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THE US TAMPA DESTINATIONS 16.00: Florida Aquarium


16.30: Ybor City


ASK THE EXPERTS


Brendan MacDonagh, agency sales team leader, North America Travel Service “One of my favourite things about Tampa is that it’s a great place to explore by bike. There are cycle routes everywhere, so it’s a safe and fun way to get around. I especially love cycling along the waterfront.”


Malcolm Davies, product destination manager, Funway Holidays “Tampa is a vibrant city filled with fantastic attractions, including the Florida Aquarium in downtown Tampa and, slightly further out from the city centre, Busch Gardens. I also love Tampa’s culture and history – the revitalised historic district and the brilliant museums.”


14.00: Tampa Bay History Center


with interactive exhibits – a must for budding Jack Sparrows keen to learn about the conquistadors and pirates who roamed Florida’s waters.


16.00: Head over to the Florida Aquarium – it’s just a two-minute walk away, and if you’ve got a Tampa Bay CityPASS, entry will be free. Here, you’ll find 7,000 animals and plants, including sharks, turtles and sea lions. The aquarium also offers wild-dolphin cruises, and if you’re feeling brave, you can swim in a tank filled with sharks, stingrays and barracudas. Don’t miss the wonderfully weird No Bone Zone, where you can see (and touch) sea anemones and starfish.


19.00: Time for dinner at Anise Global Gastrobar. The menu pays a hearty nod to southeast Asian cuisine. Highlights include the famous ‘sticky bunz’, a savoury dish that harks back to the restaurant’s food-truck origins, when it was the most popular dish. Equally popular are the Thai and Korean dogs, but don’t panic – these are the ‘hot’ versions, rather than the barking ones. aniseglobal.com


Tampa Bay this year, every weekend between August 25 and September 16.


Tampa Bay History Center is a must for budding Jack Sparrows keen to learn about the pirates who roamed Florida’s waters


w DAY TWO 09.00: Enjoy breakfast at Bizou Brasserie, part of the Le Méridien hotel. You’ll find it inside the former courthouse – note the original jurors’ bench on the second floor and the witness stand in the restaurant. The crab benedict is to die for, as are the salted-caramel mocha cappuccinos.


11.00: It’s time to get an adrenaline fix at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. If you’re feeling brave, test your mettle on the theme park’s newest ride, Cobra's Curse, a spinning rollercoaster. And if you’re visiting in late summer, check out Bier Fest. Previously held only at the Williamsburg park, Busch Gardens’ Oktoberfest will also take place at


16.00: Hop on the streetcar (free at weekends) to Ybor City, a Cuban neighbourhood famous for its connections with cigars. Between 1890 and the 1930s, hundreds of millions of cigars were produced here every year.


16.30: Get your bearings with a wander down the cigar shop-filled 7th Avenue. Keep your eyes peeled for the statue of Vicente Martinez-Ybor, the Spanish industrialist and cigar manufacturer regarded as Ybor City's founder. After sunset, the area takes on a Key West feel – many bars are open-air (if only to help cigar smoke disperse) and both tourists and locals flock here for live music and cheap buckets of Corona.


19.30: Columbia Restaurant has been owned by the same family for more than 110 years. The flamenco dinner shows (there are multiple performances every evening, barring Sundays) are an explosion of foot- stomping, finger-snapping fun, just a few feet from your table. Olé! columbiarestaurant.com


3 May 2018 travelweekly.co.uk 53


PICTURES: KEIR MAGOULAS/VISIT TAMPA BAY


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