Rough Guides - The Rough Guide to Florida

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FLORIDAS TOP 10 BEACHES

The Sunshine State takes great pride in its roughly 660 miles of clean, tidy and usually spellbinding beaches. Some of the most popular are around Miami on the Atlantic coast, although the best beaches lie on the Gulf of Mexico, where warm breezes, bone-white sands and spectacular sunsets are big draws.

Anna Maria Island

Bahia Honda State Park

Caladesi Island

Fort de Soto Park

Perdido Key

St Andrews State Park & Shell Island

St George Island

Sand Key Park

Siesta Key

South Beach, Miami

Florida doesnt just attract tourists. The state boasts a vigorous college sector, best encapsulated by the fanatical support accorded to the University of Florida Gators sports teams in Gainesville, and the musical virtuosity of the Florida A&M University band in Tallahassee. Florida is also home to one of the biggest and most influential Latin American communities in the US (some 23 percent of the state population), with a well-established Cuban presence supplemented by Venezuelans, Puerto Ricans and Central Americans. Miami in particular is coloured by Latino culture, in everything from food to music.

Despite all this, Floridas beaches and amusement parks continue to drive tourism for good reason. The mild climate subtropical in the south combined with mesmerizing white sands, especially on the Gulf coast, make Florida prime beach territory all year round. And while Orlandos theme parks wont appeal to everyone, its hard not to be blown away by the sheer vastness, ingenuity and thrills on offer at the likes of Walt Disney World and Universal Studios.

Despite taking a hammering since the real-estate bubble burst in 2008, Florida remains a relatively affluent place, with Americas fourth largest economy. There are real problems, of course: parts of Miami remain very poor and in 2017 the state was pounded by Hurricane Irma, with damages in the billions of dollars and recovery expected to take years. Immigrants are still coming, however, and like them you are bound to be won over by Floridas relentlessly sunny disposition, cultural diversity and awe-inspiring natural splendour.

Where to go

The essential stop in Florida is Miami, whose addictive, cosmopolitan vibe is enriched by its large Hispanic population, and where the much-photographed Art Deco district of South Beach provides an unmistakeable backdrop for the states best nightlife.

From Miami, a simple journey south brings you to the Florida Keys: a hundred-mile string of islands, each with its own special draw, be it sportfishing, coral-reef diving, or a unique species of dwarf deer. The single road spanning the Keys comes to a halt at Key West, a blob of land thats legendary for its sunsets and anything-goes attitude. North from Miami, much of the southeast coast is an urbanized commuter strip, with a string of plush beach resorts running from Fort Lauderdale to Boca Raton and Palm Beach. Alongside the busy towns, beaches flow for many unbroken miles and finally escape the residential stranglehold along the northeast coast, where the Kennedy Space Center lies within a surprisingly rich wildlife reserve. Further north, Daytona Beach combines beaches with a world-famous speedway, while elegant St Augustine is the oldest city in America.

Orlando dominates central Florida, with a plethora of world-class theme parks such as Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando making this one of Americas most visited cities. If youre not in the mood to indulge in this ingenious fix of escapist fun, skip north to the untrammelled forests of the Panhandle Floridas link with the Deep South or to the artsy towns and ivory-white beaches of the northwest and southwest coasts. Visit time-warped Cedar Key, the manatee-rich waters of Crystal River and the dazzling art galleries of St Petersburg and Tampa as you progress steadily south to the Everglades, a massive, alligator-filled swathe of sawgrass plain, mangrove islands and cypress swamp, which provides a definitive statement of Floridas natural beauty.