Sarasota
The winter home of the Ringling circus inherited from its founder a Venetian palace on the bay and a museum of Baroque masters, then from the modernist architects of the 1950s a taste for concrete and glass. Across the water, on the islands, the quartz sand of Siesta Key stays cool underfoot in full sun, and further south, you pick up fossil shark teeth in the waves.
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Sarasota · Photo Jeffrey Eisen / Pexels
Things to do in Sarasota in 6 days
Day 1
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John and Mable Ringling's 27-hectare bayside estate, with Ca' d'Zan, their Venetian Gothic winter home of 1926, an art museum of Baroque painting including large Rubens canvases, and a circus museum.
💡 The estate opens daily from 10 am to 5 pm, and on Thursdays from 5 pm to 8 pm at a reduced rate for the art museum and gardens. The house is visited at set times: take the ticket that includes its ground floor. Parking is free. Price: art museum, circus museum and gardens $30, about €26; with Ca' d'Zan $45, about €39; ages 6 to 17: $5, about €4, or $20, about €17, with the house.
Mableringling / CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
Day 2
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A bayside botanical garden downtown devoted to epiphytes, orchids, bromeliads and ferns, with a tropical conservatory, giant banyans, a bamboo forest and a second site at Historic Spanish Point.
💡 The garden opens daily from 10 am to 5 pm, except at Christmas. Come in the morning, before the heat, and have lunch at the garden restaurant. Price: $28, about €24, for an adult; $12, about €10, ages 5 to 17.
Daderot / CC0 (Wikimedia Commons)Learn moreMore
A compact, walkable downtown around Main Street, its cafés and galleries, leading to Bayfront Park, the marina and the giant Unconditional Surrender statue, with 1950s modernist buildings around town.
💡 Come on Saturday morning for the downtown farmers' market, then walk along the bay to the marina at sunset. In the evening, Main Street and Palm Avenue come alive around the restaurants. Price: free.
Wendyrichmondrn / CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
Day 3
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A roundabout of shops and restaurants designed by John Ringling and decorated with classical statues, five minutes from the white sand of Lido Beach and the mangrove tunnels of South Lido.
💡 Have dinner on the Circle, then walk to Lido Beach for the sunset. For the mangrove tunnels, rent a kayak or go with a guide from Ted Sperling Park, at South Lido, in the morning when the wind is light. Price: walk and beaches free; kayak extra.
Ebyabe / CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
Day 4
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The new aquarium of the Mote Marine Laboratory, founded in 1955 by Eugenie Clark, with sharks swimming above visitors, rays and otters, and glass-walled labs where researchers work on corals.
💡 The aquarium opens daily from 9.30 am to 5 pm. Book a dated ticket online, as slots sell fast, especially during school holidays. Price: paid dated ticket, to be bought online.
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A vast public beach of almost pure quartz sand that stays cool in the sun, calm, shallow turquoise water, named the best beach in the United States in 2026 by U.S. News & World Report.
💡 Arrive before 10 am at weekends, as the large public car park fills quickly in season; a free trolley links the beach to Siesta Key village and Turtle Beach, on the island. Stay for the sunset over the Gulf. Price: free.
Fred Hsu on en.wikipedia / CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
Day 5
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One of Florida's largest state parks, 30 minutes east, where hundreds of alligators, herons and roseate spoonbills live, with a suspended canopy walkway and an observation tower above the oaks.
💡 Come at dawn or in the late afternoon, in the dry season from December to April, when the animals gather near the water. Never approach alligators on the banks and do not swim: swimming is prohibited. Price: about $6, about €5, per vehicle.
Day 6
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The wildest beach in Venice, self-styled shark tooth capital of the world, where the waves wash up fossils of prehistoric sharks that visitors sift from the sand at the water's edge.
💡 Look for the small black, shiny teeth at the water's edge at low tide, or hire a long-handled sieve from a shop in Venice. Keep shoes on for the pebbly areas. Price: beach and parking free.
Karl Thomas Moore / CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)"Book" (hotels) and "via GetYourGuide" (activities) are affiliate links (Booking, GetYourGuide). Prices, times and distances are approximate.
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Good to know before you go
🍽️ Must-try food
Burgers and barbecue
brisket and ribs cooked low and slow, done differently in every state.
Clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl
the classic lunch on the San Francisco waterfront.
Mexican food
tacos from a truck in Los Angeles, a Mission burrito in San Francisco.
Pancakes and weekend brunch
a national habit, generous to the point of excess.
Craft beer, and California wine from Napa and Sonoma.
Dishes to look for in the good places: Sarasota.
⚠️ Best avoided
- Tipping is not optional: add 15 to 20% in restaurants and bars.
- Prices on menus and in shops exclude sales tax, which is added at the till.
- Do not plan more than four or five hours of driving a day: the distances are larger than they look on the map.
- Never travel without health insurance. A night in hospital can cost thousands of dollars.
- In summer, do not hike down into the Grand Canyon in the heat of the day: the climb back out is where people get into trouble.
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The little details that make all the difference once you're there.
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📄 See the full guide: Sarasota, detailed month-by-month weather, budget, what to avoid and FAQ.