Florida Travel Guide

Florida is made up of a plateau that stretches along the northern Gulf of Mexico and a peninsula with the Atlantic Ocean in the east and the Gulf of Mexico to the west.  It has more than 1,000 km of beaches with sand. Florida boasts a semi-tropical climate that offers very nice hot summers with rainfall, mild winters and near-ideal temperatures during the spring and autumn. But it is exposed to the threat of tropical storms and hurricanes during late summer and fall.

The attraction of Florida is its favorite variety of entertainment activities for the whole family, centered on Walt Disney, near Orlando. This is the number one travel destination throughout the United States. The beautiful sandy beaches and warm waters of the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico are the second most important attraction. Golf, tennis, sport fishing and other outdoor activities are also highly coveted, especially during the summer months when they are not available in the climates of northern regions.  Florida is also a place visited during the winter months, when tourists want to escape from the icy temperatures of other latitudes.

We can divide Florida in different geographical regions with their own characteristics.  These are: Florida East Coast, West Coast, Central Florida, the handle and the South Rim with the Keys. Each region has typical characteristics of interest to tourists.

Most tourists are visiting the Central Florida area. Here's Disney World, the amusement parks the largest on the planet. Located just south of Orlando in central Florida, Disney World is surrounded by many other amusement parks with guidance for the whole family, including Universal Studios, SeaWorld and other numerous attractions.  All together constitute the largest amusement park across the globe.

Central Florida is famous for its agricultural land with production of oranges, citrus, sugar cane, vegetables and beef.

However, Miami is the city that throws all others into shadow, as it is a lively, exotic metropolis that has developed alongside New York into the most important cultural and social centre on the east coast of the United States over the past centuries.

Whilst the east coast of Florida is like an endlessly long, sandy beach with numerous metropolises, the west coast appears to be the idyllic side of the Sunshine State. There are hidden bays, picturesque villages and sleepy little islands here.

However, the side fringing the Gulf of Mexico also boasts several cities worth consideration: Tampa with its big city flair, countless shops and attractions, vast St. Petersburg, which has shot to fame as the healthiest city in the USA due to its climate, not to forget pretty Sarasota or luxurious Naples. Also impressive are the wonderful beaches that lie nearby and the glorious weather with the sun shining here an average of 360 days a year. It is therefore hardly surprising that everyday life here seems to run at quite a leisurely pace. Visitors will find the ideal conditions for relaxing and leave their everyday stresses behind. Even the waves only break gently upon the shore and, when the sun sets in a most fabulously colourful fashion in the evenings, making one feel like they have truly arrived in paradise.

The southern tip of Florida is a tropical jungle and an area of marshland.  Everglades National Park covers nearly the entire southern tip of the peninsula from Miami and Naples. It also has vast grasslands and humid tropical islands with areas of open water or ponds. This vast area is full of insects, wild birds, lizards, snakes and other wildlife.
There is an archipelago of islands 160 miles long called the Florida Keys that extends southward from the tip of the peninsula and enters the Gulf of Mexico. There are a number of bridges and tunnels of 150 km in length connecting the islands to the village of Key West, in the far south. Here is the only tropical reef in North America.  This is truly a paradise for fans of diving and fishing.

• Daytona Beach
• Destin
• Fort Lauderdale
• Jacksonville
• Key West
• Kissimmee

• Miami
• Naples
• Orlando
• Sarasota
• Tampa