Sightseeing in Daytona Beach - what to see. Complete travel guide

Daytona Beach attracts many tourists who like spending their vacations at the Atlantic Ocean’s coast. This city is situated in Central Florida. Daytona Beach has a mild and pleasant climate, so it is not as hot as Miami in summer. The city is suitable for family holidays and vacations with friends. Daytona Beach is rarely crowded, so this is a great destination for a peaceful and trouble-free stay.

Native Americans inhabited the area of modern Daytona Beach in the past. This was the land of the Timucua tribe that became nearly exterminated during the bloody battles with Europeans in the 18th century. During twenty years in the 18th century and the era of British rule of Florida, an important road – the King’s Road – passed through the territory of modern Daytona Beach. This road started in Saint Augustine and ended in New Smyrna. At the beginning of the 19th century, an American man, Samuel Williams, became the owner of this land. Later, the area became a part of the independent country.

In 1871, Mathias Day Jr. purchased a big plot of land in this region. He decided to build a hotel in such a beautiful area. A small settlement soon formed near this hotel. This is how Daytona Beach appeared. In 1872, Day lost his property due to financial troubles. However, local people respected him, and so they decided to call the new town after him. Copyright www.orangesmile.com

At the beginning of the 20th century, when an automobile boom started in the world, the thirty-five-kilometer-long beach in Daytona Beach had no chance of staying unnoticed. Car and motorbike owners from all over the world visited this place to compete in racing. According to historical data, first car racing in Daytona Beach had two major participants – cars by Louis Chevrolet and Henry Ford. When Malcolm Campbell set his first record in the 30s of the 20th century, Daytona Beach got a new informal name – the City of Speed.

What can tourists not interested in cars do in Daytona Beach? Naturally, they can enjoy beach recreation or try to surf on the waves. Every year, Daytona Beach hosts a large car racing event, but this city is also suitable for a peaceful vacation. It is so pleasant to spend days sunbathing, swimming in the ocean, and simply playing with your own kids on the coast. The local beach has soft sand that is always clean – all dirt and trash are removed from the beach every day.

Do you like high waves? Then you have come to the right place. The current is often strong near Daytona Beach, so waves that are several meters high are not rare for this area. No wonder why so many fans of this water-based activity call the beach resort a “mecca for surfers”. During their vacation in Daytona Beach, not only advanced surfers can polish their skills in riding the wave. Beginners can take lessons from professionals and learn how to stand on the surf and not to be afraid of the high waves.

The next attraction in Daytona Beach excites not only adults but also children. This is an internationally famous golf club, the name of which speaks for itself – the Pirate’s Island. This is the true pride of the city. Despite the fact that this is an artificial island, the number of people wishing to visit it only grows every year. If you visit this club, you will notice how much effort is put into this club. Numerous hills that are very interesting to explore, various water reservoirs, incredibly beautiful waterfalls, and, of course, pirates’ caves – this is a truly fairytale place. Thanks to a state-of-art illumination system, it is possible to play golf on the island even at night.

Daytona Bike Week is one of the largest events that take place in Daytona Beach every year. More than five hundred thousand motorcycle owners from different countries of the world visit this city in order to show off their “steel friends”. The grandiose event starts at the beginning of March and lasts almost two weeks. This is the time when happiness, excitement, and, of course, admiration linger in the air in Daytona Beach. This is one of the reasons why the majority of people, who have visited this event at least once, want to return and visit the festival again. An interesting fact – local people were first not happy about the meeting or motorbike owners, but Bike Week steadily turned into a good tradition.

Despite the fact that Daytona Beach has its own airport, international flights arrive in the nearby city of Orlando. It is easy to reach the resort city from Orlando by car or shuttle bus. The ride will take one hour or one and a half hours at max. Tourists coming from certain countries need to fly to New York or Miami first and then get to Daytona Beach by car. The ride from Miami will take four hours. The train is not a popular means of transport in the country. Train tickets are expensive, and the number of trains is low.