9 Cutest Small Towns in Florida to Visit
Florida's coast and backroads are dotted with cute towns that live for festivals, fresh seafood, and spring-fed swimming holes. Some sit on barrier islands, others along lazy rivers or the edge of the Everglades. Their downtowns serve up live music and botanical gardens instead of roller coasters. Each of these nine packs real personality into a walkable center. Here is where to find them.
Coral Gables
Just under 30 minutes from Miami, Coral Gables has looked the part since the 1920s, when it became one of the country's first major planned communities. Developer George Merrick built it around a Spanish and Mediterranean vision, seen in the Mediterranean Revival Biltmore Hotel and the spring-fed Venetian Pool, which has been cooling off the public since 1923. The 83-acre Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden is the other showstopper, home to more than 3,000 plant species and the Wings of the Tropics butterfly exhibit.
Kids get their own space at the garden's Children's Garden, and every July the grounds host a Mango Festival with tastings, mango-inspired classes, and live music. It is the kind of place where errands, culture, and a walk among the palms all happen in one tidy stretch.
Williston
Over on Florida's Nature Coast, Williston trades mangoes for watermelon. Each June the town throws the Williston Watermelon Festival at Heritage Park, with free entry, food trucks, and complimentary tastings. It also hides a gorgeous garden in Cedar Lakes Woods and Gardens, set in an old lime rock quarry with cascading waterfalls, a cactus garden, and shady trails. The real showpiece is Devil's Den Spring, a prehistoric karst cavern with fossil beds dating to the Pleistocene. Book ahead to scuba dive or snorkel into the underground spring.
Palatka
Sitting on a bend of the St. Johns River, Palatka is a river town that loves a good festival. Its Blueberry Festival fills the spring calendar, and the Blue Crab Festival takes over the downtown waterfront in late May with a seafood cook-off, carnival rides, and national music headliners. Off-season, head to Ravine Gardens State Park, a 59-acre park named for two enormous 120-foot-deep ravines. Walk the easy 2-mile Ravine Loop or test yourself on the steeper Azalea Trail, where suspension bridges deliver the best views down into the ravines.
St. Augustine
St. Augustine wears its title as the "Nation's Oldest City" proudly, and its cobblestone St. George Street makes the history easy to feel underfoot. Ride the Old Town Trolley past landmarks like the Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine, seat of the nation's oldest Catholic parish, which doubles as a summer concert venue for the St. Augustine Music Festival.
For something more laid-back, the free Music and Art by the Sea series brings live R&B, folk, and classic rock to the St. Augustine Beach Pier on summer Wednesdays. Pack a picnic, set up a lawn chair, and let the Atlantic set the mood.
Vero Beach
Vero Beach runs on arts and culture. Each July the Vero Beach International Music Festival brings folk, jazz, and Grammy-winning artists to town, and the Vero Beach Museum of Art keeps the calendar full year-round with rotating exhibitions and a sculpture garden. Cap a day at the Riverside Theatre for a show. This Treasure Coast town also claims 26 miles of uncrowded shoreline, with spacious beaches like South Beach Park and Golden Sands that rarely make you fight for a spot. Don't miss the 18-acre McKee Botanical Garden, a playful blend of nature and art with an award-winning Children's Garden.
Cedar Key
On the Nature Coast, Cedar Key is built for getting out on the water. The island town anchors the Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuge, whose 13 offshore islands are prized for scenic trails and rare birding. Rent gear from Kayak Cedar Keys, or let Cedar Key Boat Rentals handle the driving on a mellow island tour. Time your visit for early June and the two-day Road to Cedar Key music festival, or come in late October for the Cedar Key Seafood Festival at the start of stone crab season. The seafood festival even shuttles guests to normally off-limits Seahorse Key to tour its 1854 lighthouse.
Everglades City
With fewer than 400 residents, Everglades City is your gateway to Florida's famous wetlands. Locals call it the "Stone Crab Capital of the World," and spots like City Seafood serve fried crab and alligator with a side of small-town hospitality. Book an airboat tour or visit the Museum of the Everglades before heading into the Everglades National Park, the largest subtropical wilderness in the country. Walk the 2-mile boardwalk at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, where old-growth cypress trees tower more than 135 feet overhead. The Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge and the 7,271-acre Collier-Seminole State Park are easy add-ons.
Key West
At the southernmost point in the United States, Key West mixes natural beauty with larger-than-life history. The Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory shelters more than 60 species of free-flying butterflies in a tropical setting. The island has drawn famous residents for generations, from musician Jimmy Buffett to President Harry S. Truman, but none looms larger than Ernest Hemingway, who lived here through the 1930s. Tour his 1851 Spanish Colonial estate, built of native limestone by salvage wrecker Asa Tift. Wander on and you will spot pastel conch cottages that nod to the island's Cuban roots and Victorian mansions raised by New England sea captains.
Micanopy
For one more taste of Old Florida, Micanopy is as cute as they come. Settled in 1821, it is believed to be the state's oldest inland town, with fewer than 700 residents in barely a square mile. Spend a day hunting treasures at antique shops like the Antique City Mall and Wren Wood Antiques. History fans can poke around the Micanopy Historical Society Museum or book a room at the restored Herlong Mansion Bed and Breakfast. Just outside downtown, the Tuscawilla Preserve and nearby Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park reward anyone craving a little nature.
Florida Beyond The Theme Parks
Sure, you could spend the whole trip in line for a roller coaster. But if you would rather take the quieter path, these nine towns are your ticket to a different side of Florida. They serve up one-of-a-kind festivals, gardens, and history all year long. Whether it is Micanopy's antique shops or Coral Gables' Venetian Pool, cute does not have to mean boring.
