Anna Maria Island (Old Florida Seafood) ★ 4.4
Anna Maria Island south of Tampa runs the Old Florida fish-camp seafood circuit, with Sandbar, Beach Bistro and casual grouper sandwiches on the Gulf.
More food day trips in Tampa
Sarasota (Fine Dining and Beach) ★ 4.4
Sarasota an hour south runs its own Michelin Guide listings with stars at Indigenous, plus the Selva Grill and Owen's Fish Camp on the bayfront.
Lakeland (Publix Original) ★ 4.1
Lakeland east of Tampa houses Publix's founding 1930 store and a revived downtown lakefront with brunch, craft beer and the original Florida Southern campus.
St Petersburg (Downtown and the Pier) ★ 4.5
St Petersburg downtown runs a stronger waterfront restaurant scene than Tampa, with the Pier complex carrying Fresco's, Doc Ford's and Teak waterfront grills.
Tarpon Springs (Sponge Docks Greek) ★ 4.5
Tarpon Springs on the Greek sponge docks runs the largest concentration of Greek restaurants in the country, with Hellas, Mykonos and the bakeries.
Dunedin (Craft Beer Crawl) ★ 4.4
Dunedin on Pinellas has Tampa Bay's densest craft brewery row, with Dunedin Brewery, 7venth Sun Dunedin and Cueni Brewing in a Scottish-American village.