Visitors urged to seek out alternative routes

Sunshine state

Castillo de San Marcos: the fort in St Augustine was founded by the Spanish in 1565

Visitors urged to seek out alternative routes

Visit Florida offers new touring options

IN an effort to widen interest in the whole of Florida, the Sunshine State’s tourism organisation, Visit Florida, has introduced a series of suggested three and four-day self-drive itineraries.

These have been designed to enable visitors to explore the lesser-known parts of the state that include historic routes and towns, rural areas and relatively undiscovered coastlines and wilderness.

Some of the 10 routes can be combined to offer a totally different side to Florida, or bolted on to stays in more popular regions, such as Orlando, Miami, the Keys and the Gulf Coast. The new initiative is officially launched later this month and follows the introduction last year of six suggested four and five-day trips, with special-interest themes under the banner ‘Worth The Drive’.

Three of the earlier series centre on the trails of native American, African American and Cuban heritage, another looks at outdoor adventure pursuits in north Florida and a fifth choice focuses on bird-watching in the northeast.

The sixth is for those who want to explore Florida’s east coast, from St Augustine in the north, down to Key West in the south, with many of the state’s historic lighthouses actingas points of interest on theitinerary.

These, and the new itineraries, can also be split into various day trips, depending on which part of Florida clients are planning to be based.

The themed itineraries are available in leaflet form from Visit Florida, while the additional series is planned to be available on the organisation’s Web site at the end of the month. www.flausa.com

New itineraries

The Taimiami Trail: US Highway 41 in southwest Florida is also known as the Taimiami Trail, after the old Tampa to Miami highway, completed in 1928. For every city like Sarasota, Fort Myers and Naples, there’s the undiscovered charm and character of small towns such as Nokomis, Punta Gorda, Ochopee and Warm Mineral Springs. The route also sweeps eastwards through the Everglades before heading for Miami.

The Forgotten Coast: this coastal route traces what is called the Big Bend, where north east Florida curves into the Florida Peninsula. It is also known as the Nature Coast because it boasts some of the most undisturbedeco-systems within the state. Some of the finest dune systems in Florida lie just east of Pensacola and Panama City, while 90% of the state’s oysters are harvested at Apalachicola Bay. The route, involving US 98 and 19, includes the hideaway resort of Cedar Key.

The First Coast: state road A1A between Amelia Island and Ormond Beach is just north of Jacksonville near the top of the state. This historic stretch includes the town of St Augustine, which was founded by the Spanish in 1565 – the Castillo de San Marcos still remains intact as testimony to the New World discoverers. Amelia Island has many Victorian buildings, while Fernandina Beach, which was a haven for smugglers, became Florida’s first resort in the mid-19th century.

Old Pensacola: a good base from which to explore TheForgotten Coast