A mysterious open-air sculpture of 1,100 tons of hand-carved coral rock south of Miami in Homestead, built single-handedly over 28 years by a heartbroken Latvian immigrant.
Road trips · Florida
Florida road trips & hidden gems.
The stops worth changing a travel day for in Florida — crowd-voted gems, events worth traveling for, and the public golf you can actually book. Curated by Roamward, the scenic road-trip planner.
Happening in Florida
World Cup 2026
Barely two dozen marquee events hit the whole country in a year — and Florida has one this June. Roamward builds the trip around it: the scenic route in, the detours worth a slack day, and when rooms sell out.
Hidden gems
What locals say you shouldn’t miss.
Crowd-nominated in the Gem Hunt. Add yours and vote the finalists into the app.
A spring north of Tampa where, since 1947, performers in tails put on underwater "mermaid" ballets viewed through glass from a submerged 1950s theater.
A 120-foot limestone sinkhole near Gainesville with mini-waterfalls and a boardwalk staircase descending into a cool, fern-draped bowl that feels like another climate.
A shimmering castle built entirely from recycled aluminum printing plates deep in the woods near Ona, with a restaurant set inside a replica Portuguese galleon in the "moat."
A 205-foot pink-marble "singing tower" carillon crowning one of peninsular Florida's highest hills in Lake Wales, set in serene gardens designed by Frederick Law Olmsted Jr.
A spring-fed river near Fort White where tubing the crystalline current beneath shady hammocks is a beloved Florida summer ritual — a cool, local-favorite escape from the theme-park crowds.
Worth traveling for
Events that put Florida on the calendar.
Tee it up
Public golf you can book in Florida.
Orlando · $$$$$ — Stay-and-play with the King
Palm Beach Gardens · $$$$$ — Survive the Bear Trap
Ponte Vedra Beach · $$$$$ — Bucket-list island green
Lecanto · $$$$ — Famous holes set in a limestone quarry
Brooksville · $$$$ — Adventure golf in the sandhills
Brooksville · $$$$ — Moss-draped oaks and a sinkhole
Plan the Florida trip
Get the scenic route, the stops, and the timing.
Roamward turns these into a real road trip — the drive, the detours, and the stays. Join early access for the iOS beta.