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City to Shore in St. Petersbug/Clearwater In St. Petersburg and Clearwater, world-class museums meet acclaimed beaches, communities share their heritage and water is (nearly) all around.
Discover Why St. Petersburg/Clearwater is Florida’s Beach With 56 kilometres of beaches and an average temperature of 23°C, the area offers year-round swimming, boating, fishing, shelling and sunbathing. But the beach is just the beginning. You’ll also find nearly 50 golf courses, over 80 art galleries and museums, several major performance venues and seemingly endless opportunities for shopping, dining and nightlife.
Clearwater's Pier 60 St. Petersburg/Clearwater Area CVB
Cosmopolitan cities, beach-blanketed islands and sunshine you can bank on: the St. Petersburg/Clearwater area has all that and more.
Big-city St. Petersburg boasts a waterfront downtown scene that pulses with energy. The Pier, the centre of attention, takes the futuristic shape of an upside down pyramid with a glass elevator to transport you from its ground-level fishermen’s catwalks, boutiques and food court up to restaurants, a marine aquarium attraction, and a five-story view of Tampa Bay.
At the approach to The Pier sit two of St. Petersburg’s superlative museums: the St. Petersburg Museum of History and the Museum of Fine Arts. Other fascinating museums include the Salvador Dali Museum, Florida International Museum, Florida Holocaust Museum and Heritage Village.
Downtown boasts the domed Tropicana Field, home to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, and BayWalk, an entertainment-shopping complex, to its skyline. Hotels in the downtown area range from Victorian B&Bs to the grand and historic Renaissance Vinoy Resort and Golf Club. Restaurants offer everything from an outdoors purveyor of smoked fish and a favourite breakfast joint, marked by a giant chicken, to houses of haute fusion. Visit St. Petersburg’s charming waterfront communities – Safety Harbour and Gulfport – for more fun dining and shopping.
In its outreaches, St. Petersburg spreads an impressive blanket of green for outdoor enthusiasts. Two of its most outstanding
The Pier, St. Petersburg St. Petersburg/Clearwater Area CVB
recreational features include the 4.2-kilometre Friendship TrailBridge, the nation’s longest over-the-water recreation trail, and Weedon Island Preserve, home to a Native American Cultural Centre.
For the ultimate in nature and recreation, head to the islands that make St. Petersburg and Clearwater famous. This string of island pearls begins in the south with a couple of unhooked islands aptly named Shell Island and Egmont Key, home to a wildlife refuge, a historic lighthouse and a fort ruins. Its sister fort went up across the pass at today’s Fort DeSoto Park, occupying a handful of islands popular with shellers, cyclists and campers.
The history timeline takes up again on St. Pete Beach, home to The Don CeSar Beach Resort and Spa, playground of 1920s glitterati such as F. Scott Fitzgerald and Al Capone. The pink palace landmark welcomes travellers to the long island with its family-friendly beaches and hotels. Beach accesses are conveniently located and the action is always lively with water sports rentals and charters. Here is where to catch a boat to the un-bridged islands for a day of snorkelling and beach picnicking.
Next on the island roll call, Treasure Island is comparatively quiet and even more suited to family budgets. John’s Pass separates Treasure Island from Madeira Beach and it’s here you’ll find the greatest concentration of fishing and boating charters. On the
Tarpon Springs St. Petersburg/Clearwater Area CVB
Madeira Beach side assembles the salty shopping and dining district of John’s Pass Village & Boardwalk. It’s a good place to hoist a beer and swap fish tales or enjoy the fruits of John’s Pass’ reputation for grouper catches. Clock in during October for the annual John’s Pass Seafood Festival.
Communities in various degrees of casual and wealth string along north of Madeira Beach, with beach accesses, a fishing pier, miniature golf, hotels intimate to grand, and seafood houses to welcome visitors. The island ends at Sand Key Park, consistently named among the nation’s best for its green spaces and extra-wide powdery sands.
From there a bridge takes you to Clearwater Beach, headquarters for beach volleyball competition and site of the nightly upbeat sunset celebration on Pier 60 with entertainers and crafts vendors.
Clearwater, across the causeway, hosts the largest free-admission jazz festival in the Southeast every October. The 55-kilometre Pinellas Trail, which begins in St. Petersburg, gives cyclists an opportunity to two-wheel through town, all the way to Dunedin and beyond. The Scottish town of Dunedin is known for its antiquing and twin island state parks of Honeymoon and Caladesi, both beacher havens.
Tarpon Springs claims the highest percentage of Greek residents in the U.S. Along Dodecanese Boulevard, sample authentic baklava, visit the sponge docks, take a cultural boat tour, and shop for sponges and real feta cheese.
The St. Petersburg/Clearwater area has everything under the sun for visitors. And about that sun: St. Petersburg once made the book of Guinness World Records for most consecutive days of sunshine.
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