Adam Karlin - Lonely Planet Discover Florida

This is Florida

Florida is the USAs playground. Florida is bracken wetlands that melt under soul-searing sunsets. Florida is blue lakes, teal oceans and green rivers cutting a tropical plain into parcels of romantic beauty. Florida is sand like snow. Florida is cities that have dedicated themselves to giving you food, shopping, nightlife and enjoyment. Florida is waiting.

This state exudes a powerful attraction. Generation after generation of travelers keeps coming back. Our grandparents had retirement cottages here. Our parents can recall childhood visions of mermaids and manatees and Mickey that their children remember with a similar warm-hearted nostalgia, and want to pass on to the next generation and the next.

These recollections encapsulate what many deem Old Florida. But Old Florida sits alongside the new here as the state is constantly pushing itself to reinvent the best in tourism. If you want it, Florida has it, in every color, size and shape.

There are malls near Fort Myers where you can live out your most lurid consumer fantasies. Thanks to demand for the local, organic and indigenous, those malls are a few miles from neighborly farmer's markets. There are theme parks galore in Orlando, while in the Everglades to the south and Apalachicola to the north, there are state and national parks where a unique subtropical environment is protected by dedicated citizens settling new frontiers in conservation and environmentalism.

There are miles of beach in Miami. And beyond sun and sun, a world class, daring arts district. There are the latest toys and trends of the wealthy in Palm Beach, and a few hours south, simple pleasures and parades dedicated to flights of fantasy in Key West.

And everywhere you go there is the backbone of Florida: visitors. They can find anything here, and often, more than what they expected. Get ready to join their satisfied ranks.

Lifeguard house at Miami's South Beach ()
PHOTOGRAPHER: MCDC/ ISTOCK IMAGES

Floridas Top Experiences

Walt Disney World

Floridas basic reason for being is to function as the worlds best playground, and nowhere is this truer than Walt Disney World ( ). Mickeys home is one of the worlds original theme parks, the embodiment of imagination and flights of fancy. Children can explore a bright realm that caters to their every need, and adults quickly revert back to childhood. Yes, it gets crowded, but its the gold standard in all-American fun for a reason. Besides, if you dont go your kids will never, ever forgive you.

Expedition Everest ()
DISNEY