Soothe your soul in Florida, world-famous for its pristine beaches, outstanding shopping, chaotic theme parks and warm climate. The affectionately named ‘Sunshine State’ of the USA is a real melting pot of cultures, from Native American tribe roots to explorers and refugees from Europe, Cuba and Haiti. You’ll find influences from all these different walks of life amongst the art scene, architecture, language and food. Join us on a Cosmos tour through this vibrant state and check out our top tips for sunny Florida.
Take advantage of tropical Miami
Miami is one of Florida’s hot spots, and that’s not just due to its brilliant year-round sunshine. Located in prime position as the gateway to Latin America, there is a wonderful sense of Cuban culture woven into the city. Don’t miss having a café con leche with Cuban toast for breakfast, the perfect way to fuel up for the day ahead.
Visit Everglades National Park
Photo by visitlauderdale on Instagram
Everglades National Park is the largest tropical wilderness in the entirety of the USA, a safe space for 1.5 million acres of wetlands and all the animals that call it home. On your Cosmos tour, you’ll enjoy an airboat ride through the swamplands. Keep your eyes peeled for alligators, bottlenose dolphins, turtles and some of the 350 species of birds.
Launch into space
Cape Canaveral is highly regarded as the epicentre of the USA’s space program, NASA. A tour of the nearby Kennedy Space Centre is included on your Cosmos tour, a fascinating way to learn firsthand about the country’s space achievements and findings.
Key West is full of charm
…so much so that icons like Ernest Hemingway, Harry Truman and Jimmy Buffet all called Key West home at some point in their lives. It seamlessly fits into Florida with a laidback vibe, historic Old Town and picturesque waterfront to wander along. For a trip down memory lane, you can visit Ernest Hemingway’s former-house-turned-museum. Built in the 1930’s with Spanish colonial architecture, Hemingway’s old writing desk and typewriter are still housed here!
Dive into the food scene
As mentioned before, Florida’s location means it is partial to some incredibly tasty Latin American cuisine. Given it is right on the coast, seafood is a-plenty and some of the very best in the USA. Get amongst Florida’s food scene and try items such as a Cubano, stone crab claws, Bahamian conch fritters, guava pastelitos and key lime pie.
Soak up the sun on St Pete Beach
Consistently rated one of the top beaches in the USA, stepping foot onto St Pete Beach will instantly revitalise you. With its soft white sand and warm waters, this is one for the beach lovers! After a late afternoon dip, settle in to watch the sky change colour for an iconic Florida sunset.
Get up close and personal with manatees
Also known as sea cows, these cute marine mammals are often attracted to Florida’s warm waters. This Cosmos tour includes a visit to the Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park where you can see three manatees that have been rescued from the wild. There is also other native Florida wildlife here, including the endangered Florida panther, red wolf, and flamingo.
Get your adrenaline going
It wouldn’t be a trip to Florida without going to Orlando, world-famous for attracting millions of people each year that visit its playground of theme parks. Home to the big guns like Disney World, Universal Studios and Sea World, you will also be able to spend time at lesser known (but equally fun) parks like Legoland and Epcot. We have purposely built in a day at leisure on this tour for you to take your pick of parks (if that tickles your fancy).
We hope that our top tips for sunny Florida have piqued your interest. You’ll be able to experience all this, and more, on our Cosmos Sunny Shores of Southern Florida tour.
