In this guide, we cover the best things to do in Florida beyond the theme parks, from historic towns, wildlife, and all things history. Florida may be the undisputed global capital of theme parks, but reducing the Sunshine State to rollercoasters and castle turrets does it a remarkable disservice.
If you’re looking for the best things to do in Florida beyond the theme parks, venture further afield, and you’ll discover a land shaped just as much by cattle ranchers, pioneering architects, endangered wildlife, and space exploration as Mickey, Donald, and Goofy.
Between Orlando and Miami, you’ll find some of the best things to do in Florida: relaxing in subtropical gardens designed a century ago with wellness in mind, watching cowboys compete in a Saturday night rodeo, sailing waters where Spanish treasure fleets once came to sticky ends and standing beneath the rocket that carried humans to the Moon. If you’re looking for non-touristy things to do in Florida, the stretch between Orlando and Miami has many hidden spots I think you’ll love.
If you’re willing to hire a car, the state is quick and easy to navigate. Whether you’re after a shorter weekend escape or a full Florida road trip, we’ve got everything you’ll need to know here. In doing so, Florida quickly reveals itself as one of the USA’s most varied road trip destinations and probably one with the biggest surprise factor. It’s also a great way to discover more of the best things to do in Florida, away from the usual tourist trail.
How To Get To Florida
Orlando International Airport (MCO) is the most convenient gateway for most visitors, particularly if you’re combining Central Florida with the Atlantic coast. It receives regular direct flights from the UK and offers easy access to the state’s main highways.
Tampa, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International and Miami International are also good bases (and often have cheaper fares than Orlando) for accessing the sights described here. Whichever airport you choose, hiring a car is by far the easiest way to experience travelling around Florida.
Best Time To Visit Florida
Spring (March to May) strikes the best balance of warm temperatures, lower humidity and fewer afternoon storms, making it ideal for spending long days outdoors – costs are often lower too. Autumn, particularly October and November, is another excellent time to visit, with quieter beaches and sea temperatures that remain pleasantly warm.
Summer delivers intense humidity and dramatic afternoon downpours, while winter is peak season, offering reliably pleasant weather that attracts literally millions of ‘snow birds’ escaping colder climates. With this comes increased visitor numbers and higher hotel costs.
Where To Stay In Florida
Lakeland makes an excellent base for exploring Central Florida beyond Orlando. With a growing restaurant scene and an attractive lakeside setting, it’s within easy reach of Bok Tower Gardens, Florida Southern College, and Westgate River Ranch.
Further south-east, Stuart provides an ideal base for exploring the Treasure Coast. Its historic downtown, waterfront restaurants and relaxed atmosphere offer a refreshing alternative to Florida’s larger beach resorts, while nearby Jensen Beach is perfect if you’d rather stay within walking distance of the Atlantic Ocean.
Getting Around Florida
Outside Miami and a handful of larger cities, Florida is designed for driving. Roads are wide, well-maintained, and straightforward to navigate, making a rental car the obvious choice.
Orlando – Fort Lauderdale – Miami are connected by Brightline rail, with a stop in Stuart on the Treasure Coast mooted but not yet confirmed. But for off the beaten path attractions, you need a car.
Top tip:
If you start or finish your trip in Miami, avoid rush hour (16.00 – 19.00) unless aggressive drivers and mile-long tailbacks form part of your American dream.
Still planning your USA adventure? We’ve got plenty more guides to help you figure out where to go next. Here are a few of our favourites:
You don’t expect to find one of Florida’s most memorable experiences at the top of one of its highest hills – don’t get excited, it barely tops 100ft. Yet that’s exactly where Bok Tower Gardens has been quietly delighting visitors since 1929.
Created by Dutch-American publisher Edward Bok as “a sanctuary for the human spirit” in response to his concerns about the business of modern life a century ago, the National Historic Landmark centres around the remarkable 205-foot Singing Tower, home to one of the world’s finest carillons – effectively an organ of bells.
Daily concerts drift across 250 acres of landscaped gardens designed by Frederick Law Olmsted Jr., whose father created New York’s Central Park. Depending on the season, winding paths traverse azaleas, camellias, magnolias and towering live oaks draped in Spanish moss, while the Pine Ridge Trail reveals a rarer side of Florida’s native landscape. It’s the kind of place you feel calmer and more relaxed in, simply by being there – ideal if your nerves have been frayed by one coaster queue too many!
Don’t miss El Retiro, the beautifully preserved Mediterranean Revival mansion built for industrialist Charles Austin Buck. Together, the house, gardens and tower offer an unexpectedly peaceful glimpse into the ambitions of early twentieth-century Florida and a haven of calm you never knew you needed.
Experience Florida’s Cowboy Country at Westgate River Ranch
Long before Florida became synonymous with family holidays, it was cattle country. In fact, the state’s ranching traditions predate the Wild West by several centuries, tracing their roots back to Spanish settlers who introduced cattle during the 1500s.
Westgate River Ranch keeps that heritage very much alive. Its Saturday Night Rodeo, the longest-running weekly rodeo in the United States, features bull riding, barrel racing, trick riding and team roping, all introduced with plenty of local character rather than tourist spectacle.
Come a bit earlier, and you can saddle up for horseback rides across the prairie, take an exhilarating airboat trip in search of alligators or go explore the nearby swamps on a buggy with the biggest wheels you’ll ever see. Or just stop at the on-site bar and grab yourself a beer served in a cowboy boot glass!
Staying overnight is an option and part of the fun. Luxury glamping tents resembling teepees and Conestoga wagons sit underneath remarkably dark skies create an experience that feels closer to Montana than Mickey Mouse but one that stays true to a surprising part of Florida’s history.
Florida’s Atlantic coastline looks very different once you’re viewing it from the deck of a sailing boat. Unlike airboat rides, no earplugs needed here – just the sound of waves slapping against the hull and – if you’re especially lucky – the occasional splash of dolphins surfacing alongside.
The best of all excursions lies in Stuart, where Treasure Coast Sailing offers a different perspective on one of the state’s most intriguing stretches of shoreline. The region owes its name to the infamous 1715 Spanish Treasure Fleet, when eleven ships carrying gold, silver and precious jewels were wrecked offshore during a hurricane. More than three centuries later, coins and artefacts are still occasionally recovered after major storms…with the predicted myths and legends attached.
The wildlife at sundown is just as compelling. Brown pelicans plunge headfirst into the water with astonishing accuracy, ospreys patrol overhead and bottlenose dolphins frequently appear to escort boats through the Indian River Lagoon. The crew keep cool boxes of water and beers to quench thirst, and as the calm waters take on a copper glow, you realise life is much better upon the water.
Tour A Frank Lloyd Wright Masterpiece
Architecture enthusiasts travel thousands of miles to visit Frank Lloyd Wright’s masterpieces across the US, yet many overlook his largest single collection of work anywhere in the world.
Spread across the campus of Florida Southern College in Lakeland, Wright designed a whole campus here of twelve buildings between 1938 and 1958, collectively known as his “Child of the Sun”. Guided tours explain how he used repeating geometric forms, carefully positioned light and innovative construction techniques to create a campus unlike any other on the planet. Highlights include the dramatic Annie Pfeiffer Chapel, the striking Esplanades that connect much of the campus and his model ‘Usonian’ home, which still feels modern ninety years after it was designed.
Even visitors with little interest in architecture often leave impressed and with newfound knowledge of home décor – the volunteer guides strike an excellent balance between being informative and not excessive.
Get On Board An Airboat
If Florida had a national vehicle, it would be the airboat.
The shallow-draft boats, powered by giant aircraft-style propellers (you’ll be provided with earplugs of one sort or another), were developed to travel through marshes too shallow for conventional engines, opening up landscapes that would otherwise be almost impossible to explore. While alligator sightings are never guaranteed – especially in the heat of summer – they’re common enough that your camera should be within easy reach.
For a classic Everglades experience, head to Everglades Holiday Park, west of Fort Lauderdale. You’ll weave through the famous River of Grass, where sawgrass prairies stretch to the horizon, and great blue herons, anhingas, turtles and alligators thrive in one of the world’s most remarkable wetlands.
For something quieter and far less developed, head instead to Grape Hammock Fish Camp on the northern edge of Lake Kissimmee, close to Westgate Rover Ranch. Rather than following a well-trodden tourist route, you’ll explore the headwaters of the Everglades ecosystem, gliding across lily pads, cypress trees and reed beds where limpkins, snail kites, osprey and bald eagles are regular sightings alongside alligators…plus the odd cow knee deep in the water (for some reason, this is the highlight for a lot of visitors). The landscape that has changed remarkably little over generations, which makes it all the more interesting.
Join an Eco Beach Walk on Stuart Beach
At first glance, Stuart Beach looks much like any other stretch of Florida coastline: golden sand, rolling Atlantic surf and the occasional pelican gliding overhead. But look back inland, and you’ll notice what’s different – a complete lack of high-rise condos and glitzy developments that are staples of the coast around Miami.
This isn’t by accident. Spend a couple of hours with the naturalists from Explore Natural Martin, and you’ll understand why this stretch of coastline is so special.
Their guided Eco Beach Walks, which take place throughout the year, give the most compelling crash-course in coastal ecology you’ll ever experience. You’ll learn to distinguish ghost crab burrows from turtle nests, identify shells deposited by different tides and discover why the Treasure Coast supports one of the world’s most important nesting grounds for loggerhead, green and leatherback turtles.
Depending on the season, you’ll spot tracks left overnight by hatchlings, learn how dunes protect both wildlife and coastal communities, and understand how a female turtle can return to the exact same stretch of beach where she hatched thirty years ago to lay eggs of her own.
It’s the sort of experience that permanently changes how you look at a beach.
Explore Fort Lauderdale and Wilton Manors
Heading south, Miami may dominate the headlines, but neighbouring Fort Lauderdale offers a more relaxed introduction to South Florida. Nicknamed the “Venice of America”, its 300 miles of navigable waterways are best explored aboard the Water Taxi, hopping between marinas, restaurants and neighbourhoods while million-dollar yachts drift past impossibly expensive waterfront homes.
Las Olas Boulevard forms the city’s social heart, lined with independent boutiques, galleries and pavement cafés that will keep you for at least one evening. It’s a world away from the stereotypical beaches and neon glitz many associate with Florida (and far more interesting as a result).
Just a short drive or Uber away, Wilton Manors has quietly become one of the USA’s most welcoming LGBTQ+ destinations – not what many expect in Florida. Centred on Wilton Drive, the compact neighbourhood is filled with independent queer-owned cafés (pop into Cake Daddies for the best pastries in the state), neighbourhood bars, breweries and restaurants where inclusivity feels entirely natural and where all are welcomed. Throughout the year, visitors are warmly welcomed to community events, and it also hosts one of Florida’s largest Pride celebrations. For anyone wanting an orientation and the opportunity to meet other LGBTQ+ travellers and locals alike, Trentravels organises tours of the city and surrounding region.
Fancy exploring more of the USA by road? Check out our road trip guides for more routes, hidden gems and places worth pulling over for:
Have you been to Florida?
What are the best things to do in Florida? Anything you’d add to this Florida bucket list?
Global Traveller Phil Thomas is a freelance travel writer, based in UK, with over 110 countries under his belt. You can follow Phil’s adventures through his blog, Someone Else’s Country and via Instagram, Facebook and Bluesky.
