SIX GULF COAST GLORIES

While the southern reaches of the Gulf Coast – Naples, Fort Myers, Sanibel – remain out of bounds for tourists (for now) in the wake of Hurricane Ian, the rest of Florida’s west flank is open for the winter, whether you want an easy week on the beach or a longer road trip.

CLEAR AND PRESENT Clearwater – and its seafront ally Clearwater Beach, across the Intracoastal Waterway – keeps things splendidly simple, clinging to the shoreline as an old-fashioned American resort. South Gulfview Boulevard tells no lies in its title, its crab shacks and ice-cream parlours staring at the surf; Pier 60 has stuck out into the tides since 1962, and remains happily tied to that era in its street performers and souvenir stalls. It adds up to a place to which you might easily devote a week of unashamed indolence. Many people do just this.

A seven-night stay at the five-star Sandpearl Resort, flying to Tampa on March 4, costs from £2,549 per person with Virgin Holidays

(0344 472 9646; virginholidays.com)

THE SURREAL THING Staring back at Tampa from the opposite end of Tampa Bay, St Petersburg is a bundle of contradictions – a small American city named after a large Russian one; a Florida resort that looks to Spain. Specifically, it looks to one of Spain’s foremost artists, Salvador Dali, who is held aloft at the biggest museum to his eccentric genius outside his home country (it houses some 200 paintings, including

The Hallucinogenic Toreador; thedali.org).

The rest of the city keeps pace with a distinctly cultured vibe, especially at the Morean Arts Center (moreanartscenter.org), with its collection of work by glass sculptor

Dale Chihuly.

Doubles at the Hilton St Petersburg Bayfront (hilton.com) start at £206

CULTURE CLUB

Sixty miles south of Tampa, coastal enclave Sarasota is something of a rival to St Petersburg, basking in i Visit the Dali in St Petersburg j Water world: take an airboat tour from laid-back Cedar Key

a reputation as a haven of the arts. It is an image richly deserved, whether via the performances of its orchestra (sarasota orchestra.org) or the galleries of the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art (ringling.org). The latter boasts a wealth of European paintings, with the likes of Rubens, Veronese and Gainsborough represented. Of course, if all you want is the sea, Sarasota is also the gateway to the beaches of Lido Key. Sarasota is part of the 22-day Florida Discovery road trip sold by America As You Like It (020 8742 8299; americaasyoulikeit.com). From £1,259 per person including flights

PIER PRESSURE

Twelve miles north of Sarasota, Bradenton is another launch pad for the barrier sandbars that adorn this central section of the Gulf Coast – Anna Maria Island, in effect the outer point of Tampa Bay, is a short hop to the west. Like Tampa, Bradenton has a river walk, this time on the

Manatee. Pier 22, which juts into it, is a fine spot for dinner (pier22.com). Manatee Palms (manateepalms.com), a boutique property with a courtyard pool, tucked into a 1914 town house, offers double rooms from £165, with breakfast

KEY POINTS

Follow the Gulf 130 miles to the north of Tampa, and you abandon all trappings of city life. Cedar Key, which sits on a cluster of islets, is the antithesis of metropolitan Florida; a fishing village that has embraced the tourist trade without losing sight of its identity. Here is an outpost of unfussy seafood eateries (try tonyschowder. com) and sleepy B&Bs, where the day-to-day moves at a gentle pace. Fishing, though, is a local art form, the only threat to the anglers on the town’s various piers are the huge pelicans, which eye every catch.

Double rooms at the Island hotel (islandhotel-cedarkey. com) start at £100

EASY TO HANDLE

It sounds odd to describe any part of a place as popular as Florida as “undiscovered”, yet there remains an air of a secret about the north-west of the state, where its “Panhandle” takes the Gulf shoreline west towards Alabama and the Deep South. Alluring resort areas – Mexico Beach, Panama City, Miramar Beach – abound here, but the pick of the bunch may be Pensacola. Not only is this a small city, with restaurants and hotels to match, it also provides a pathway onto Santa Rosa Island, a low-slung 40-mile strip of sand, salty air and seagrass, which is protected as part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore (nps.gov/guis).

The 14-day Beignets, Bayous and Barrier Islands trip sold by Bon Voyage (0800 316 3012; bon-voyage.co.uk) begins in New Orleans and traces the Gulf Coast all the way into Florida, halting at Pensacola Beach en route. From £2,495 per person including flights