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Florida's Gulf Coast: Tampa to the Everglades: 5-Day Plan You Can Actually Drive
Last updated:
The 5-day version for February: every day fits real transit, opening hours and daylight.
💡 Good to know for this plan
- ~11.1 hours of daylight in February.
- Dry-season public-road product. Hurricane season runs June through November; severe weather, flooding, beach recovery, road access and Everglades operations remain live checks.
Before you go · check live details
This is a planning draft. Check these changing details for your dates before booking or travelling.
Some route advice is currently available in English.
- Check Sanibel causeway, recovery notices, public beach access and visitor parking for your date.
Sanibel recovery work continues. Use only current public access points and designated visitor parking; public beach parking is generally charged by the hour and capacity is not guaranteed. A temporary causeway closure has no ordinary substitute road.
Check source ↗ - Check Everglades conditions, weather, parking and selected activities separately.
Shark Valley can operate one-car-in/one-car-out when parking fills. Private vehicles cannot continue beyond the entrance and lot; the public baseline stays near confirmed-open visitor facilities. Tram, bicycle, boat, airboat, kayak and ranger programmes require separate availability and are not promised.
Check source ↗ - Confirm an insured car, fuel, tolls, lawful parking, every overnight and live road conditions.
Check FL511 before every transfer for crashes, bridge restrictions, construction, flooding, severe weather and closures. Do not infer barrier-island or park access from an ordinary mainland forecast.
Check source ↗
Day 1 Tampa and St. Petersburg public culture day
- Transit
- none
- Finish
- ~15:00
- Temperature
- 12.2°C–21.6°C
- Rainy days
- ~9
- Daylight
- 11.0h
Day 2 Sarasota public culture and coast day
- Transit
- 2h12
- Finish
- ~17:15
- Temperature
- 13.3°C–22.0°C
- Rainy days
- ~8
- Daylight
- 11.0h
Day 3 Sanibel public shore day
- Transit
- 4h03
- Finish
- ~18:00
- Temperature
- 14.1°C–23.3°C
- Rainy days
- ~7
- Daylight
- 11.1h
Day 4 Naples public coast day
- Transit
- 1h52
- Finish
- ~17:40
- Temperature
- 17.0°C–22.1°C
- Rainy days
- ~7
- Daylight
- 11.1h
Day 5 Everglades Shark Valley public day
- Transit
- 3h30
- Finish
- ~17:05
- Temperature
- 17.2°C–24.4°C
- Rainy days
- ~6
- Daylight
- 11.1h
🔍 Check before you book
Every stop is a real, sourced place, but opening hours change, roads close and businesses move. Check anything you're paying for before you book.
Sources (10)
- Tampa and St. Petersburg public culture circuit — tampa.govOfficial public source; original paraphrase
- Wikivoyage — TampaCC BY-SA 4.0 (facts extracted; prose not redistributed)
- Sarasota public culture and coast circuit — scgov.netOfficial public source; original paraphrase
- Wikivoyage — SarasotaCC BY-SA 4.0 (facts extracted; prose not redistributed)
- Sanibel public shore circuit — mysanibel.comOfficial public source; original paraphrase
- Wikivoyage — Sanibel IslandCC BY-SA 4.0 (facts extracted; prose not redistributed)
- Naples public coast circuit — naplesgov.comOfficial public source; original paraphrase
- Wikivoyage — Naples (Florida)CC BY-SA 4.0 (facts extracted; prose not redistributed)
- Everglades Shark Valley public circuit — home.nps.govOfficial public source; original paraphrase
- Wikivoyage — Everglades National ParkCC BY-SA 4.0 (facts extracted; prose not redistributed)