Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park covers eight acres along the Hillsborough River in downtown Tampa. Much of the park is an open lawn that slopes gently toward the river in a series of wide terraces. The park is adjacent to the Tampa Riverwalk and the Tampa Museum of Art. The park overlooks the University of Tampa's Plant Hall, directly across the river. A waterfront park, an accredited art museum and a walkable downtown in the same city is the combination this list is built on.
Here is how we picked the five. First, the city must have a public beach or a public waterfront park inside its own city limits. Second, it must be home to an art museum accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. Third, it must have a named, walkable downtown or main street district. Each city below passed all three tests. We list them north to south.
Tampa
Around the park's lawn are fountains, a large playground, a public boat dock, a dog park and an amphitheater. The Tampa Riverwalk is a 2.6-mile open space and pedestrian trail along the Hillsborough River, and since 2014 its segments have connected into one continuous path. Bicycles and scooters are available for rent at stations along the way, and a water taxi links the Riverwalk with Hyde Park, Harbour Island and Davis Islands. The Tampa Museum of Art traces its roots to the Tampa Museum of Fine Arts, organized in 1920, and the American Alliance of Museums reaccredited it in 2019. Its current building, designed by architect Stanley Saitowitz for a site in Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park, opened in February 2010. The museum says it houses one of the most significant collections of Greek and Roman antiquities in the southeastern United States.
St. Petersburg
The Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg was founded in 1961 by Margaret Acheson Stuart and opened to the public in 1965. Its original building, designed by John Volk, has a curving colonnade along Beach Drive, and the museum sits along Straub Park overlooking Tampa Bay and the St. Pete Pier. The collection holds more than 20,000 objects spanning nearly 5,000 years of human history, and the museum appears on the American Alliance of Museums' November 2025 list of accreditation awards. Vinoy Park, named after the Vinoy Park Hotel, is on the downtown waterfront with recreation trails along the water for walkers, runners and bikers. The city describes its Waterfront Museum District, from Beach Drive to 3rd Street, as one of several highly walkable arts districts.
West Palm Beach
West Palm Beach faces the town of Palm Beach across the Lake Worth Lagoon. The Great Lawn, at Flagler Drive and Clematis Street, is a city waterfront park with public restrooms, and the Meyer Amphitheatre holds about 5,000 people on 2.4 acres of green space beside the Intracoastal Waterway. Clematis Street became the city's "Main Street" early in its history and is home to Clematis by Night, an outdoor event with live music. The Norton Museum of Art, founded in 1941 by Ralph Hubbard Norton and Elizabeth Calhoun Norton, holds more than 8,200 works. Its collection concentrates on European, American and Chinese art, along with contemporary art and photography. The Norton reopened on February 9, 2019, adding 12,000 square feet of gallery space, a 210-seat auditorium and a sculpture garden. The expansion followed a master plan by the British architect Norman Foster. A parking lot next to the museum was converted into the 9,000-square-foot sculpture garden.
Boca Raton
Boca Raton has a two-mile stretch of lifeguard-protected beaches, and ocean rescue lifeguards staff the beach seven days a week, year-round. Red Reef Park, at 1400 N. Ocean Blvd. and open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., has a snorkel trail that includes a jetty extending from the beach and 20 artificial reefs just offshore. Downtown, Mizner Park opened in 1991 on the site of the former Boca Mall, with shops, restaurants and apartments built in a Mediterranean Revival style. The Boca Raton Museum of Art, on the American Alliance of Museums' April 2024 list of accreditation awards, sits at the north end of Mizner Park in the Centre for the Arts, along with the amphitheater.
Naples
The historic Naples Pier is on the Gulf of Mexico at the west end of 12th Avenue South. It is currently closed for the Naples Pier Rebuild Project, so check its status before you plan around it. Lowdermilk Park, a city beachfront park, has sand volleyball courts, a children's playground, picnic tables, two gazebos for rent and ADA beach access mats. It is open from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m., and its concession stand, Flip Flop Beach Grill, is beachside in the middle of the park. Downtown Naples is home to the 5th Avenue South and 3rd Street South shopping districts, and the 5th Avenue South Business Improvement District was established in December 2010. Artis-Naples, The Baker Museum, which appears on the American Alliance of Museums' April 2025 list of accreditation awards, calls itself Collier County's first and only accredited museum of any kind.
Check the Naples Pier status and each museum's hours before you go. Where You LIVE.