Florida Guide and Deals

A two-day pass aboard the Hop On Hop Off Tour provides riders with accessible transit and the cranial expansion of local knowledge. Throughout the route, a narration crafted by expert locals will keep you up to speed on where you are, where you are going, and where to direct your photographic and human irises. Non-English-speaking guests or bilingually curious natives can tune in to multilingual headsets along the ride. In addition to directing rubberneckers, the local good-times gurus at Gray Line lead wide-eyed wonderers into cultural hotbeds and fashionable storefronts. Riders who want to simply sink into the sun-soaked sand can browse the beach buffet out their window, hopping off when the bus reaches a towel-worthy strip.

Founder Carole Baskin never dreamt she'd one day oversee a 55-acre sanctuary inhabited by some of Earth's largest cats. In 1992, she and her late husband were at an exotic-animal auction seeking out llamas for their farm. A man had a 6-month-old bobcat that he could no longer care for, and the pair decided to give it a place to call home. They then traveled to a bobcat breeder for another playmate, but upon seeing the horrible conditions the animals were kept in, they bought all 56 kittens. They rehabilitated them back to health, and gave them permanent homes on their then-40-acre site. Soon, word of her knack for nurturing spread beyond the Tampa area, and callers began donating abandoned or orphaned cats. Her mission to save these animals also reached the ears and hearts of many celebrities, including contributors Harrison Ford and Bo Derek.

After 20 years of hard work and learning, Carole is still caring for abused and abandoned big cats at her rescue site, accommodating more than 100 medium and large creatures from bengal tigers and black leopards to lynx and lions. Her staff of volunteers helps care for the animals and leads groups in tours that educate visitors on the plight of these animals both in the wild and in captivity.

The founders of St. Petersburg probably didn't imagine future visitors rolling down its streets on upright, self-balancing machines. Mounted on Segway HTs, visitors on All About Fun Tours can do just that, cruising along the waterfront on devices that intuitively respond to their movements or fear of jellyfish. Tour options abound, and guides deliver a tutorial on Segway basics before leading groups around the historic city.

Tampa Bay Crawls escorts trekkers through downtown St. Petersburg and Tampa Bay’s culinary and alcoholic offerings with tasting and imbibing events at area restaurants and bars. Progressive dinner and restaurant crawls supply guests with new gastronomic sensations, and wine-tasting crawls dispense samples of finely crafted reds and whites. Bypassing straightforward tours through local bars, Tampa Bay Crawls spices up its pub crawls with various themed and costumed sessions, such as ’80s night, snuggie night, and census taker appreciation night, all open to groups and solo crawlers alike.

Fueled by a burning desire to be his own boss and eschew driving or walking, Geoff Karlavage founded his segway tour company and quickly met other fans of the upright, electric-powered transportation device. Now calling the shots as enthusiast-in-chief of not only Magic Carpet Glide and St. Petersburg Segway Tours in Florida, but also Portland by Segway in Oregon, Geoff shares his zeal for segways with a team of tour guides who seek to inspire a segway smile on each participant's face. Accessible to all ability levels, the signature tours of notable metropolitan locales surprise visitors and locals alike with little-known facts about the area and secret sights made visible only by onboard decloaking devices.

Tour times vary based on the sun’s schedule, with the last trip of the day commencing at sunset. See the tour’s FAQ section for answers to common inquiries, including recommended ages and rain policies.

After meeting at the Beachview Inn starting point and undergoing a training session that frowns upon Segway jousting, your tour group will segue on their Segways to the Ream Wilson trail and follow it to the Clearwater Memorial Causeway to spot a fantastic panorama of the Gulf of Mexico. Once you've snapped a few shots of people smiling, jumping, and balancing Segways on their noses, buzz down the corkscrew to Coachman Park before continuing to historic Harbor Oaks and the Clearwater Beach Walk. Along the way, there's a chance you'll spot manatees, dolphins, stingrays, and wild parrots. After two hours, you'll have covered seven miles worth of sunny landscapes and wildlife.