Sarasota Holidays

Where is Sarasota?
Sarasota is a city and county on south-west Florida’s Gulf Coast, with St Petersburg and Tampa Bay to the north and Fort Myers to the south. It’s fringed by a string of sandy barrier islands, which started to emerge from the Gulf of Mexico seabed around 3,000 years ago.

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Arts & culture
The leading light of the Cultural Coast is The Ringling, named after a 1920s circus magnate turned art collector, where you can admire sublime Old Masters, marvel at the founder’s eclectic mansion and catch a live performance. Downtown, Towles Court artist colony bursts with galleries, studios and one-off gift shops; get under its skin on the regular Friday night Art Walk. If you can’t get tickets for the ballet or opera – both highly regarded local companies – the intimate Burns Court Cinema screens arty, independent films.

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Nature
Of all the patches of protected greenery scattered across Sarasota County, Myakka River State Park is by far the largest. Sprawling across almost 58 square miles, it’s an unspoiled wilderness of wetlands, pine forests, oak hammocks and flower-strewn prairies. Visitors come to hike or bike its miles of trails, glide along the river by boat, kayak or canoe on the lookout for turtles, alligators and the occasional manatee, and spot ospreys, eagles and vultures from the canopy walkway. The smaller Myakka State Forest was a cattle ranch until 1995; trails now lead through flatwoods teeming with birdlife.

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Beaches
The undoubted star of Sarasota County’s 40-mile coastline is family favourite Siesta Beach, often voted one of the best in the US thanks to its silky white quartz – not coral – sand. But Siesta Key and the other barrier islands provide many alternatives. Sea turtles nest on tranquil Longboat Key; Casey Key offers surfing at Nokomis and manatee-spotting from North Jetty; and Manasota Key is all about dunes, forest and back-to-nature vibes. Venice’s self-named beach is an eternal favourite, while nearby Caspersen is a top spot to hunt for fossilised sharks’ teeth.

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Food & drink
When it comes to eating, Saratoga offers everything from food-truck feasts and waterfront cafés to fine dining focused on seasonal and local. Learn more about some of those ingredients with countryside jaunts to orange, peach and avocado groves, or marvel at the tempting displays at the area’s regular farmers’ markets, where you can snap up all you need for a picnic or just soak up the buzzing atmosphere. Sarasota also has a thriving craft beer scene that covers all the bases, from thirst-quenching lagers and wheat ales to aromatic stouts aged in wooden barrels.

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