Car Rental Tampa - Exploring Tampa

The best beaches in the area are about 32kms to the west of Tampa, towards the St Petersburg end of Tampa Bay. Clearwater Beach is one of the most popular, and Pier 60 is inundated with buskers and craft stalls over the weekends.

St Pete Beach is another popular spot to the south of Clearwater. The beach attracts hordes of day-trippers to its powdery white sands and deep blue waters. Dominating part of the foreshore is the mammoth pink outline of the Don CeSar beach resort, built in 1928.

St Petersburg is also home to the Salvador Dali Museum, which displays the largest collection of the artist's distinctive works, outside of Spain. Over 100 oil paintings document the creative genius of Dali, from his early dabbling in cubism and impressionism to the surrealism for which he is best known.

The spectacular 1,376-hectare Hillsborough State Park, situated 15kms to the city's north, is only accessible by car. Here visitors can enjoy guided walks or independent hikes through the park's verdant countryside, kayaking the pleasant Hillsborough River, and swimming in the onsite swimming pool.

Head across to the state's Atlantic coast to see Cape Canaveral and the famous Kennedy Space Center. The enormous playground of Orlando is on the way, and features Walt Disney World, Universal Studios and other endless entertainment, shopping and dining opportunities.

Tarpon Springs, to the northwest, is still Greek in flavour. The Manatee Coast, to the north, is quite rural, with extensive nature preserves. To the south are the sleepying town of Bradenton, which has several museums and beaches; Sarasota, a sophisticated resort city boasting spectacular arts and culture; and small, canal-crossed Venice, which is known as the 'shark tooth capital of the world'.