Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Ybor (ee-bore) City is a short car or trolley ride northeast of downtown. Like the illicit
love child of Key West and Miami's Little Havana, this 19th-century district is a multieth-
nic neighborhood that hosts the Tampa Bay area's hippest party scene. It also preserves a
strong Cuban, Spanish and Italian heritage from its days as the epicenter of Tampa's cigar
industry. For a guided, 90-minute walking tour, reserve ahead with
Ybor City Historic
Walking Tours
(
813-505-6779;
www.yborwalkingtours.com
; adult/child $15/5)
; they typically
run twice daily.
Florida Aquarium
AQUARIUM
813-273-4000;
www.flaquarium.org
; 701 Channelside Dr; adult/child $24/
19; 9:30am-5pm; )
Tampa's excellent aquarium is among the state's best. Cleverly designed, the re-created
swamp lets you walk among herons and ibis as they prowl the mangroves. Programs let
you swim with the fishes (and the sharks) or take a catamaran ecotour in Tampa Bay.
Tampa Museum of Art
MUSEUM
dent $10/5; 11am-7pm Mon-Thu, to 8pm Fri, to 5pm Sat & Sun)
Architect Stanley Saitowitz's dramatically cantilevered museum building appears to float
above Curtis Hixon Park overlooking the Hillsborough River. Inside its sculptural shell six
galleries house a permanent collection of Greek and Roman antiquities beside contempor-
ary exhibitions of photography and new media. Its most recent show exhibited the work
from Tampa's cutting-edge Graphicstudio, showcasing 110 printworks by 45 artists includ-
ing Robert Rauschenberg, Louise Bourgeois, Chuck Close and Christian Marclay.
11am-6pm Mon-Thu, to 7pm Fri, to 5pm Sat & Sun)
, by the creative team behind
Mise en Place
,
is a great place for brunch or cocktails overlooking the river. The cafe is accessible
through an admission-free entrance.
