If you’re planning a tour of Florida, Tampa is not usually at the top of the list. Still, a visit to Tampa with kids is worthwhile and a lot more relaxing than, say, a trip to Miami. Thanks to its impressive skyline, great Cuban influence and coziness, you really don’t want to skip this city during a family vacation to Florida. Moreover, Tampa can be combined well with a visit to Busch Gardens, making it perfect to alternate city and theme park. Wondering what activities you can do in Tampa with kids? We have collected the following tips in Tampa for you.
Best travel time Tampa with kids
The best travel time for Tampa with kids is like other Florida destinations. In fact, the best travel time is from October to April. During this period, temperatures are between 18°C and 27°C, and humidity is not as high. Moreover, this is the best time to spot manatees near Tampa. But Tampa is also a fine city to visit in the summer months.
Despite the fact that temperatures can reach above 30°C and heavy rain falls daily in summer, it usually does not affect life in the city. Many activities are (partly) indoors, and in parks and playgrounds there are cloths and umbrellas to protect you from the sun. You can therefore visit Tampa with the family just fine almost all year round.
Transportation to and in Tampa
Like many major cities, Tampa has its own airport, Tampa International Airport (TPA). From another state, therefore, the easiest way is to book a domestic flight. By car rental, you will reach Tampa via Interstate 75 or Interstate 4. You can very easily rent a car at the Tampa airport. For more information on renting a car at the Tampa airport, take a look here.
Many families tour the state of Florida and start their tour in Orlando or Miami. If you want to rent a car in Orlando, take a look here and if you want to rent a car in Miami take a look here.
In many parts of Tampa, parking is paid, and in the suburbs of Tampa, a rental car is not always safely parked.
Check well in advance which parking garages are well secured and reserve a spot in advance if possible. Cabs and rideshares such as Uber and Lyft are widely used in the city. In Uber’s app, you can ask for a car with a child seat, but then you often have to wait a little longer for the ride to be accepted. Be sure to buy a local sim card at the airport so you can use the app anywhere in the city.
Furthermore, the TECO Line Streetcar connects Downtown Tampa to Ybor City and you can catch the Pirate Water Taxi along the Hillsborough River. In certain parts of the city, such as the Tampa Riverwalk, you can rent bikes, kids’ bikes and bike seats to explore the neighborhood.
Children’s activities in Tampa
#1 Go to Clearwater Beach
Located on the Gulf of Mexico, Clearwater Beach in Tampa has beautiful white sand beaches and crystal clear waters. In general, the water is shallow and calm making it perfect for safe play, swimming and snorkeling. There are also several restrooms, showers and changing rooms at Clearwater Beach, where you can easily rinse off and change before heading back into town.
Pier 60 hosts the Sunsets at Pier 60 Festival every day. This free festival features many buskers and handmade souvenirs, but of course the best part was the bouncy castles for our daughter with the sunset in the background. Clearwater Beach is easily accessible by rental car or cab. Around the beach, parking is paid everywhere. The North Beach Parking Plaza and Pelican Walk Parking Garages are within walking distance of Clearwater Beach and cost around $20 per day, depending on the day and season.
In addition, there are several public parking lots, for example at Pier 60. These cost between $3 and $5 per hour, but you can often pay for the whole day right away, so you don’t have to walk back. The same goes for the parking meters along the street. There, rates are also about $3 an hour. At the parking lots, enforcement is very strict, so it’s better not to take the risk and throw money in the vending machine right away.
#2 Take the Pirate Water Taxi
A fun way to explore Tampa with kids is on Pirate Water Taxi. This water cab travels through the heart of the city via the Hillsborough River. With fifteen different stops around the city, it is more like a Hop-on Hop-off boat, but much, much more fun. And that starts with the perfectly executed theme, with flags, wooden decorations, and, of course, crew members in pirate costumes.
Along the way, the crew tells all kinds of stories about the pirates who sailed the waters of Florida. These great and exciting stories are interspersed with fun facts about the city and its sights, making it a fun boat ride for the whole family. Many of the Pirate Water Taxi’s stops are near popular sights and attractions.
These include a stop at the Tampa Bay History Center, the Florida Aquarium and the Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park. Furthermore, the boat is easily accessible for strollers and spacious enough for the whole family. You can buy several tickets at Pirate Water Taxi, but our favorite was the day pass. This allows you to hop on and off all day without restriction, making it suddenly a convenient means of transportation.
The boats run regularly, so you never have to wait long for the next boat full of pirates.
#3 Visit Ybor with the TECO line streetcar
Ybor City is also called “Cigar City,” which is a place in Tampa where time seems to stand still. The cobblestone streets, historic buildings, and old atmospheric street lights are from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Immigrants from Cuba, Spain and Italy worked for the cigar factory in Ybor at the time, and these cultures are reflected throughout the neighborhood.
Many of the old cigar factories have been converted into museums, stores and restaurants, where many old elements remain intact. The most fun way to travel to Ybor is on the TECO Line Streetcar. These old streetcars are also from the early 20th century, but have been completely restored.
After a ride in the Pirate Water Taxi, our daughter was naturally delighted that we also boarded an old-fashioned streetcar, including wooden benches, brass accents and an old-fashioned bell, on our way to Ybor. The streetcar connects Ybor City to downtown Tampa and Channelside. There are a total of 11 stops including the Florida Aquarium.
This makes it easy to transfer to the water cab and vice versa. Moreover, a ride on the TECO Line Streetcar is free, so you can hop on and off as many times as you like without any problems.
#4 Live it up on the Tampa Riverwalk
Along the Hillsborough River runs the Tampa Riverwalk. This trail is nearly five kilometers long and also car-free, making it a wonderful place to run, scoot, bike or take a nice walk. What makes this riverwalk extra special is its location. Like the river, the trail runs through the heart of the city, which makes you feel like you’re in a kind of twilight zone, with the skyline on one side and the beautiful river on the other.
In addition, the Riverwalk connects several parks. We found the Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park to be the nicest park. With a beautiful playground and several fountains, you can easily spend an hour here enjoying the sun and a nice picnic. The Riverwalk also takes you past the Glazer Children’s Museum and the Tampa Museum of Art.
We did not visit these, but also seem to be very nice. In the summer, you can also kayak, paddleboard or paddleboard along the Riverwalk, which is also very cool with older kids. Parking near the Riverwalk can quickly become very expensive, but the trail is easily accessible from the various stops of the Pirate Water Taxi and the TECO Line Streetcar.
So it’s better to park your car on the outskirts of the city and travel to the Riverwalk with one of these.
#5 Enjoy Ballast Point Park
At the end of our trip, we were tipped by a local to go to Ballast Point Park, on the city’s southeast coast. Ballast Point Park is one of the oldest parks in Tampa and has fantastic views of the bay and the city skyline. The park is said to have been designed with families in mind, and that is evident in the layout.
The park features a huge playground with slides, swings and rubber tiles. Furthermore, during the summer months, the interactive splash zone is active. This playground features fountains, water sprinklers and shallow pools where especially the little ones can go wild. Next to the splash area are changing rooms and restrooms, so the whole family can get back on the road dry afterwards.
As in the other parks, Ballast Point Park has plenty of picnic tables in the shade and a few places where you can get tasty snacks, drinks and coffee. Especially the places overlooking the bay are very nice to have lunch, because that’s when you have the greatest chance of spotting a dolphin in the bay.
If you want to travel to Ballast Point Park from downtown Tampa with kids, it is about fifteen to twenty minutes by car. Your best bet is to drive along Bayshore Boulevard. Parking around Ballast Point Park is free, but crowded. So it’s smart to do go early if you plan to take a rental car in that direction.
Family-friendly restaurant Tampa
You can also eat delicious and relaxing food in Tampa with kids. There are several neighborhoods and places where you can enjoy Latin American and Cuban cuisine in an informal setting. The TECO Line Streetcar stops at Sparkman Wharf, among other places.
Sparkman Wharf opened in 2018 as the city’s new hot spot. You’ll find several street food vendors surrounding a large lawn where kids can play and run. You’ll buy ice cream at Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams, healthy snacks at The Naked Farmer and the best coffee at Foundation Coffee Co.
During the summer months, events are regularly held and temporary playground equipment is erected. In Ybor City is the Columbia Restaurant. This restaurant was founded in 1905 by Cuban immigrant Casimiro Hernandez Sr. specifically for the Cuban, Spanish, and
Italian immigrants who worked in the cigar industry.
In the early years it was a small cafe serving coffee and Cuban sandwiches, but today it is the best family restaurant in the Ybor neighborhood. Especially for the kids, there are children’s menus, crayons and coloring sheets. But perhaps more importantly, kids of all ages are more than welcome.
Both the staff and guests are hugely sociable and visibly enjoy the hustle and bustle of the large families around them. In the evening, flamenco shows are performed, which makes the restaurant even more convivial. After visiting the Columbia Restaurant, get the most delicious ice cream at the Chill Bros Scoop Shop. Don’t feel like ice cream? Then you can also get different (Cuban) coffees there.
Family-friendly hotel Tampa
You can stay in Tampa with kids just fine. You have plenty of family-friendly accommodations you can book. Below are some very well-reviewed family-friendly accommodations in Tampa in different price ranges. Click on the blue link for more information.
Budget accommodations: Extended Stay America Premier Suites – Tampa – Fairgrounds – Casino
Mid-range accommodations: Sleep Inn & Suites Tampa South
Luxury accommodations: Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay
For the entire list of family-friendly accommodations in Tampa, take a look here.
About the author: along with her daughter and partner, Lesley is always looking for new adventures. Thanks to their love of the Spanish language and culture, they are most often found in Spain, Central and South America.
