The Great American Road Trip Challenge~4.5 years · 48 states · one loop
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Leg 4 · Winter

Florida

Palms, causeway, coral sunset

Florida

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Tap a pin to open that stop's first day · numbers follow the driving order

The Sunshine State as one clean loop: the oldest city at St. Augustine, the theme-park capital at Orlando, the Gold Coast and Miami down the east coast, the Everglades and the Keys at the tip, the genteel Gulf beaches and Tampa Bay coming back up, and the capital and Emerald Coast across the panhandle.

Turquoise water and coral sun

Time it right

Drop into Florida in the depths of winter, when the peninsula is at its warmest and driest — the theme parks, the beaches, and the Everglades are all at their best — and loop the state before crossing the panhandle into Alabama.

12

Stops

44

Days

55

Things to do

1

States

Jump to a day

205The Oldest City206Lighthouse & Jacksonville207North to Amelia Island208Fernandina & Fort Clinch209South to Orlando210Magic Kingdom211EPCOT212Hollywood Studios213Animal Kingdom214Free Day215Universal Studios Florida216Islands of Adventure217Free Day218Kennedy Space Center219South to Palm Beach220Gilded Palm Beach221Down to Fort Lauderdale222Canals & the Beach223Into Miami224South Beach & Art Deco225Little Havana & Wynwood226Vizcaya & Coral Gables227Free Day228Biscayne Bay229Into the Everglades230Shark Valley & an airboat231Anhinga Trail & Flamingo232Down the Overseas Highway233Key Largo & the reef234The Middle Keys235Key West236Free Day237Back up and across to Naples238Naples239Sarasota & the Ringling240Busch Gardens241Ybor City & the Riverwalk242St. Petersburg & the beaches243North to the capital244The Capital & the Canopy Roads245West along the panhandle246Naval Aviation & historic Pensacola247The Emerald Coast248Into Alabama

Stops, in order

  1. Stop 1St. Augustine & JacksonvilleSt. Augustine & Jacksonville, FLDays 205–207

    The oldest city in America — a Spanish stone fort and cobblestone lanes — plus Jacksonville's beaches and riverfront.

  2. Stop 2Amelia IslandAmelia Island, FLDays 208–209

    A quiet barrier island at the Georgia line — Victorian Fernandina Beach, a Civil War fort, and shrimp-boat history.

  3. Stop 3OrlandoOrlando, FLDays 210–219

    The theme-park capital of the world — the full Walt Disney World, Universal's two parks, and the Kennedy Space Center an hour east. Plan on a big, joyful week-plus.

  4. Stop 4Palm BeachPalm Beach, FLDays 220–221

    Old-money Florida — Worth Avenue's couture, Henry Flagler's marble mansion, and the resort that built the coast.

  5. Stop 5Fort LauderdaleFort Lauderdale, FLDays 222–223

    The 'Venice of America' — 300 miles of canals, a broad beach, and the boutiques and cafés of Las Olas.

  6. Stop 6Miami & the BeachesMiami & the Beaches, FLDays 224–229

    The Magic City — Art Deco South Beach, the Cuban soul of Little Havana, Wynwood's murals, and the Mediterranean fantasy of Vizcaya. A vibrant week.

  7. Stop 7Everglades National ParkEverglades National Park, FLDays 230–232

    The 'river of grass' — a vast subtropical wetland and the only place on earth where alligators and crocodiles coexist, best seen by airboat and boardwalk.

  8. Stop 8The Florida Keys & Key WestThe Florida Keys & Key West, FLDays 233–237

    A 120-mile chain of coral islands strung on a highway over the sea — the only living coral reef in the continental U.S., and Hemingway's laid-back, six-toed-cat Key West at the end.

  9. Stop 9Sarasota & NaplesSarasota & Naples, FLDays 238–239

    The genteel Gulf coast — Naples's upscale beaches and Sarasota's circus fortune turned into an art-and-mansion estate.

  10. Stop 10Tampa & St. PetersburgTampa & St. Petersburg, FLDays 240–243

    A big-city Gulf bay — a coaster-and-safari park, a historic Cuban cigar quarter, the world's best Dalí collection, and beaches ranked among the country's finest.

  11. Stop 11TallahasseeTallahassee, FLDays 244–245

    Florida's capital in the rolling, oak-canopied hills of the panhandle — an old-and-new capitol, a big university, and a reconstructed Spanish mission.

  12. Stop 12Pensacola & DestinPensacola & Destin, FLDays 246–248

    The Gulf's 'Emerald Coast' — sugar-white sand and green water, the Blue Angels' home, and Florida's last stop before Alabama.