6 Best Sights in The Tampa Bay Area, Florida

An electrifying 10,000-square-foot, Albert Alfonso–designed building is home to world-renowned glass sculptor Dale Chihuly's work. Here, impossibly vibrant, larger-than-life pieces such as Float Boat and Ruby Red Icicle sit next to some of the famed sculptor's smaller and more under-the-radar works. You can tour the museum independently or with one of its volunteer docents (no added cost; tours are given hourly on the half hour during the week).

Each display is perfectly lighted against a shade of gray paint handpicked by Chihuly himself, which adds to the drama of the designs. Check out the gift shop at the end if you'd like to take some of the magic home with you. Your admission includes access to the Morean Arts Center's glassblowing studio, where you can watch resident artists create a unique glass piece before your eyes.

Inside and out, the building housing the waterfront Dalí Museum, which opened on 1/11/11 (Dalí is said to have been into numerology), is almost as remarkable as the Spanish surrealist's work. The state-of-the-art structure incorporates a surreal geodesic glass structure called the Enigma, as well as an outdoor labyrinth and a DNA-inspired spiral staircase leading up to the exhibition of artworks. And all this even before you've seen the collection, which is one of the most comprehensive of its kind—courtesy of Ohio magnate A. Reynolds Morse, a friend of Dalí's.

Here you can scope out his early impressionistic works and see how the painter evolved into the visionary he's now seen to be. The mind-expanding paintings in this Downtown headliner include Eggs on the Plate without the Plate, The Hallucinogenic Toreador, and more than 90 other oils. Another 2,000 additional works include watercolors, drawings, sculptures, photographs, and objets d'art. The museum also hosts temporary collections from the likes of Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol. Free hour-long tours are led by well-informed docents.

Explore more than 500 contemporary works of glass art at this gorgeous, world-class museum. The 34,000-square-foot gallery space features stunning translucent pieces that play with color, light, and shape by standout American and international artists, including Harvey Littleton, an early 1960s pioneer in the medium, as well as modern artists who have taken glass-blowing, glass-casting, and sand-casting techniques to the next level.

A gorgeous, Mediterranean-revival structure houses outstanding collections of Asian, African, Native American, European, and American art. Although American artists such as Hassam, O'Keeffe, Bellows, and Morisot are represented, the museum is known more for its pieces by French artists, including Cézanne, Monet, Rodin, Gauguin, and Renoir. In addition, photography exhibits draw from a permanent collection of more than 14,000 works. Docents give narrated gallery tours, and you can grab lunch at a café that has a beautiful bay view.

The world's only museum dedicated solely to the American Arts and Crafts movement, which saw a range of beautiful yet functional works created in the United States between 1890 and 1930, was funded by a local philanthropist and collector. Displays in the 137,000 square feet of gallery space feature everything from architecture and furniture to prints, photographs, and paintings.

The building is a masterpiece, too, with a grand atrium, skylights, and the drama of a central spiral staircase. In addition to a reference library and a theater, the museum also has a gift shop, a graphic studio, an upscale café, a children’s gallery, and green space.

Housed in an exquisitely designed building—overlooking Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park, the towering minarets of the University of Tampa, and the Hillsborough River—this museum is emblematic of the city's efforts to revitalize its Downtown riverfront. The main, 66,000-square-foot gallery space displays an impressive permanent collection of 20th- and 21st-century sculpture as well as Greek and Roman antiquities. Five additional galleries host traveling exhibits ranging from the classics to some of the most prominent artists working today. At night, the building's exterior comes alive with colorful LED lights, a sight best viewed from the Curtis Hixon park.