If you’re going to Florida, check out these ideas for fun, family-friendly things to do with kids in the Tampa area!

I just got back from a nine-day cross-country trip that involved four flights and more than 12 hours in the car…with my kids (ages 4 and 1). Am I crazy? Probably, but it was actually (mostly) a ton of fun!

My husband had to travel to Tampa, Florida for work, and there was a conference he wanted to attend in Key West around the same time, so we decided to make an epic family vacation of it and hope we weren’t totally getting in over our heads.

I figured, he had to go anyway, and I’d rather spend the days exploring with the kids in a fun, new city than going crazy at home without him. So, we packed our bags and headed off on our adventure (Do you like how I made it sound like packing for a family of four is super easy? It’s not, FYI).

In case any of you ever have an opportunity to visit the Tampa area, I thought I’d give a little review and recap of some of our favorite things we did on our trip. We have quite a bit of travel planned this year, so don’t be surprised if you see more posts in this little series.

First of all, I have to say that Tampa has never been on my list of places to visit. Not because I had any negative impression of it, I just never thought about it at all. It turns out, it’s actually a great family-friendly city!

Things to do with kids in Tampa, Florida

Riverwalk & Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park

Our first evening in Tampa (after checking in at the hotel and getting a quick dinner), we decided to drive downtown and walk along the Riverwalk. It’s a 2.4 mile path along the river that gives great views of the city skyline, the university, and–my boys’ favorite–a working drawbridge. We didn’t walk far (the boys were tired after the long day of traveling), but even in our short jaunt, I was impressed. It was clean, enjoyable, and not crowded.

We parked right by the children’s museum (see below) and walked to the great little playground they have by the water. It’s part of the Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park, which is actually quite large and has a splash pad and seating around a grassy amphitheater. My boys made friends with some local kids who all loved that my husband was willing to push them all on the merry-go-round! Note: Floridians were super friendly!

Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo

The Tampa Zoo was the best zoo I’ve ever been to, at least from the perspective of taking toddlers. It’s not cheap, but you essentially get a season pass for the price of one day, so you can go more than once while you’re in town, which we did!

There are lots of animals to see (all the kids’ favorites) and a lot of them could be seen pretty close up, like these rhinos that were less than 10 feet from us!

My boys especially loved all the rides, and I loved that they were included with admission. Most are geared toward the six-and-under crowd, though there are a couple bigger rides as well.

The boys had a blast on the tiny train, flying bananas (think Disneyland’s Dumbo ride), and the carousel. (Update: They have changed out some of the rides offered since we visited, but they are just getting better!)

The splash pad was also a welcome addition since it was so hot.

The zoo has a few other cool features, too. In the African safari section, they have an 18-minute tram ride that goes around that whole section of the zoo and also shows some extras.  It was the last thing we did,  and it was perfect because we were hot and tired, so we got to see all the animals while sitting in the shade.

The only thing I wouldn’t recommend at the zoo with toddlers is the bird show.  I thought it was interesting, but it was slower paced and the boys both got restless.

All in all, we spent five hours at the zoo the first day, and almost three more hours there on our last morning in Tampa, and we were never bored.

Little Toot Dolphin Cruise (Clearwater, FL)

The highlight of our whole trip—hands down—was the sunset dolphin cruise aboard The Little Toot. I’d read great reviews, but the experience totally exceeded my expectations. The boat was small, with only about a dozen people on board, and it sat low in the water so the views were amazing. It was a simple, no-frills cruise, but that made it even better.

On the way out of the harbor, we spotted a few dolphins in the distance and caught some nice glimpses. Then, as we entered the Gulf, the sun began to set and painted the water in brilliant colors.

The real fun happened on the way back. A group of dolphins decided to play in our wake, racing alongside the boat and leaping right through the waves. They would land on their sides, almost like belly flops! It was hilarious and incredible to watch them so close in the wild.

We had debated doing a pirate-themed cruise instead, but it was twice the price and on a much bigger boat, which would have meant being farther away from the dolphins. I’m so glad we chose The Little Toot.

I only wish we’d had more time around Clearwater Beach. It’s definitely touristy, but the restaurants, playground, and long pier for sunset walks all looked like fun. Next time!

Glazer Children’s Museum

The next day the boys and I went to the Glazer Children’s museum,  which was also really fun. Kind of pricey ($15 for adults, $10 for kids over 1),  but we enjoyed a good 3 hours there. My boys especially loved the indoor beach, theater, and fire station. It didn’t have anything particularly notable to me, but it was a high quality children’s museum at least comparable to the ones I’ve been to in Utah near where I live.

St. Pete Beach

On our last evening in Tampa, we wanted some beach time. We almost went to the closer Ben T. Davis Beach, but several locals told us it wasn’t worth it and recommended St. Pete Beach instead.

The traffic on the drive over wasn’t fun, but it was defintely worth it. The beach was clean, with plenty of parking that only cost a dollar or two per hour. Little Man was thrilled to collect handfuls of tiny shells, while Little Brother had the time of his life chasing birds. He was determined to pet one, though always disappointed. The water was warm, shallow, and perfect for wading far out.

Having grown up by the Pacific, I always forget how comfortable the Gulf of Mexico is—you can just walk straight in! St. Pete ended up being my favorite beach of the whole trip, and I’m so glad we made the drive.

Manatee Viewing Center

We didn’t actually do this one because it’s not open in the summer, but if you go to Tampa between November and April, you can see manatees for FREE at the Tampa Electric Company. Apparently, they discharge (clean) warm water into the ocean as part of their production process, and the manatees congregate around it when the ocean temperature is cooler in the winter. If I ever go back during the cooler months, I SO want to do this.

Overall, we had a great time in Tampa. It was really hot and humid (more so than is normal this time of year, according to the locals), so it was hard to spend a lot of time outside unless we were in the water, but we found lots of fun things to do.

Stay tuned for my next post in the “travel with kids” series for highlights of our trip to the Florida Keys and the Everglades.

Have you been to Florida? What are your must-see attractions in the sunshine state?

Note: All opinions in this post are my own, and I was not compensated in any way for endorsing the companies/attractions mentioned herein.