Miami is a metropole with 5 million inhabitants. In numbers its not the biggest city of America, but it is one of the most exotic cities. About 80 per cent of the inhabitants of the city are coming from South America. The Cuban neighbourhood Little Havana belongs to one of the most popular neighbourhoods of Miami. You can go enjoy a night of salsa dancing or enjoy the Cuban influences. Miami is of course also perfectly suited for a simple day of relaxing at the beach. In the city you can also find gigantic shopping malls in which you can get lost of hours while being cooled by the air conditioning. If you are looking for souvenirs, then it is a good idea to go have a look at the small shops that you can find in the city. An afternoon of beach is of course best on Miami beach. The white sandy beaches seem to come directly from a fairy tale.
Orlando is perhaps the capital of theme parks of the world. The sun laden city knows dozens of theme parks that are mostly situated there because of the pleasant climate. The city is primarily a family destination where young and old spend their time having fun. During the day the city itself is fairly quiet because everyone is in one of the theme parks. In the evening the dozens of bars get crowded with tourists that come back from spending the day at one of the theme parks. A pride of the city is Lake Eola, a beautiful lake in the middle of the city surrounded by ancient trees. Around the lake are old pioneers houses. Another good sight in the city is the Orlando Science Centre. In the museum you will find 19.000 square metres of scientific discoveries.
Do you want to feel like a kid for a little while? Disney World feels like a dream that has come true. The gigantic park ensures that you spend at least a week to have seen all of the attractions. And so it becomes a matter of choosing which parks you do and do not want to have seen. A park that you should have seen is the Magic Kingdom Park, this is the original theme park which started it all. The park dating back from 1971 still attracts the most visitors of all of the Disney World parks. Well known attractions such as Space Mountain and Peter Pan's Flight are all to be experienced here. If you want to go for a more educative experience then Epcot is a good recommendation. In this park you are going on a journey into the future and you are discovering the air and aerospace technique. Epcot is the biggest park of Disney World. Besides Epcot you also have the Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom.
One of the biggest competitors of Disney World is Universal Studios with the Harry Potter theme park. The studios of Universal are behind the different blockbusters such as Jurassic Park, E.T. and Men in Black. In the theme park you discover the different sets of films and tv-series that were filmed in the Universal Studios. Most films have been shot in Los Angeles however, but in Florida you will find the props. The park is divided into different themes, amongst others consisting of Harry Potter, Jurassic Park and Marvel Super Hero's.
Millions of visitors combine their holiday in Orlando with a visit to Seaworld. The park started as an animal park for sea animals, but has grown out to be a theme park. Besides watching animals, different shows are organised and there are different forms of entertainment. The park has rides such as Journey to Atlantis and Manta. There is also a children's rollercoaster and a big belvedere. Especially the Orca show is impressive, although there are many protests going on against the show at the moment. It is not pleasant for the Orca to have to do the show every day and Orca's simply do not belong in captivity.
A tour of Florida almost always ends with Key West. The sun is always shining in this area and Key West is an island situated in a clear blue sea. Visit the house in which writer Ernest Hemmingway used to live or make a Duval pub crawl. The islands used to be an escape for Native Americans and pirates. Later beachcombers came in to salvage the remains of ships. There was so much work to be done with the salvage operations that this was ensuring a good economy. The capital city with the same name even became the richest city in Florida. The pleasant lifestyle in Key West is attracting immigrants from Europe and the Carribbean for years. Most immigrants have never left Key West.
The most famous National Park of Florida is the Everglades. This park is especially known for one of the most feared crocodiles of the state, namely the alligator. With an airboat you can make a tour through the national park and see the animals in the wild. The Everglades is a beautiful area of nature with rivers, creeks, swamps and forests. In the Everglades there is a subtropical climate and a high luchtvocticheid. The national park is listed on the UNESCO world heritage list. It is certainly worth visiting during your tour through Florida.
The space experiments of America are all executed from Cape Caneveral. During a tour you can pay a visit to the Kennedy Space Center. This is the home base of the space program of America. It lies about a one hour drive away from Orlando. The deserted location is ideal for the launching of rockets and space shuttles. If you want to know what happens in space or if you want to try astronaut food, then you are at the right address here.
Do you love diving and the underwater world? Then the Biscayne National Park is the ideal destination if you are staying in Florida. About 95% of the national park consists of water. In the water there are dozens of coral reefs and you will find hundreds of tropical fish here. On the side there is also a beautiful mangrove forest. Because of the ideal protective circumstances the coral reefs have beautifully developed in the national park. A part of the park is visitable by boat. Different boat tours are organised in the park for who is not able to dive.
