Family holidays to Florida

With more theme parks than any other US city, some of the state’s largest designer outlet malls, immense resort hotels and endless chain restaurants, Orlando is Florida’s family-holiday capital.

• Disney World, Blizzard Beach, Epcot Centre, Sea World and Universal Studios are all based in Orlando.
• Kissimmee is at the heart of theme parks and family hotels.
• The beautiful beaches and resorts at St Augustine are perfect for families, and just over an hour from Orlando if you want a more balanced holiday.

The warm, sunny beaches and pretty towns along the Gulf of Mexico are a very different holiday experience from Orlando. Watersports, cute seaside resorts, museums and galleries, excellent family restaurants and stunning clear-blue seas are the main attractions here. A week in Orlando and a week on the Gulf is a popular combination for UK families, and works well if you have teenagers and younger kids.

• Gulf Coast islands like Sanibel and Captiva are ideal for laid-back beach holidays with babies and toddlers.
• Clearwater is a lively seaside town with incredible beaches – Clearwater Beach is number three in the US’s top five best beaches.
• St Petersburg is called the ‘Sunshine City’ and has lots going on for older kids and teenagers. And it’s just half -an-hour from Clearwater’s beaches.
• Naples is the city for sailing and dolphin-spotting. Nearby Bonita Springs is a pretty resort town for families, and home to excellent Barefoot Beach, where you’ll find one of the largest gopher tortoise preserves in south-west Florida.
• Naples is less than 40 minutes drive from the western edge of the Everglades National Park.

Alpha city Miami is thrilling to visit and packed with sights, from Little Havana to South Beach. It’s big and bold, so not the choice for a simple, sand-between-your-toes holiday. But teenagers love the energy, fantastic and fascinating places to eat, amazing galleries and museums, historic districts and sheer colour of Miami. If you’re thinking of a two-base Florida break with older kids, put Miami last or you’ll never drag them away.

• Take a guided city tour, it’s the best way to see lots if you’re passing through.
• Spend a day on South Beach – it’s a legend – but try Bal Harbour Beach for pure white sands and no crowds, or North Shore Open Space Park for huge green areas and walking trails on the sand. It’s regularly voted Miami’s best city beach.

The mysterious and lovely Florida Keys are a good choice for easygoing outdoor adventure, world-class watersports and Caribbean weather. Not every Key is ideal for families, so choosing a base and visiting the others is the best way to work a holiday here.

• Key Largo is a lot of fun for kids, with several attractions and superb outdoor activities (on and off the water). It’s also right on the edge of the Everglades, has the US’s only living coral reef and is one of the state’s top scuba diving areas. Family hotels range from international brand resorts to quaint and local here, and it’s the northernmost Key, so closest to Miami.
• Gorgeous Islamorada is a string of little islands with the most beautiful white-sand beaches on the Keys. Just over an hour’s drive from Miami, the area has a mix of luxurious waterfront resorts, heritage self-catering and cute family guesthouses and small hotels.
• Key West is the southerly Key and most colourful by far. There are few beaches, but deep-sea fishing is the stuff of legend (one of the reasons Hemingway had a home here) and the pretty town couldn’t be more charming and friendly. Not the best place to stay for families, but wonderful to visit even if just for a day – it’s a little more than an hour from Islamorada and you get to drive across the stunning Seven Mile Bridge.