Miami and St Pete-Clearwater don't scream 'family holiday' — one built its fame on neon nights, the other was once nicknamed 'god's waiting room' for its retirement-community image. But both have rebranded. Miami has cracked down on spring break parties to court families, while St Pete has regenerated its pier and waterfront to pull in a younger crowd. The result: two Gulf-and-Atlantic beach cities that now work surprisingly well with kids in tow.
The two cities sit 269 miles apart, linked by the Tamiami Trail, a scenic drive through the Everglades and Naples that makes a proper road trip of it. The contrast is the point. Miami feels futuristic — driverless Waymo cars, delivery robots on the boardwalk, and the bold beachside strips around Ocean Drive where kids can climb the Muscle Beach bars. St Pete is the slow lane: downtown streets where locals legally putt around in golf buggies, and Dunedin, a charming town founded by Scots and named after the Gaelic word for Edinburgh, complete with a brewery flying Scottish flags.
Activities skew creative and low-key on the Gulf coast. Families can join a dawn dolphin-spotting boat with Dolphin Landings on St Pete Beach, make their own stained glass at Glass of Life (you take it home the same day), or pour custom-scented candles at Sea Love in Dunedin. Evenings can end at the St Petersburg Shuffleboard Club, the oldest in the world and birthplace of the modern rules. Over in Miami, the pace ramps up: indoor skydiving at iFly, an escape room at Escapology in Plantation Walk, and the Frost Science museum's parkour courses and breath-holding tests.
Beaches differ too. Miami's golden Atlantic sand suits wave-jumpers; St Pete's powder-white Gulf sand is calmer, with the bonus of facing the sunset. Pass-a-Grille, a four-mile quiet stretch south of St Pete Beach, is the local favourite for that fiery evening shot.
Sleep-wise, the picks are the Kimpton Surfcomber on South Beach — a surf-club vibe steps from Collins Avenue's art-deco strip — and the 1920s Don Cesar in St Pete, the pink 'palace' whose Barbie-pink beach club, grand chandeliers and calm shallow water impressed even teenagers.
Who's it for? Families with primary or early-secondary school kids who want beach time plus activities beyond the sand, and who fancy combining two contrasting Florida bases in one trip. Direct BA and Virgin Atlantic flights go to Miami and to Tampa (for St Pete), with returns from around £450 per person. Just plan around the 15-minute summer storms and 34C heat with some air-conditioned backups.
