St Petersburg Rentals by Owners.

With a purported average of some 360 days of sunshine each year, St Petersburg is nicknamed "The Sunshine City." For that reason, the city is a popular tourist and retirement destination, especially for those in the United States from colder Northern climates - particularly New York City, Detroit , and Chicago . However, in recent years the population has shifted in a more youthful direction.

The city has a children's museum (Great Explorations), Museum of Fine Arts, a History Museum (which has a full-size replica (...)

With a purported average of some 360 days of sunshine each year, St Petersburg is nicknamed "The Sunshine City." For that reason, the city is a popular tourist and retirement destination, especially for those in the United States from colder Northern climates - particularly New York City, Detroit , and Chicago . However, in recent years the population has shifted in a more youthful direction.

The city has a children's museum (Great Explorations), Museum of Fine Arts, a History Museum (which has a full-size replica of the Benoist seaplane and is located near the approximate spot by the St. Petersburg Pier where the first flight took place), a Holocaust Museum, and the Salvador Dalí Museum, which houses the largest collection of Dalí's in the world, including a number of famous and large-scale paintings such as The Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus . There are also various other smaller art galleries and entertainment venues, such as: The Midtown Royal Theater, The Arts Center, Florida Craftsmen Gallery, Mahaffey Theater complex, The Coliseum, and Palladium Theatre, especially in the Downtown area, which has seen a boom in development since the mid 1990s.

The St. Petersburg Pier is a popular tourist attraction. It contains a small aquarium open to the public, retail shopping, adventure activities, and both casual and fine dining restaurants. Various sightseeing boat rides are also offered. Frequently docked at The Pier is the replica of HMS Bounty used in the 1962 MGM movie starring Marlon Brando. The Bounty charges a fee for tours, and has recently returned from filming the sequels to Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean . This replica was also used in the filming of the 2005 adult movie Pirates.

Downtown is the location of the BayWalk shopping complex which contains an IMAX Muvico 20 screen movie theater, as well as many chain restaurants and retail shops, catering to more of a middle and upper class audience. Baywalk is also a nightlife destination. North of downtown is Great Explorations, The Children's Museum, an interactive museum featuring a children's village with giant pretend stores, Fire House and Pet Vet Clinic, and preschool, science, music, art, and water exhibits. The museum is located next to the Sunken Gardens. Nearby restaurants on 4th Street include local specialties. Every Saturday morning, from October to May, the downtown area holds a farmers market, of sorts. Local produce farmers can be found selling their fruits up and down the downtown region, as well as live bands, barbecue vendors, and artists of all kinds. Several nightlife hotspots include Jannus Landing; the surrounding restaurants and bars; and the Central Avenue district. Several ethnic and domestic culinary specialties can be found throughout the downtown area.

Boyd Hill Nature Park located on Lake Maggiore is a 245-acre (0.99 km2) preserve where you can see many of the endangered plants and rare wildlife of tampa bay. There is a bird exhibit which houses bald eagles, owls, hawks, and other species.

St. Petersburg is well regarded for its beaches. In 2005, Fort Desoto was rated the number one beach in America by the annual Dr. Beach rankings. TripAdvisor also has the beach ranked number one in the nation for 2008.

Also noted for its arts community, St. Petersburg regularly places top 25 in the nation among arts destinations