We spent just over 2 weeks in Florida over the Christmas period and I can’t recommend it more! It was our first Christmas away but Florida made it so much fun. All of the decorated cars {yep, some cars are covered in christmas lights, others have big wreaths on the front or back}, the house displays, the fun vibe, they just go all out and I LOVE it. Also waking up to palm trees and bright blue skies everyday, going to the beach and feeling warm sunshine on my face fed my soul. There’s just so much to do in Florida and the beaches are out of this world. The shelling and the food were real highlights too. I would caveat by saying that it is expensive - you’re competing with the snowbirds from the colder states plus Canada at that time of year plus a weak pound. We also moved around quite a bit to visit different places so it did feel like we spent a lot of time in the car. We spent actual Christmas at our friend’s house whilst they were out of town which was a real treat.

We stayed in a few different places and they were all on the budget side as this was kind of a bonus trip that we squeezed in, and travel over Christmas is expensive. If you have more to spend on accommodation or you’re going with a group then I’d stay on one of the islands I think and have more of a traditional holiday in one place if that makes sense {like I used to do with my parents}. But here’s a big bumper list of everywhere that we visited in case it helps you to plan a trip and some top tips //

Our Itinerary //

I’ll detail everything below but here is how our itinerary looked:

We flew in and out of Tampa with Virgin {indirect on the way home via Atlanta with Delta which saves some money. We booked all of the flights through the Virgin Atlantic website}.
TOP TIP for flying into America, make sure you have your ESTA before you go but also download the MPC passport app to save a lot of time on arrival, you get to just skip the arrivals queue.
We picked up a car from the airport {with hire cars I always book one in advance with a cancellable plan and then check the price a few weeks before we travel. Car hire prices fluctuate so much. Also make sure you have excess insurance} and drove to an airbnb in Tampa for a couple of nights - this one {I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it as a base for your whole trip but it was an affordable option & worked for us to combine the children’s museum and a couple of the beach areas within about an hour’s drive}.
From here we walked to the Glazer Children’s museum and the Tampa river walk area.
We also drove to Anna Maria Island, Siesta Key Beach, Venice/Manasota Key Beaches from here.
Then we drove to Celebration - see this post - for an airboat ride, Celebration itself, a beautiful stay at the Inn at Celebration, hired bikes and even went to an ICE exhibit. This is the area that you’d visit if you’re doing the theme parks.
From here we drove to our friend’s house in Boca Raton, just above Miami, for the Christmas period. I won’t include details of that as it’s not somewhere for hire and isn’t really a touristy area but we did have such a wonderful, special time and there’s lots on my instagram highlights of that - see these and this post. They had such a magical house and made it really magical for us!
Then we had 3 nights in Homewood Suites by Bonita Springs which was a great, affordable base and apart hotel to visit Naples, Delnor Wiggins State Park, Marco Island etc.
Then we moved to our final spot, 6 nights in a villa in Cape Coral - this is a really affordable location for large airbnb villas with pools BUT you do need to then drive to the beaches so it has pros and cons! From here we visited Sanibel & Captiva islands, Fort Myers and drove back down to Naples.

Anna Maria Island //

This is pure paradise and somewhere I definitely want to stay on for future trips. It’s surprisingly big but the kind of place where everyone gets around by golf cart {if you stay here then you should definitely hire one!}. There are a few beaches surrounding it, we loved Bean Point right at the top, Manatee Public Beach and Coquina Beach. I just adored the laid back attitude, the huge beaches and dreamy houses. We even saw dolphins whilst sitting on the sand here!
Food wise, I’d saved these spots - Two Scoops Ice cream, Skinny’s Place for burgers, Anna Maria Island Beach Cafe for eating right on the beach, The Kokonut Hut for eating right on the sand - it looks like a hotel resort, Wicked Cantina.
The island kind of centres around Pine Avenue up the top and then Bridge Street for the pier but you need to drive between them.
We booked a dolphin trip with See Dolphins that gave a 99% chance of seeing dolphins. It was really good value for a 90 minute boat ride and they were great with kids. This was a fraction of the cost of boat trips further south. Unfortunately we were one of the 1% who didn’t spot any dolphins but they put us on a list where we could go back another time & we managed to fit it in on our last day on the way back to the airport and saw lots! Our children haven’t stopped talking about them since we got home so it was really special.
If we’d have had more time we’d have gone to the Shiny Fish Emporium to paint a sand dollar.
It was pretty easy to find free parking here but there’s also a free trolley that runs around the island that would be worth looking up.

Anna Maria Island, South Florida with Kids Guide

Anna Maria Island Harbour, Anna Maria Island, South Florida with Kids Guide

Seeing Dolphins on Anna Maria Island, Anna Maria Island, South Florida with Kids Guide

Anna Maria Island Pier, Anna Maria Island, South Florida with Kids Guide

Boat trip on Anna Maria Island, South Florida with Kids Guide

Dolphin Boat Trip, Anna Maria Island, South Florida with Kids Guide

Colourful houses, Anna Maria Island, South Florida with Kids Guide

Glazer Children’s Museum //

Whenever we go to America we seek out children’s museums since they do them crazily well. This one, Glazer Children’s Museum in the heart of Tampa was no exception and definitely one of the best that we’ve ever visited. It was set across 3 floors, had real dinosaur bones which my children adored, a huge water play area, climbing areas, den making, a large craft project where you could make gingerbread houses out of cardboard {my dream to have a whole wall of materials and a glue gun and not make a mess in my own house haha}, a mini town, fireman’s roleplay, tonnes of STEM activities, mini working supermarket, stories, it was amazing and we could have spent a whole day there! Outside there’s a splash pad and it’s set on the Tampa river walk.

Siesta Key //

This is regularly voted as the number 1 beach in America and the sand is unreal here. It’s like silica? Just feels so nice on your feet! There’s a huge free parking lot outside it and a big playground. We went for sunset but wish we’d spent more time here!

Marco Island //

One of the biggest reasons I actually wanted to return to Florida was for the shelling with Freya. I used to do it with my Mum and I Just knew that she’d love it!

It was one of my all time favourites where I spent a fair amount of time on holiday growing up. It’s also one of the best places to find sand dollars - go to the right, as you look at the sea, of Tigertail Beach for low tide and follow it all the way up towards Coconut Point. I would say that beach access can be a little hard here because of the huge strips of hotels/apartments right on South Beach but it’s just got such a cute nice vibe to the island. We used to rent a villa here & cycle around. There’s a farmers market and a splash park on the island. On this trip we just went for the day and parked at Tigertail Beach, walked to get to the actual beach {from the car park it is a long way so bear it in mind} and then after went to Leebe Fish for the freshest blackened mahi mahi mexican style bowls and then to Sweet Annie’s ice cream.

From here you can take boat trips to Keewaydin Island for shelling and Rookery Bay Learning Centre sounded good - we didn’t end up making it there.

Marco Island, Sand Dollars, South Florida with Kids Guide

STAY // Homewood Suites Bonita Springs.

We found a great rate here on Expedia just a couple of weeks before {our plans changed fairly last minute} and actually it was such a great base that I’d definitely look at apart hotels like this again. It included a fantastic breakfast {chia puddings, a whole oatmeal station, bagels, pastries, make your own burritos and tacos} and had a heated pool with BBQs. It was a 2 minute walk from a big Publix supermarket. It was a drive to local beaches & Naples etc but we had a great stay here.

Homewood Suites at Bonita Springs, South Florida with Kids Guide

STAY // Cape Coral Airbnb Villa

This was our longest base and I booked it mainly for having a heated pool so that the kids could swim - a must if booking during winter. As mentioned above, it’s not really the best location but did make for some chilled out days for self catering & relaxing in Florida. Just be prepared to drive anywhere as there isn’t much in the Cape! - but if you are staying here then this playground was v good!

Cape Coral Villa, South Florida with Kids Guide

Naples //

Ah, old town Naples. The most perfect spot with the most gorgeous houses and beach. It used to have a gorgeous, iconic fishing pier which sadly got damaged during a hurricane but will be rebuilt. Go to 5th Avenue South & 3rd St South and take a walk or drive along Gulf Shore Blvd to ogle at all of the Bahamian style beach houses. It’s a really exclusive area but with such a nice feel. If you have time then Naples Zoo and Naples Botanical Garden look like great places to visit.

Baker Park //

If you’re in Naples then Baker Park is a must. There’s an epic children’s playground and climbing structure there, huge green and splash pad. Do be aware that it’s right next to Naples airport - we love spotting planes so enjoyed it but it is noisy if you don’t. At the back it links up the Greenway which is a beautiful walk on boardwalks all the way up to Naples Zoo crossing some water. We loved this walk. You can park for free at either Baker Park or the end of Naples Park and look out for wildlife en route.

Victoria Park Christmas Lights //

If you’re near Naples at Christmas then driving through Victoria Park is a must! Every night from the start of December until New Year’s Eve most of the houses in the neighbourhood are decorated with lights. Some even sell hot cocoa. It’s a real spectacle. Expect to queue especially if you’re just before Christmas but it’s really fun! There’s also a trolley that runs around Naples & this neighbourhood that plays Christmas music if you don’t want to drive.

Victoria Park, Naples Christmas Lights, South Florida with Kids Guide

Delnor Wiggins Pass State Park // This was probably the most pristine beach we came across. It’s a State park & situated on a barrier island so the beach is super calm for swimming. It was just blissful, we ended up going back a couple of times as it was easy to park right next to it for just $6 - cheap for America {although parking spaces do get snapped up quickly!} and the water and sand were so beautiful there. We all swam here. It felt tropical!

Delnor Wiggins Pass State Beach, South Florida with Kids Guide

Golisano Children’s Museum of Naples {CMON} // For our family a perfect day involves a beach morning followed by a children’s museum afternoon! This wasn’t quite on the same level as Glazer in Tampa but still made for a very fun afternoon and we loved the shady outdoor areas.

Golisano Children's Museum, Naples, South Florida with Kids Guide

Sanibel + Captiva Islands = These islands will always feel so special to me and they also happen to be one of the best in Florida for shelling! Again, they’re so much bigger size wise than you’d imagine them to be. You can stay on the islands and then cycle around or take a golf cart which would be so much fun. We spent a morning shelling at Tarpon Beach on Sanibel and couldn’t believe the beauties that we found, again go at low tide, and then walked around one of the nature reserves before going to a gorgeous coffee shop and island grocery store Jerry’s for a picnic. We then went up to Captiva and visited the beach and Jensen’s marina and spotted a manatee. Parking is super expensive here! But just about worth it. They’ve just opened a kids water park at one of the Captiva resorts which looks amazing. The Bubble Room is an institution and worth a look for food, I remember their delicious cheeseburgers and shakes! It has such a tropical feel to it and there’s tonnes of wildlife to spot. Do be aware that it’s still rebuilding from Hurricane Ian where it actually got cut off from the mainland.

The restaurants/shops are all quite spread out so do expect to need to cycle or drive. There’s also a Shell Museum which looked amazing and I’d have loved to have visited!

Sanibel and Captiva Islands, South Florida with Kids Guide

Shelling on Sanibel and Captiva Islands, South Florida with Kids Guide

Other places not to miss:

Hunt for shark’s teeth on the Beach at Venice, or Manasota Key or Casperton. You can look with your eyes or rent/buy equipment from Venice Shark Frenzy shell shop. We just found some by walking the beach which the kids were really impressed by. It’s the shark tooth capital of the world.
Do stop at a shell shop though to look at the huge Megaladon teeth!
Publix is the main Floridian supermarket around. We used Publix and our fav Trader Joes
Detwiler’s Farm Shops are a must visit with the most impressive produce I think I’ve ever seen! Our kids loved the free cookies & cinnamon donuts they gave out here.
See also, Fork to Table in Naples for both a grocery store on steroids but also some amazing eateries inside. And the biggest gingerbread house I’ve ever seen!
I can’t go to America without visiting Chipotle, Shake Shack and Frozen Yogurt shops too. Also we took our UK Costco cards with us and went grocery shopping there {and couldn’t resist their food court pizza a couple of times! When in America…}
We had planned to go to Adventure Golf, Florida is known for it’s fun courses, but ran out of time! Congo River Golf looked fun though, multiple locations.