Downtown, St Petersburg

The Salvador Dali Museum in St Petersburg houses the world's most comprehensive collection of paintings by the Surrealist master. Dali's entire artistic career is represented from his early work in impressionism and cubism to later experiments in more "Classical" styles. There are over 90 oil paintings, more than 100 watercolors and drawings and over 1000 sculptures, graphics, photographs and other artworks.The museum now has a fabulous new building that better reflects the creativity of the artist it promotes.

St Petersburg Pier is one of the longest of its kind in Florida, extending for over a quarter of a mile (400m) into Tampa Bay. At the end of the pier is an inverted five-story pyramid containing shops, restaurants and an observation platform.It also features fishing, water sports, an aquarium, miniature golf, and is the winter home of the H.M.S. Bounty Exhibition.

An affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, the Florida International Museum opened in 1995. Highlights of the museum include large "blockbuster" traveling exhibitions. such as the "Titanic-the Exhibition" with thousands of original artifacts and "Empires of Mystery" which displayed a collection of Pre-Colombian objects from the Andean region. Artifacts from the Smithsonian are displayed along with rotating exhibits.

Great Explorations The Children's Museum was designed for the curious and inquisitive. Highlights include the Laser Harp, Gears and I Spy exhibits, Magnetic Poetry, Climbing Wall and a Robot Lab. Various stations allow visitors to learn hands-on how to become the veterinarian, explore the firehouse or shop at a child-sized market.Also of interest is a two story tree house for children to build and play.

The St Petersburg Museum of History highlights the history of St Petersburg and there are displays on the Native American first inhabitants, early settlers, the city's development and economic growth and the railway. The Flight One Gallery houses the restored airboat that made the first scheduled airline flight in the U.S. on January 1, 1914.

The Museum of Fine Arts, housed in a Neo-Classical villa, possesses masterpieces of European and American painting from the 17th-20th centuries. Particularly notable is its collection of French Impressionists (Monet, Renoir, Cezanne, etc.). It also has interesting collections of Far Eastern and pre-Columbian art.