Fun Things To Do In Sarasota Florida

Sarasota is a mid sized city located on Florida's beautiful west central Gulf coast. Since it is a coastal city, water activities abound. This makes Sarasota the ideal vacation spot for beach goers and those that love water sports such as boating and fishing. All kinds of beach fun can be availed of here such as jet skiing, windsurfing, parasailing, and boating. For those that enjoy lazy peaceful days on the beach, Sarasota offers the opportunity to hunt for shells, build sand castles, float on the water and enjoy spectacular sunsets.

Plenty of activities can be found off the beach as well such as lawn bowling, shuffleboard, tennis, golf, and hiking nature trails. Some attractions worth seeing include the Mote Marine Laboratory, Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, Myakka River State Park, Bishop Planetarium, and Pelican Man's Bird Sanctuary.

Sarasota is noted as a cultural center and hosts many festivals as well. Artists, writers and performers are drawn to such events as the Sarasota Film Festival, the Sarasota Music Festival, and Artwalk on Palm Avenue. In addition, Sarasota is home to such cultural attractions as the Jazz Club, Sarasota Ballet, Sarasota Opera, the Aslo Theater Company, and the Lemon Bay Playhouse. In addition, Sarasota prides itself on preserving historical buildings and homes such as the John Ringling mansion and Bispam Wilson Historic District.

As you can see, there are numerous fun things to do when you visit Sarasota. You can spend relaxing days on the beach or in nature. You might instead choose to take part in one of the many water or sporting activities or attend a fun night at the Opera.

Sarasota, being somewhat centrally located, is also an easy drive to other points of interest in Florida. You could take a day trip to Fort Myers in the south, Miami to the east, or Tampa Bay and Orlando to the north. Major attractions within driving distance include Busch Gardens in Tampa and Disney, SeaWorld, and Universal Studios in Orlando.

While Sarasota is known for being an artsy, cultural city and home to retirees, there are plenty of activities to keep the entire family busy and happy for an entire vacation. Sarasota is also a wonderful city to live in, and with all the fun things to do, life will never get boring.

Sarasota is easily accessible from I-75; it is just right off the interstate. Sarasota also has an international airport and is serviced by Amtrak and bus lines so getting to the city is easy to do. There are many resort hotels on the beach in Sarasota which are destinations in and of themselves and can provide your family with a fun vacation even if you never leave the grounds.