Rising on a gentle hillside beside the blue waters of Sarasota Bay, SARASOTA is one of Florida's better-off and better-looking towns, and also one of the state's leading cultural centers. It's home to numerous writers and artists, and the base of several respected performing arts companies. The community is far less stuffy than its wealth might suggest, and downtown Sarasota is fairly lively, with cafés, bars and eateries complementing the excellent grouping of bookstores for which the place has been known. Most visitors stop by to see the Ringling estate on the town's northern edge - home of the art-loving millionaire from whom modern Sarasota takes its cue - and the barrier island beaches, a couple of miles away across the bay.

Sarasota

• Sarasota
• Practicalities

Explore Sarasota

• Ringling Museum Complex
• Sarasota's beaches

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