Once you've decided on Coastal Florida as your vacation destination, you'll need to figure out where you want to go. And that can be tough because there's so much to see and do. You've probably allowed a week to ten days for your vacation, and you'll need to leave some time to travel. So trying to see all of Coastal Florida on one trip is impractical. However, you can choose from one or more of the following itineraries that should help you see a particular region fairly well and at the same time allow for beach and relaxation time.

Miami Solo

If you want to feel the pulse of modern Florida, visit Miami and its beaches. Many of the city's visitors think it's an airport joined to a strip of luxury hotels and a beach. A steady influx of Cubans and South Americans have given Miami, Florida's second largest city, a distinctly Latin character. It enables you to get the feel of Florida and Latin America in one place. Here, you can eat black beans and rice while exploring the Art Deco District, or just catch a few rays.

Seafood, Cuban cooking, and Jewish deli specials all blend in a mélange of gastronomic taste delight where after you've had a Reuben sandwich with a kosher pickle, you can munch on a churro, dough fried in strips and sprinkled with sugar — a Cuban favorite.

Great cities have great museums, and Miami is no exception. Topping the list is Vizcaya, a restored fifty-room, art-filled Spanish mansion set amid 10 acres of formal gardens. There's also the Museum of Science, with its exhibits of birds of the Everglades, a living coral reef, and a planetarium. The Metro Dade Cultural Center, downtown, an impressive fine arts complex designed by Philip Johnson, resembles a Spanish fortress, and your kids will love the Miami Seaquarium, with its porpoises, seals, and rare tropical fish.

Much of Miami's flavor comes from its neighborhoods and suburbs — affluent Coral Gables, built in the early twentieth century, and Coconut Grove, a mix of billionaires and bohemians. But the liveliest one of them all is Little Havana, established by Cubans who fled Cuba following Castro's takeover. Lively Spanish conversation fills little cafés where locals sip strong café Cubano and eat empanadas.

And over the causeway from Miami lies Miami Beach, a resort made popular by sleek television shows. It's where the glitterati meet the glittering on sands backed by so many massive hotels and condominiums that you'll barely see the ocean until you're in it. Miami Beach is also a rainbow of neon art deco architectural wonder, filled with buildings so beautiful you may fail to notice the beautiful people sipping champagne at cafés out front.

Out on the Florida Keys

South of Miami, the Florida Keys extend off the southern tip of Florida toward Key West like a string of jewels in a priceless necklace. When you're driving through them on the Overseas Highway, their silvery coral islets, golden bars of sand, and emerald mangrove trees create a dazzling scene. While the Upper Keys seem more Floridian, the lower ones seem more Caribbean. Each has a fascinating history. Here, you'll find yourself diving among schools of parrotfish, fishing off gleaming white ocean cruisers, and laughing and swimming with dolphins at the Dolphin Research Center on Grassy Key. And if you're lucky, you might see tiny endangered Key deer. And all along the Keys, you're sure to see flocks of herons, egrets, and brown pelicans wading along the shore.

Along the way through the Keys, stop at John Pennecamp Underwater State Park, containing the nation's only living coral reef, on Key Largo. Explore it by diving or snorkeling; if you don't want to get wet, take a glass-bottomed-boat tour. And while the rest of the Keys have individual personalities, none can match the wacky, artsy atmosphere of Key West.

Key West has had a fascinating history. It was settled by English, Bahamians, Cubans, New Englanders, and Southerners, each prospering in their own way. The island's residents have eked out a living by salvaging wrecked ships, making cigars, gathering sponges, and fishing for turtle and shrimp. In 1938 the Overseas Highway connected Key West to the mainland. Soon, writers such as Ernest Hemingway and Tennessee Williams discovered the island's alluring pace. Key West's pastel-hued clapboard houses, sprays of hibiscus and bougainvillea, year-round tropical climate, and crystal-clear waters make it a seductive spot.

Lying at the end of the Overseas Highway, 100 miles south of Miami, it's where Hemingway drank, fished, and wrote A Farewell to Arms; where international music star Jimmy Buffet first crooned “Margaritaville”; where Mel Fisher displays his cache of treasures from the sunken Spanish galleon Atocha; and where writers and artists come to work and dream. Rent a bike to see the sights, but only after you take the Conch Tour Train, a narrated ride through Old Town. Stand at the Southernmost Point in the continental United States, just 90 miles from Cuba. Beyond that you can go on a boat trip to the Dry Tortugas islands and Fort Jefferson, the largest nineteenth-century American coastal fort. And no trip to Key West would be complete without at least one sunset viewed from Mallory Square.

Mother Nature's Tour

When you have had your fill of margaritas and fresh seafood, take the Overseas Highway north to Miami, then head west on the Tamiami (short for Tampa-Miami) Trail into Miccosukee Indian country. Farther on and you're in the heart of the Everglades, the legendary “River of Grass,” the one-million-acre home to snakes, dolphins, alligators, raccoons, fish, and hundreds of different birds. Few experiences rival the exhilaration of an airboat ride across this mysterious swamp, and every boat captain has a spine-tingling backcountry tale to tell.

The Everglades Basin extends north from Cape Sable about 50 miles, and then continues east for another 30 miles. Everglades National Park takes up a portion of this territory. From the Royal Palm Interpretative Center you can walk the Anhinga Trail on an elevated walkway, from which you can see alligators, fish, and turtles. At the farthest extreme of the road leading into the park lies Flamingo, where you can walk through tropical hammocks and paddle through mangrove swamps. There are several clearly marked water tours for the adventurous. If you would rather just sit and watch the river flow, there are ninety-minute guided tours of the main waterways.

The Tamiami Trail skirts along the northern boundary of Everglades National Park. Starting in Miami, you can drive the Trail to the west coast and up toward Tampa, spending much of your trip in the backcountry. First, you'll cut through the northern Everglades, with its Seminole and Miccosukee villages. The western half of the Trail goes through Big Cypress National Preserve, which offers a variety of wildlife programs, including nature hikes, wildlife lectures, and canoe and boat trips into the preserve. Sunsets here are gorgeous, and you'll be able to enjoy it all to yourself since very few people venture into the swamp.

The Circus, Inventions, and Shell Tour

Continue north on the Tamiami Trail to Sarasota, Florida's cultural mecca, where you'll be enthralled with the Ringling's incredible Museum of Art, a first-class ballet company, theater, opera, music, five-star shopping, and beautiful beaches.

A fashionable Gulf Coast resort, Sarasota lacks the hedonistic excesses of other west coast resorts. Instead, culture reigns here since John Ringling — part owner of the Ringling Brothers' “Greatest Show on Earth” — gave it three museums: Cà d'Zan, his palatial mansion; an art museum housing a magnificent collection of baroque art; and the Museum of the Circus, where you can see exhibits of memorabilia from many of Ringling's circus headliners.

Then take the kids to the Sarasota Jungle Garden to see an assortment of animal shows and exotic tropical flowers. Just west of Sarasota, Bird Key, Saint Armand's Key, Longboat Key, Lido Key, and Siesta Key offer sparkling white sand beaches.

Farther down the coast lie Fort Myers and Thomas Edison's Winter Home. Here, you can see why people called Edison a genius inventor. Then it's off to Sanibel Island, off the coast of Fort Myers, for some spectacular shell collecting.

The Cigar and Sponge Tour

More sedate than Miami Beach and Fort Lauderdale but less cultural than Sarasota, Tampa and Saint Petersburg, known affectionately as “Saint Pete,” boast quiet beaches and beautiful harbors. Unlike many Florida cities that offer activities appealing primarily to tourists, these Gulf Coast communities will satisfy the desires of everyone in your family.

Tampa welcomes you with guided walks through historic Ybor City, Tampa's Latin Quarter, where Cubans created the famous Tampa cigar. Watch craftsmen make cigars in Ybor Square, the converted factory where Vicente Martinez Ybor launched the cigar industry in 1886. Fortunately, aside from this, the area has remained relatively unspoiled. Tour Henry Plant's Moorish Tampa Bay Hotel, the most fashionable resort hotel in 1889, now part of the University of Tampa. After exploring the city, hang out with gorillas and gazelles at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, America's leading breeding zoo. Make a trip through the Serengeti Plain your first priority. You can watch more than 1,000 animals from the African continent roam the plain as you ride the Safari Monorail, then take a free tour of the Anheuser-Busch Brewery. As evening approaches, stroll along Tampa's waterfront and watch banana boats from South and Central America unload at the docks.

After Tampa, Route 41 North beckons you to the magnificent Skyway, a sleek bridge that arches up and up into blue skies and white clouds, and then glides gracefully into Saint Petersburg. Million-dollar yachts bob in the harbor below. The Salvador Dali Museum houses the world's largest and most acclaimed collection of works by the mustachioed surrealist. At the Great Explorations Museum, your kids will love the science and creativity of the hands-on exhibits. But Saint Pete's main attraction is its beaches. And when you tire of the beach — if ever — visit the Sunken Gardens, with over 7,000 varieties of exotic flowers and plants, displayed in a walk-through aviary.

If you've wondered where sponges come from, head to Tarpon Springs, about 40 miles north of Saint Pete. Once a small Greek community whose members made their living from sponge fishing, today it's a picturesque town where the smell of Greek cooking and the sound of bouzouki music fill the air. Be sure to visit the Spongeorama, with its displays on the history of sponge diving and processing.

The Miracle Strip

The hundred miles of shoreline from Panama City west to Pensacola is one of Florida's true family beach resort areas. You'll find everything to make your beach vacation enjoyable, including dazzling white sands. Not too far from the honky-tonk, you'll find Mother Nature's beaches at their finest. Head out to the barrier islands offshore to be enveloped in another world. Drive along the beautiful Panhandle coastline to see Panama City Beach's sugar-white sandy beaches or trek farther west to Pensacola and visit the National Museum of Naval Aviation and the Gulf Islands National Seashore.

The focus of activity for this Miracle Strip is Fort Walton Beach and its local beaches. Sure, you'll find airbrushed T-shirts and all sorts of beach doodads, but just a couple of miles out lie rolling stretches of uncrowded, quiet beach. When you get too sunburned from lying on the beach, visit the Indian Temple Mound Museum, showing the history of the area's first inhabitants through artifacts and a restored temple mound used by Native Americans.

Destin, “the World's Luckiest Fishing Village,” lies 7 miles from Fort Walton Beach. Deep-sea fishing here is super and a year-round activity. Book passage on a deep-sea fishing charter, complete with tackle, bait, and ice, and enjoy the challenge of hooking the big ones for a day.

While beach aficionados pack the beaches between Fort Walton Beach and Panama City, Pensacola will lure you with its own chalk-white beaches and European charm. The town adds a splash of civility to this coast with its Spanish mission architecture and elegant Seville Square, encompassing Pensacola's historic district. In many ways, the Panhandle represents Old Florida, with its deep forests, clear springs, incredibly beautiful white sand beaches, and historic sites, and new Florida in the condo glitz of the Miracle Strip.

History and the Beach

Jacksonville began as a winter resort for wealthy, sun-seeking New Englanders in 1878. Straddling the Saint Johns River, its beautiful neighborhoods filled with museums, manicured golf courses, outdoor cafés, elegant antique stores, and bookshops make it a perfect family destination.

The Jacksonville Art Museum's contemporary art collection and the Cummer Gallery of Art, with its lavish gardens overlooking the Saint Johns River, will satisfy the art connoisseurs in your family. Its collection of Meissen porcelain is the largest in the country. Just a few minutes north of the city's commercial downtown, you can visit the wilds of an “African veldt” at Jacksonville's zoo, where a team of scientists ensure the survival of endangered species through breeding.

North of Jacksonville's beaches you can catch a car ferry across the Saint Johns River to Fort George Island, where you can wander around the majestically landscaped grounds of Kingsley Plantation, Florida's oldest, and examine the remains of the slave quarters as well as the big white plantation house. And if you have wondered what the Florida coast was like before dune buggies and fast food, visit Fernandina Beach on Amelia Island north of Jacksonville. In addition to an unspoiled shore, Fernandina has a small, pleasant downtown of renovated Victorian buildings.

Heading south along Florida's beautiful shoreline, you'll drive past million-dollar mansions at Ponte Vedra Beach before arriving at historic Saint Augustine where Pedro Menéndez de Avilés of Spain arrived in 1565 to establish what became the oldest permanent European settlement in North America. Founded fifty-five years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, the city still has a Spanish flavor, and many parts have been tastefully preserved. Take the time to stroll through the narrow cobblestone streets and experience a part of Florida that's refreshingly different. You can tour Old Saint Augustine by tram, horse-drawn carriage, boat, or foot. Beyond the restored eighteenth-century Spanish colonial village, you can explore the Oldest House, Oldest Wooden Schoolhouse, Oldest Store, and Castillo de San Marcos, an eighteenth-century fortress built by Spanish settlers. Two former hotels, the Alcazar and the Ponce de León, both built in the 1880s, are now the Lightner Museum and Flagler College, respectively.

Science and the Beach

The surfing in Cocoa Beach is said to be some of the best in Florida. Whether you intend to spend time here or are just driving down the coast, stop for the day to enjoy one of Florida's less cluttered beaches, where the sunbathers may actually be Floridians. The Kennedy Space Center, the area's primary attraction, is the site for all of NASA's blast-offs. The visitor center, Spaceport U.S.A., features IMAX movies, equipment demonstrations, and spacecraft exhibits. Two bus tours of the complex will acquaint you with all the behind-the-scenes goings-on for the space shuttle.

Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, with thousands of acres of unspoiled wilderness, surrounds the NASA complex. A haven for deer, small animals, alligators, and birds, exploring it will give you a chance to see Mother Nature at her best. Just north of Merritt Island is Canaveral National Seashore, 67,000 acres of undeveloped beach and dunes.

Go south of Cocoa Beach along the Indian River to San Sebastian, the site of the best surfing, and on to the beaches at Melbourne and Fort Pierce.

Beach and City Combo

Many areas along Florida's 300 miles of east coast have been swallowed up by development. And no place is more developed than Fort Lauderdale, where waves of students have assaulted its beaches for decades during Spring Break. At other times, Fort Lauderdale Beach still has its younger moments, with bikini contests and country and western bars. But just a few miles away from the bronzed beach bodies, the wings of Mother Nature's most delicate and beautiful creatures flutter at Butterfly World.

To see the opposite of hedonistic pleasures, head north to suave and sophisticated Palm Beach, with its luxurious ocean yachts, palatial estates with separate entrances for “owners” and “servants,” and Henry Flagler's exquisite Breakers Hotel. Here, you'll see none of the pickups that cruise the streets of Fort Lauderdale. Instead gold-toned Rolls Royces and sleek Jaguars provide the backdrop for this summery winter resort for the wealthy town-and-country set, freshly clad in whites for a game of croquet at the Breakers or a shopping trip to Worth Avenue, the pricey shopping area for fans of Gucci and Saks Fifth Avenue. Ogle prime real estate, bike or drive along South Ocean Boulevard where many a mansion resides, including the seaside retreat of the Kennedy clan. Palm tree–lined Las Olas Boulevard exudes wealth with Lalique crystal and Tiffany sterling available in stores fashioned from old brick and ironwork.