any time of year.
Remote, rural and picturesque, northwest Florida rewards your long drive with sparkling springs, the beautiful Suwanee River and scenic rural roads. Two state parks with cabins and campgrounds make great bases to explore the region.
The cemetery in Key West is a lot like the city itself: quirky, crowded, colorful and full of history. The site has a forlorn almost spooky air. Take a walking tour and discover fascinating stories of Key West and its people.
Myakka is one of the oldest and biggest state parks, a great place for seeing wildlife, from huge gators to flocks of birds in winter. Go here for its log cabins, appealing camp sites, excellent kayaking, extensive hiking and good bike trails. It’s also a good spot for nature neophytes, who enjoy the airboat ride and canopy walk.
Grayton Beach is consistently ranked among the Top 10 beaches in America, making it a prime candidate for your bucket list. This park and the whole region is worth make great fall and spring trips, but you have to plan early.
Few places offer both so much history and such beauty as Florida’s 30 lighthouses. Six of Florida’s lighthouses are built on reefs in the Keys and four of those are up for sale.
There’s a good reason Boca Grande is a favorite among the rich and famous: It’s beautiful, unspoiled and preserves the charm of Old Florida. The good news: It makes a satisfying daytrip, especially on a bike.
No mountains. Few curves. But Florida has plenty of scenery and a handful of roads that take you through unspoiled natural beauty and picturesque historic sites.
Coral Castle is a 100-year-old site made of 30-ton blocks of limestone somehow arranged by a lovesick eccentric into a Stonehenge-like work of art.
Like a lot of original Florida tourist attractions, it can be corny, playing up a mystical angle. But it is also listed on the National Register of Historic Sites and is strange and wonderful in its own way.
A roadtrip from Miami to Orlando along US 27 will take you through quaint towns, over hills and through rural enclaves and parks with few crowds.
This article is the first in a series of road trip itineraries to be offered by FloridaRambler.com.
Floridians survive the heat and humidity of our brutal summers by turning to the state’s wealth of cool, clear, refreshing springs. But you need to get to the best Florida springs early, especially on weekends.