Tampa is one of Florida’s coolest hot cities, packed with so many things to do for individuals and couples of all ages. There’s always something happening, with festivals to celebrating everything from a Mac & Cheese to Margaritas. Yes, it’s true!
On our recent trip there, Tampa turned out to be very friendly, largely a result of its huge queer student population. These are our favorite things to do in Tampa during our big Florida road trip.
1. The scene of Ybor City
The majority of the gay scene of Tampa is based in the city’s historic district called “Ybor City,” nicknamed the “GaYborhood” by locals. Along 7th Avenue you can find the main gay clubs and bars of Tampa, as well as a number of boutique and vintage shops like “La France.”
In the evening, especially on weekends, 7th Avenue comes alive as the crowds hit the gay bars like Honey Pots, Reservoir, First Chance Last Chance, Bradleys, Honey Pots and Southern Nights.
The GaYborhood is also the focal point of Tampa Pride, which is held in March, as well as the “Tampa International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival,” which takes places every October.
2. Pure adrenaline on the SheiKra ride at Busch Gardens
Busch Gardens is one of Tampa’s famous attractions. This large adventure park has some of the most exciting rides to rival Universal in Orlando.
Each ride is themed around a particular safari animal, like “Cobra’s Curse”, the “Falcon’s Fury” 335 ft drop, “Cheetah Hunt”, “Kumba” and “Scorpion.” However, the most intense is the wild “SheiKra” roller coaster, which reaches speeds of 70mph and includes a massive splashdown and Immelmann loop. When it first opened in 2005, the SheiKra ride broke the records for being the world’s longest, tallest, and fastest Dive Coaster!
3. Feeding giraffes on a safari
Busch Gardens is one of Tampa’s famous attractions. This large adventure park has some of the most exciting rides to rival Universal in Orlando.
Each ride is themed around a particular safari animal, like “Cobra’s Curse”, the “Falcon’s Fury” 335 ft drop, “Cheetah Hunt”, “Kumba” and “Scorpion.” However, the most intense is the wild “SheiKra” roller coaster, which reaches speeds of 70mph and includes a massive splashdown and Immelmann loop. When it first opened in 2005, the SheiKra ride broke the records for being the world’s longest, tallest, and fastest Dive Coaster.
As well as being an adventure theme park, Busch Gardens is also a popular safari park, with a family of giraffes you can get close up to. We took a safari in a jeep through the grounds and stopped near the giraffes with lettuce to hand.
Lettuce is considered a tasty treat for giraffes and they love nibbling on it. The safari guides then allowed us each to feed the giraffes who enthusiastically took each lettuce leaf with their large thick black tongue! Definitely a highlight from our trip to Tampa.
4. Fine dining
Foodies will love Tampa due to a large number of excellent restaurants. One of our favorites was Ulele, which is an institution here. It’s always busy and you have to book in advance. They have the best burgers we tried in Florida and delicious unique dishes like okra chips.
Other restaurants we loved included the French-inspired Mise en Place for gourmet fine dining, and the Italian inspired Osteria famous for its pizzas and dishes like squid ink garganelli.
A more unique foodie experience in Tampa is the Oxford Exchange. It is a large cafe/restaurant set in a historic building with a beautiful courtyard, bookshop and located opposite the city’s main university. The food is fantastic and perfect for breakfast or brunch. We recommend trying out their Nitro Coffee – cold coffee infused with Nitrogen, which looks like a pint of beer when served.
5. Diving with sharks at the Florida Aquarium
The Florida Aquarium in Tampa is the largest aquarium in the entire state, containing more than 7,000 aquatic plants and animals. Their largest tank is the 500,000 gallon Coral Reef tank which is home to rays, turtles, tropical fish, and sand tiger sharks.
The Aquarium has a strong conservation ethos, which includes rescuing, restoration and rehabilitation programmes. For example, they’ve had a really positive impact on helping the dwindling population of sand tiger sharks. For this reason alone we think it important to support them.
One of the activities you can do at the Florida Aquarium is diving with the sharks in the large Coral Reef tank. As keen divers, we jumped at the chance: we were each assigned our own Divemaster, who took us around the tank to get close up to the rays, turtles and at one point pausing to allow a large sand tiger shark to swim right past.
The Nomadic Boys are Greek/French gay couple Stefan and Sebastien, who quit their jobs in London in 2014 to travel the world. Their visit to Tampa was part of their big road trip around Florida. For more, check out the GayCities guide to Tampa as well as the Nomadic Boys romantic guide to Tampa.
