Family-Friendly Hotel Right on Daytona Beach

At Oceanside Inn Daytona Beach, guests get a front-row seat to see the sun rise over the Atlantic. Park a deck chair on the inn’s 2,250-square-foot terrace lawn, or look out from the heated outdoor pool near the oceanfront. And when the sun is up during the day, you can take a short walk to the white-sand beach to soak up some rays, or play a round at one of the nearby golf courses—including the LPGA International Courses—that make this one of the nation’s premium golf regions.

Oceanside Inn’s simply appointed guest rooms either overlook the ocean or the beach. Each comes furnished with a microwave, a small refrigerator, and a coffeemaker. The family-friendly hotel is 7 miles east of the famous Daytona International Speedway. It’s also only a short drive from Daytona Beach’s restaurants, where you can sample local seafood, order a hearty burger, or sip tropical cocktails. You can also grab a drink or a sandwich right at the Tiki Bar during the day.

Daytona Beach, Florida: Racing Legacy and a Famed Lighthouse

At the turn of the 20th century, motorists began racing on the packed sand of Daytona Beach out of practicality: the beach had a wide, unobstructed stretch and a smooth surface ideal for high-speed sprinting. Today, stock-car racing has moved to the nearby Daytona International Speedway, but it’s still possible to park your car along the oceanfront here—one of the few beaches in the world where you can do so.

Hundreds of thousands of racing fans visit Daytona International Speedway each year to watch world-class champions such as Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon. Stock-car, sports-car, and motorcycle events round out the calendar all year, highlighted by the Daytona 500 in February—the first race of the Sprint Cup Series and typically regarded as the most prestigious. On various behind-the-scenes tours, you can explore the speedway’s elevated press boxes, banked infield turns, and decadent hot tubs filled with motor oil.

At Daytona Beach itself, cars toting beach gear roll across the hard-packed sand through oceanfront driving zones; there are also traffic-free areas. South of town, you can see the Ponce de León Inlet Lighthouse. There, a spiral staircase winds up to the top of a 175-foot tower, where you can overlook a 52-acre park filled with armadillos, shore birds, and native wildflowers.

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