Bike Vacation Itinerary: Clearwater, Florida

Since we love biking so much, we were looking for a vacation where we could explore mostly by bike. Clearwater, Florida is what we landed on since we had read about the Pinellas Trail. We went over Christmas a couple of years ago. Here’s our itinerary with kids.

We rented a house in Palm Harbor which is more of a suburb so it was a bit less expensive than being on the beach. Turns out there are a lot of bike trails in the area as well so if you are an avid biker, you may not even need to drive. We have kids so we drove to the Pinellas trail most days.

Day 1: We rode our bikes to the neighborhood park in Palm Harbor (John Chestnut Sr Park) and saw lots of nature. There were alligators, lots of birds, and several playgrounds.

Day 2: Rode from Crystal Beach to Tarpon Springs. There was a zoo along the way! We ate some Greek food and dessert at the Sponge Docks.

Day 3: Rode from Crystal Beach to Honeymoon Island State Park. This ride included miles on the DunedIn causeway which had the most beautiful ocean views on both sides. It was about 6 miles one way but we beat the car traffic which was bumper to bumper. Honeymoon Island State Park is a very natural park and the beaches are beautiful and pristine. We got snow cones on the way back and watched the sunset at High & Dry Grill.

Day 4: Just me and my husband rode from Palm Harbor to Tarpon Springs and we ate at a nice Greek Restaurant. It was a little too long of a ride to include the kids.

Day 5: Rode from DunedIn to Clearwater Beach. Clearwater beach is amazing – it’s a very busy city beach with plenty to do and loads of shops, but the traffic getting there was pretty bad – luckily we didn’t have to deal with it because we were on bike. We ate at DunedIn Brewery at the end of the ride and it was yummy.

Day 6: My absolute favorite place was Pass-A-Grille beach. We didn’t actually bike here but I think you can. The atmosphere was amazing – there was a great band playing and we got to sit right on the beach to eat at Paradise Grille. A fog had rolled in over the ocean which gave it an eerie, magical feeling. The beach was absolutely stunning.

I do feel like the best way (and most fun, IMO) to get around to the beaches in this area was by bike because you got to beat the traffic and fully immerse yourself in the ocean atmosphere – lots of wildlife and fun things to stop and see along the way as well.

Day 1: Bike to John Chestnut Sr Park