Living in Florida means that we are in a state with the worst government practices, openly anti-LGBTQ policies and actions, and uncertainty about where we’ll be welcome, but there are some great pockets of the state with awesome people and forward thinking leaders that are worth visiting and exploring… like Sarasota. In 2024 many cities and counties here in FL removed much of their marketing and visitor guide features supporting LGBTQ tourism dollars, but not Sarasota.
We’re happy to share our favorite things to do in Sarasota (the city and county) and the Venice area. Beautiful beaches, history and lots of great ways to enjoy the outdoors, Sarasota and Venice are a fun, welcoming destination that we happily direct people towards when they’re looking for a beach vacation or a weekend trip. If you have any questions about visiting this part of the Florida Gulf Coast, please leave a comment or send us a note. We’re always happy to share more, especially when it’s about a destination where families like ours feel welcome and have a great experience.
Highlights of a Trip to Sarasota and Venice FL
When I think about what makes Sarasota and Venice, Florida so great to visit I think it’s really the mix of activities and people. You have a strong Latino and Hispanic population, many Greek and Eastern European people, and all sorts of other folks. It’s a wonderful mix and, while it may not be quite as diverse as Miami or Orlando, it feels like a beautiful collection of people and backgrounds. We don’t see this quite as much where we live in St Augustine, so it’s special for us when we visit Sarasota County.
For things to do in Sarasota and Venice, you’ve got endless options with access to lots of public spaces, great museums and beautiful beaches. I find that Sarasota County is the sort of destination that anyone can visit and find things to do in good or bad weather, summer or winter. Communities like Pinecraft, Nokomis, or Osprey all are connected through the Legacy Trail and each has its own parks and restaurants that are great to visit. Again, it’s that diversity element in Sarasota and Venice that makes visiting each community a great experience.
And yes, both Sarasota and Venice have nice downtown areas. Sarasota is the big city part of the county, but even with its size and taller buildings it still feels welcoming and nice to walk around. The City of Venice was planned in the early 1900s and still reflects that sort of planning despite its history of rise and fall. Both parts of Sarasota County and the communities around them make for a wonderful Florida Gulf Coast trip.
Weather When you Visit Sarasota on the Gulf of Mexico
Y’all, summer in Florida is hot, and Sarasota / Venice are not an exception to this rule. If you’re visiting Sarasota County in the summertime plan of hot and humid days, afternoon rainstorms and warm evenings. Visiting in the winter months is pretty awesome for all of the many things to do in Sarasota and Venice, but the Gulf of Mexico gets cold, so it’s not really a swimming time. That doesn’t mean that you need to avoid the beach, but that the water is too cold to just hang out in like you would in the summer time. I find that winter is a great time for beachcombing, so consider that’s a bonus of visiting in the winter. Beware though, there are the random times that a super chilly front will move through and the temps in Sarasota County can drop into the 30s.
Should I Visit Sarasota in Hurricane Season?
This is a great question and if you’re not familiar with Florida’s hurricane season, you need to understand it a bit. The Atlantic Hurricane Season runs from June 1 to November 30… but that doesn’t mean there is always a storm on the horizon. Honestly, the first few months of hurricane season tend to be really mellow with storms rarely forming to hit Florida, let alone the Gulf of Mexico side. September and October are the busier hurricane months and this is when it can be more iffy to plan a visit to Sarasota County too far in advance.
Since we live close and can drive, we love visiting in October because it’s much cooler and we can plan it if there aren’t any storms heading that way. If you are flying to Florida during these later months of hurricane season, whether it’s to Sarasota or somewhere else, consider getting travel insurance in the event a storm forms and travel to the state isn’t safe.
Where to Stay for a Weekend in Sarasota or Venice
As you’re planning to visit Sarasota or Venice, you have lots of choices for where to stay, and what you choose will depend on your budget. 100%. If you want to enjoy accommodations near the beach or on Siesta Key, know that you’ll be paying an absolute premium for that location. We’ve stayed very near the bridge to Siesta Key (lots of good options) and we’ve stayed near Venice Beach and even in Pinecraft Village, and being located away from the beach is never a burden.
If you’re concerned about having to park when you get to the beach areas, take heart knowing that the beach parks have lots of parking AND the Breeze system (Sarasota County Area Transit) offers a free beach shuttle bus from the mainland. You can take the number 17 (beach trolley) to the beaches of Siesta Key from the city onto the island, and then from the north end all the way to Turtle Beach. Staying anywhere in the Sarasota or Venice area is an option when you understand the different ways to get around and enjoy the area.
Top Pick: the Carlisle Inn in Pinecraft
This was the most random hotel choice we’ve made and we loved it. The Carlisle Inn is located in the heart of the Pinecraft neighborhood, which is actually a vacationing destination for Amish and Mennonite communities from the northern states. The hotel is decorated in photographs of the Amish way of life, with quilting patterns, with Amish and Mennonite hats… It’s not what we were expecting at all, but we loved it. It’s the single most clean and kept hotel we’ve ever stayed in. There is a wonderful fitness center and a beautiful swimming pool and hot tub. Breakfast is complimentary each morning with the best pastries, I think from the affiliated restaurant, Der Dutchman. It’s a great experience.
Book the Carlisle Inn Sarasota here!
Things to Do for a Trip to Sarasota and Venice FL
As you start planning your time in Sarasota and Venice you’ll see that lots of activities bring you to the beach or close by. You can’t avoid it and you’ll love getting to enjoy the Gulf of Mexico here. Sarasota has lots of history and easily accessible nature too, so blending it all together AND getting beach time makes Sarasota County a fun, solid family destination or great to active adults that don’t want to be bored.
Sarasota Beaches to Visit
Before we even lived in Florida I knew that the beaches of Sarasota County were some of my favorite. You have such a wonderful mix of white sugar sand beaches and chunky sand beaches that make for the best beach combing. And we’ve always loved the Gulf of Mexico as a great family destination for swimming. Yes, we live at the beach, but it’s the Atlantic at our house and sometimes it can get a little intense. I love that with the exception of stormy days, we’ve always been able to enjoy the waves and sandbars of the beaches around Sarasota and Venice.
For beach days close to downtown Sarasota, you’ve got Lido Key and Longboat Key, both with gorgeous sand and difficult parking. There are public beach access areas, but sometimes it’s just too tricky to get a parking spot… Which is why it does make it worthwhile to stay on one of the islands. For beach time on Siesta Key, you can take the Breeze Bus (#17 aka the Trolley) and then you don’t have to worry about parking. It runs every half hour and has lots of stops on the mainland before heading to Siesta Key (more on Siesta below).
When it comes to having a beach day down in the Venice area, you have lots of options starting at Nokomis Beach and continuing down through Venice Beach to Manasota and Blind Pass beaches. Really, take your pick and have an awesome beach day or two.
Visit Siesta Key
Yes, I think that visiting Siesta Key is its own activity because it’s a fun neighborhood AND there are great beaches. You can easily plan to have a half or full day here on Siesta Key by starting with getting to the beach nice and early, setting up your umbrella and enjoying a few hours of swimming and beach combing before you go find lunch.
For the first beach to visit, head to Sarasota Beach at the north end of the island (be mindful of parking), and then when you’re ready for your next beach, drive or take the bus down to Turtle Beach (my favorite). With lots of parking, beach showers and plenty of space, Turtle Beach is a really good family beach and is more low key than the more popular white sandy beaches north on Siesta Key.
Besides a beach day, you can also come to Siesta Key for kayaking, either on your own or with a tour. Night kayaking is really popular here due to the clear water and abundance of wildlife on the Intracoastal Waterway side of Siesta Key. Even if you’re not coming to the island for a beach day, night kayaking here is one of the best things to do in Sarasota, so don’t miss it!
TIP: Turtles Restaurant at Turtle Beach is a great place for lunch or dinner. The food is really good, the drinks are solid, and the prices are excellent. Dining at Turtles reminds me of pre-covid Florida, both in the vibes and the prices.
The world famous Ringling Museum
I love the Ringling and its museums. If you’ve never been, you need to carve out a few hours to visit the Ringling and enjoy both the beautiful bayfront estate and the museums. Check out our article all about Visiting the Ringling!
What I love about the Ringling is the diversity of the museums here. You’ve got the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art (amazing), the circus museums (two of them), the gardens and open spaces (omg, the banyan trees!), and the historic mansion on the water known as the Ca’ d’Zan. Like the historic Venice Train Depot (see below), spending time at the Ringling, in particular in the Ca’ d’Zan and circus museums, will really tune you into the cultural phenomena that the Ringling Bros Barnum and Bailey Circus was. It was a part of my childhood and now as a parent we try to enjoy circus events and visit circus history sites whenever possible.
TIP: if you’re a circus geek like me, you MUST check out Circus World up in Baraboo, Wisconsin. This was the original Ringling homebase and the museum and grounds are absolutely fascinating.
Visit the Historic Venice Train Depot
Whether you’re biking your way around Sarasota and Venice or if you’re driving, you have to stop by the historic Venice Train Depot. I know this sounds like a random thing to do but it’s actually really cool and you’ll learn a lot. The Venice train depot itself is a historic building that is now a small museum manned by the Venice Historical Society. What makes it interesting to visit is that you actually get a broad overview of the area from it’s city layout to its circus history. You even will learn about segregation and the station master that integrated boarding operations.
The other part of visiting the historic Venice Train Depot is getting to see the old Ringling circus cars. There is a caboose and sleeping car at the depot that tell the story of circus life on the railway and the Ringling Bros Barnum and Bailey Circus’ history in Sarasota. I love the circus and circus history, so for me this was a walk through my childhood. The sleeping car has been turned into a small museum with one end representative of the railway home of the famous animal trainer, Gunther Gable Williams. At the other end it’s all about the circus clowns and how they traveled. Put it all together and it’s a fascinating collection of nostalgia. Such a wonderful thing to do when you’re visiting Sarasota and Venice.
Sarasota Jungle Gardens or Marie Selby Botanical Gardens
We learned when our kids were very young that visiting botanical gardens of all sorts is something we collectively enjoy. In Sarasota you’ve got the Jungle Gardens, which is actually more of a zoo now than a botanical garden, and then the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens.
If you’re traveling with small kids (and big kids) the Jungle Gardens are a better option than the botanical gardens, especially for the flamingos, but if you’re an older group, the Botanical Gardens are a win. What I find to be the best part of the botanical gardens is actually the inspiration I get from them for our own home. Yes, I know that I don’t have 45 acres to manicure and create waterfalls and rainforests, but wandering the grounds still gives me ideas, and then bringing seeds or starts home from the garden shop is always a win.
Shark Tooth Hunting in Venice
Our family loves looking for shark teeth, whether we’re at home in St Augustine or here in Venice. Shark tooth hunting in Venice is one of the best things to do when you’re here because it’s fun, it’s outdoors, it’s exciting, and you get to bring home the coolest souvenirs possible. There are three great beaches for finding shark teeth in Venice: Caspersen Beach, South Brohard Park and Manasota Beach. The 2024 hurricanes brought tons of sand onto the road to Caspersen Beach, so it’s not currently accessible by car (Fall 2025), but both Brohard and Manasota Beaches are open and you can drive to them.
So how do you find shark teeth when you’re visiting Venice Beach, FL? It’s actually much easier than you might think. Check out our guide to Shark Tooth Hunting on our St Augustine website. Here’s how you can find shark teeth in Venice, FL:
- visit one of the suggested beaches
- scoop up some chunky sand gently browse through the sand dropping what you know isn’t a tooth
- collect the shark teeth, small or large, in a container with a lid.
It’s that easy. You’ll see some people coming to the beaches of Venice with lots of gear, including floating sifters and sifter shovels, but you really don’t need gear like that. Yes, it’s helpful if you want to find tons of teeth, but you can just use your hands and eyeballs to find them and you’ll be happy with the results. Shark tooth hunting will become one of your favorite pastimes.
Oscar Scherer State Park for Biking and Kayaking
If you’re traveling with your own outdoor gear, you’ve got to visit Oscar Scherer State Park to enjoy some biking or kayaking. Connected to the Legacy Trail that runs all through Sarasota County, Oscar Scherer State Park is a great place to start biking, either heading up towards Sarasota or down to Venice. We actually road on the Legacy Trail all the way to the Venice Train Depot and beyond. It’s a paved path with historic markers and rest stops along the way, and it’s a great way to enjoy the outdoors AND get from place to place.
If you’ve brought your kayaks, there’s a nice kayak launch here as well. Paddling from Oscar Scherer State Park and heading west, you’ll get to go from the quiet stream to the Intracoastal Waterway, watching for alligators, fish, birds and even manatees when you reach the larger part of the kayaking route. It’s really pretty and not a difficult paddle at all. You do need to be aware of tides though, as a really low tide will make it difficult to paddle in certain spots.
Bonus: there’s also a nice visitor center here at Oscar Scherer State Park. You can chat with the rangers and volunteers for hiking recommendations or learn about the wildlife of the area through the exhibits.
Visit the Pinecraft Amish Community
This may be one of the most surprising things to do in Sarasota. The Pinecraft neighborhood is actually a sort of vacation destination for Amish and Mennonite people from the Northern USA. The attraction of visiting the Pinecraft community isn’t the people themselves, because that’s rude and nobody wants to be gawked at, but it’s to enjoy the awesome markets, food, hospitality and even shops.
If you don’t live in Florida and you’re visiting Sarasota, it’s unlike you’re looking to bring home handcrafted furniture and such, but if you do live in FL and you’re in the market, you’ll find shops with furniture, quilts and more, all reflective of Amish styles and built in the Amish methods. We actually stayed in the Carlisle Inn here in the Pinecraft community and it was wonderful, with the decor showing scenes from Pennsylvania Dutch Country and quilt samples, and the kindest people. When you’re here, be sure to stop into Der Dutchman for either a meal or to get something from the Amish bakery!
Myakka River State Park
Even though visiting Sarasota and Venice tends to be all about the beach and enjoying the vibes of this quiet part of the Florida Gulf Coast, going inland a bit to Myakka River State Park completes that picture of all the Florida is. This is such a cool state park and it’s very different from Oscar Scherer SP. Here, you’re deep in the live oaks and palm forests, and then you also have prairie and waterways. Myakka River State Park is one of the coolest state parks to visit for the diversity of what you’ll see and the wildlife.
Yes, this is THE destination in Sarasota County to see alligators and beautiful birds. When you’re here you can just drive around and look at wildlife along the riverbanks and ponds, you can do a boat tour with a naturalist, you can go biking or hiking, and of course, there’s always kayaking. Besides the ample alligator population, the other Myakka River State Park is known for is the canopy walk.
A swinging bridge spanning between two towers in the forest makes for a great place to watch birds and enjoy the different view up in the canopy. It’s a short walk through the woods to get to the swinging bridge and then just stairs up to the canopy. I think it’s worth the short visit. We enjoy Myakka River State Park most in the summer, as that’s when the alligators are most active and visible, but even a winter visit should be great for wildlife watching.
Kayaking Deer Prairie Creek Preserve
Yes, there are lots of great places for kayaking in Sarasota County, but I really like the Deer Prairie Creek Preserve for a few reasons. Because there aren’t kayak rentals here there are very few people out on the water, which is great because many popular paddling spots can be very busy. Here it’s quiet and peaceful, and the winding stream is beautiful as it reaches the Myakka River. I know, you read “Myakka River” and you immediately think “OMG, so many alligators.” Don’t worry, this part of the river is brackish since it’s so close to the Intracoastal Waterway, making it much less gator-populated. They’re still around, but are few and far between.
One of the cool things about kayaking at the Deer Prairie Creek Preserve is actually the changes in the waterway as you paddle. You can put in above the dam and have a short paddle just to dink around and look at birds and gators, or you can launch from below the dam and go all the way out to the river, and as you go it changes from palm trees and a jungle-like setting to mangroves and salt water estuary. It’s pretty amazing how your get such a defined difference in the ecosystem as you kayak here. I love it.
Visit Bradenton Beach and the Beaches of Manatee County
“The Beaches of Manatee County” sounds like a tragic romance novel, but it’s actually just a reference to the beaches and neighborhoods just north of Sarasota County. Bradenton Beach is another fun beach destination, and the sand is quite different up here. I like the beaches here because each time we’ve been here we see manatees just off the shore. I love that! Another bonus of coming to Bradenton Beach for the afternoon is to visit Fort De Soto National Monument. This often overlooked park is a part of the National Park Service and focuses on the exploration of Florida. It’s a great stop to do a little learning and birding, and then head back to the beach.
So there you have it! You should feel well equipped to plan a great getaway to Sarasota and Venice, Florida. Clearly there is plenty to do and you’ll never be bored. Between relaxing at the beach and enjoying all the museums and such, it’s a great weekend trip or even a full vacation destination. If you have any questions about planning your trip to Sarasota or the rest of the Florida Gulf Coast, please leave a comment or send us a note. We’re always happy to share more and help you put together an awesome trip!
