An epic weekend trip to Tampa should include both Tampa and Ybor City. Visiting both these areas; Ybor City with its surprising history and late 1800s vibe, and modern Tampa with its rousing architecture and art museums make for the perfect Tampa weekend getaway.
At about 4 hours distance from Miami and the beaches, Tampa has it all. Start with a walking tour of Ybor City to get a sense of the city’s history.Â
THINGS TO DO IN YBOR CITY
What is Ybor City known for? Cigars, immigrants, yummy food, history and roosters.
The city was founded in 1885 by Spanish entrepreneur, Vicente Martinez Ybor who brought cigar manufacturing from Cuba to Tampa by way of Key West.
Over the next half decade, more and more cigar manufacturers settled in Ybor City. Eventually Ybor City became known as Cigar City.
The city was unique in Florida, and perhaps even in the entire United States as a successful town that was almost entirely owned and operated immigrants.
They came from Spain, Cuba, Italy, Germany and more to live harmoniously in their adopted country.
The Ybor City of today is still an immigrant melting pot. The Historic District is home to art galleries, museums, cigar stores and a lively nightlife.
The restaurants range from the elegant, historic Columbia, the oldest restaurant in Florida to trendy breweries and wine bars to sandwich shops to die for.
Getting to Tampa
Tampa sits midway on the western coast of the Florida peninsula. Coming from the north, south or east, you can easily drive.
There is also bus service to the city as well as trains served by Amtrak. The principal station is the Tampa Union Station, also a historic building.
A different and highly recommended way to travel to Tampa coming from the northern states is to take the Amtrak auto train from Virginia to Sanford, Florida and drive to Tampa from there, just a 2-hour drive on US I 4.
Ybor City State Park Museum
This oddly named museum just off the city’s main square was once the Joven Francesca Bakery rumored to have served the first loaf of Cuban bread.
Inside you’ll get the lowdown on the city’s history through videos and exhibits. Also interesting is the attached “casita” or little house and pretty garden with a working fountain.
A “casita” was the typical cigar worker’s home from the cigar heyday. The garden is used for events throughout the year. A cat colony inhabits the garden area.
Check out the roosters
Right across the street from the museum is Centennial Center, an open air venue used for fairs and events. You will see a rooster wandering around loose.
Then you’ll see another, and another and you’ll realize the place is loaded with chickens all going about their business pecking and crowing.
The history of the Ybor City chickens is that they are direct descendants of the original chickens that lived in Ybor City’s backyards over 100 yeas ago. Some of these birds are gorgeous.
In Ybor City you cannot mess with the local chickens because they are protected by the city’s decades old ordinance declaring Ybor City a bird sanctuary. There is a chicken sanctuary created for those fowl that, some one reason or other, no longer fit into the local chicken society. The chicken’s even have their own Instagram, @yborchickens, with over 8,000 followers. If you are looking for something unique to add to your weekend trip to Tampa, Ybor City’s feral fowl certainly qualify.
El Circulo Cubano
The Circulo Cubano on 10th Avenue and 14th Street housed a mutual aid society that supported Cuban immigrants when they came to work in the cigar factories.
It is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. This building was where an attempt was made on the life of Cuban Patriot, Jose Marti.
Jose Marti Park
In Ybor City you can travel to Cuba without a passport. The plot where this park is built actually belongs to the people of Cuba and is officially Cuban soil.
The small plot was donated to Cuba in 1956, way before the Cuban Revolution. Over the years it has been maintained by local Cuban historical groups.
In the center of the park is a statue of Jose Marti, who is to Cuba what George Washington is to the US. Within the park’s boundaries is soil from each of the original Cuban provinces.
There is also a statue of Antonio Maceo, a hero of the Cuban wars of independence from Spain. Don’t miss including this interesting little park in your weekend trip to Tampa.
Wander down 7th Avenue
One of the nicest free things to do in Ybor City is to stroll the streets. Seventh Avenue is the main street in downtown Ybor City.
Here is where you’ll find many Ybor City restaurants, cigar shops, galleries, cultural centers and an amazing variety of Ybor City bars.
You won’t run out of things to do in Ybor City during you weekend trip to Tampa.
Centro Ybor, in the middle of 7th Avenue, is a commercial center with distilleries, restaurants, wine bars, souvenir shops and other interesting stores.
It is a nice place to rest and have a refreshment during your Ybor City walking tour.
YBOR CITY RESTAURATS
Tampa Bay Brewing Company
While in Centro Ybor, make sure to stop at the Tampa Bay Brewing Company for original and unique craft beers with names like Big Elephant Foot and Reef Donkey.
Due to its central location, this is a good place to stop for lunch dinner or a refreshing beverage while you explore Ybor City. The TBBC is also an ideal stop if you’re on a USA Craft Beer Brewery Road Trip.
This cozy, neighborhood-type establishment is one of the oldest and largest breweries in the state. It was established in 1995 and opened a branch in nearby Westchase in 2014.
The menu is a cut above typical bar food. Yes, they have burgers, pizza, wings and the like, but the salads entrees are also top-notch. But the big draw is really the beer, good craft beer on a rotating schedule.
Columbia Restaurant
Established in 1905 by the Hernandez Gozmart family, the Columbia Restaurant is the oldest restaurant in Florida and the largest Spanish restaurant in the world.
Although the food is deliciously Spanish, elements of Cuban cuisine grace the menu creating an embarrassment of riches from both cuisines.
Under the management of the 5th generation from the original founders, both the service and the décor are excellent.
The restaurant has been so successful that they now have branches in 5 other Florida cities as well as cafés in key destinations in Tampa.
This is a can’t miss destination in Ybor City during your weekend trip to Tampa.
There is a cultural conflict between Tampa and Miami as to which of the two cities invented the now ubiquitous Cuban sandwich.
By all accounts, Tampa is the winner as the city was already a bustling hive of cigar factories with thousands of workers while Miami barely had a couple of hundred inhabitants.
Santo Stefano
This spacious, Sicilian themed restaurant serves mouthwatering, authentic southern Italy dishes in a delightful setting.
The restaurant is directly opposite Columbia and is part of the same restaurant organization. Order a couple of appetizers to share. You may want to pick up a ceramic pitcher as a memento.
Carmines
Right on 7th Avenue in the center of Ybor city is Carmine’s Italian restaurant. The house specialty is Carmine’s Deviled Crab which everyone seems to order.
We were near the take out section and saw dozens of these delectable delights fly out the door just in the time we were there. The restaurant has been around for over 35 years and is definitely worth a try.
Bernini
For a relatively small city, Ybor has an amazing selection of restaurants. Bernini is another winner. Reasonably priced outstanding Italian fare in a welcoming setting. Don’t miss the happy hour specials.
La Segunda Bakery
Another Ybor City institution, this venerable bakery has been around since 1915.
Slightly off the main avenue, La Segunda Bakery is an oasis of old world deliciousness offering pastries, sandwiches and cakes baked right on the premises.
Pick up a couple of yummy treats and have a picnic in one of the local parks. Or bring an order home with you. The specialty is the Cuban sandwich.
Ybor City’s history is all about its cigar manufacturing heyday. You see cigar museums, old cigar factories turned into hotels, cigar bars and, of course, cigar rollers.
Things to do in downtown Tampa
There are enough things to do in Tampa to keep you busy for quite a while, but if you’ve only got a weekend getaway to Tampa, here are your top Tampa attractions.
Stroll the Tampa Riverwalk
One of the best things to do in Tampa is to stroll the Tampa River Walk. Tampa’s Riverwalk is one of the nicest ones out there.
It is two and a half miles of landscaped walkway connecting some of the city’s top attraction’s and activities like the Florida Aquarium, Tampa History Center, and the David A. Straz Jr. Center for the performing Arts.
You can visit all these places on foot, bike or even Segway’s without ever having to get into your car. Now, that’s a walkable city. Make sure to:
- Rent a bike at the Tampa Bay Water Bike Company.
- Have a drink at the Sail Pavilion, a 360-degree waterfront bar.
- Take the hop-on-hop-off Pirate Water Taxi and enjoy its 15 stops along the waterfront.
The Tampa River Walk is an attraction in itself. You’ll see 30 statues and busts of influential historical figures placed along the River Walk, each one representing an important part of the region’s history.
Plant Museum and the University of Tampa campus
What Henry Flagler did with his railroad for Florida’s east coast Henry Plant did for Florida’s west coast.
He connected this village to the big northeastern markets like New York and was instrumental in creating a commercial boom that really put the city on the map.
Henry Plant used his money and influence to build the Tampa Bay Hotel in 1891 at the end of the railroad line. It was the flagship hotel in Plant’s hotel collection situated around his railroad.
The hotel was the first to have an elevator in the state of Florida. It also had…gasp…telephones and electric lights, another Florida first.
The hotel declined during the depression and was eventually converted into a junior college which morphed into the University of Tampa.
A large part of the former hotel is the University, but a section has been preserved as a museum which is really worth seeing.
The museum is a lovely representation of life in the hotel’s heyday at the start of the Gilded Age.
There are period artifacts and informative exhibits related to important events of the day like the Spanish-American War.
The most impressive part of the museum as well as the university is the surprising Moorish revival architecture, an unexpected delight in south Florida, all surrounded by a lush, green park.
The park is an ideal place to rest while you plot your next stop among the cool things to do in Tampa. Including this remarkable attraction in your weekend Tampa getaway is a must.
Sacred Heart Church
Built in 1905, this is one of the oldest churches in Tampa. It’s most impressive features are its 135 foot dome and its 70 stained glass windows.
There used to be a small wooden church on this same spot but the economic boom caused by Henry Plant’s railroad demanded that the city have a church worthy of its rising status.
Tampa Bay History Center
If you enjoy learning the history of places you visit, a stop at the Tampa Bay History Center is a must. The museum is three floors of exhibits showcasing the area’s history.
From the protracted Florida Seminole Wars, to the arrival of the explorers like Ponce de Leon to the world of Henry Plant, the Tampa Bay History Center is a well-presented delight.
It is better to visit the museum after seeing Ybor City as you can delve deeper into the city’s cigar production and Cuban immigration history.
A great place for a snack is the Columbia Cafe, a branch of the original in Ybor City. Enjoy a classic Cuban sandwich in a beautiful setting overlooking the water.
Tampa Street Art
Like many Florida cities, most notably Miami, Tampa is a showcase for street art. You’ll find impressive examples of street art in both Ybor City and downtown Tampa.
Where to stay on your weekend trip to Tampa
Ybor City and Tampa both have a wide range of accommodations.
In Ybor City, try to stay as close to the city itself as you can as all of the interesting attractions are within walking distance to each other in a concentrated area. In downtown Tampa, a stay by the waterfront is nice.
Make sure to bring good guidebooks and reference materials with you to maximize your stay in Ybor City and downtown Tampa
What are your thoughts on a weekend trip to Tampa? What did we miss? Let us know in the comments.
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