5 hidden gems in Florida that make you feel like a world traveler

Magnificent castles, peaceful Japanese gardens, the exquisite cathedrals of Constantinople … Can you believe they can all be found in the Sunshine State?

If you think you need to travel to Asia or Europe to visit the most beautiful, colorful, and historical sites, then let us reassure you that no, you don’t need to leave the Sunshine State to enjoy these magical places. 

You can find them — and more! — right here in sunny Florida. Best of all? There’s no need for a visa or to travel thousands of miles. You also won’t have to spend thousands of dollars or brave huge crowds just to get a glimpse of an attraction. 

Have we piqued your interest? Then here are five Florida dupes that will delight, amaze, and entertain you and your friends and family!

1. Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens in Palm Beach

One of Palm Beach County’s most treasured cultural attractions, Roji-en, or Garden of the Drops of Dew, was designed to be an extension of the Morikami Museum that, since opening in 1977, has been a center for Japanese arts and culture in South Florida. 

In fact, the Morikami Collections house more than 7,000 Japanese art objects and artifacts, including tea ceremony items, more than 200 textile pieces, and fine art acquisitions.

The 16 acres that surround Morikami’s two museum buildings include six beautiful Japanese gardens designed to express the character of a counterpart in Japan, and to flow together as one garden. Visitors enjoy gentle strolling paths, resting areas, a world-class bonsai collection, and lakes teeming with koi. There’s also a 200-acre park featuring nature trails, pine forests and picnic areas.

If you’d love to explore Florida’s early connection to Japan in a tranquil natural setting, these gardens and museums will gently transport you to another place and time. 

Photo courtesy of Fragments/CC BY-SA 3.0.

2. Vizcaya Museum and Gardens in Miami

With its traditional Mediterranean architecture, ample courtyards, outdoor sculptures, and elegant sitting rooms, this gorgeous palazzo was conceived as a modern interpretation of an eighteenth-century Italian villa like those found in the Veneto region of northern Italy. 

The place is so imbued with Italian tradition that once they enter its beautiful gardens, many visitors find it hard to believe that they’re still in Miami’s Biscayne Bay, not far from where Interstate 95 ends and US 1 begins. 

Built between 1914 and 1922 by visionary businessman James Deering, the villa encompasses 34 beautifully decorated rooms, formal gardens, a mangrove shoreline and a historic village. Its Main House boasts collections dating from the early 20th-century all the way back to Pompeii. 

Vizcaya is also host to many cultural events like a farmer’s market, Sunday wellness classes, and special arts exhibitions. 

3. The Lightner Museum in St. Augustine

This magnificent Spanish Renaissance Revival building, commissioned by Standard Oil executive Henry Flagler and completed in 1888, was designed by the architecture firm of Carrère and Hastings and is located in the heart of historic St. Augustine, the oldest city in the US. But once your eyes take in its magnificence, you won’t believe you’re in Florida, because you’ll feel four thousand miles away in Spain. 

“I wanted to retain the Spanish character of St. Augustine and so designed the buildings with the architecture of the early houses here with their quaint overhanging balconies,” explained architect Thomas Hastings. 

And did he ever get it right! The building’s red terracotta tiles, decorative moldings, courtyard fountains, and distinctive towers evoke the Spanish heritage of St. Augustine. 

The museum’s fascinating collections include everything from Gilded Age furniture to American Brilliant Era cut glass and Victorian mechanical musical instruments. It also holds special programs, events, and tours.  

Photo courtesy of Watts/CC BY 2.0.

4. Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Tarpon Springs

Florida’s Tarpon Springs has the highest concentration of people of Greek descent, so services at Saint Nicholas Cathedral are held in Greek as well as in English, two languages that you’ll hear freely spoken throughout the Tarpon Springs area as you visit the town’s Greek bakeries, stores and restaurants. 

But without a doubt, the star of this picturesque Greek enclave is Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral. Named for Saint Nicholas, the Patron Saint of Greece, the congregation’s first church was a frame building constructed in 1907 by Greek immigrants who came to Tarpon Springs in 1905. 

The current cathedral, however, was completed in 1943. It contains white marble quarried at Mount Penteli, near Athens, a gift from the Greek government. An illuminated cross crowns its domed tower, an important landmark in Tarpon Springs. Inside, votive lamps illuminate framed Byzantine-style icons, some with exquisite gold and silver overlays. Sparkling glass chandeliers hang from the high, rounded ceiling. 

So, if you’d like to enjoy a Greek adventure without leaving the Sunshine State, Tarpon Springs and this beautiful cathedral are the places to visit. 

Photo courtesy of Ebyabe/CC BY-SA 3.0.

5. World Showcase at Epcot Center, in Orlando

Okay, we admit it. This gem is not exactly hidden. And as for crowded … well, it does get a lot of visitors every year. But who can blame them?

World Showcase — located in Disney’s EPCOT theme park — is the place to visit if you’re in the mood to experience several countries in one afternoon. It’s sort of like going on one of those fun, whirlwind European tours where you know that if it’s Tuesday, this must be Belgium. An added plus: it’s great fun for the whole family. 

The place’s pavilions represent different countries, including Norway, Germany, Italy, France and England in Europe; China and Japan in Asia, and Canada in North America, among others. Through its architecture, restaurants, and shops, each pavilion showcases the culture and cuisine of a particular country.   

Each pavilion also boasts unique attractions from each country, such as Anna & Elsa’s summer cabin in Norway, the Romantic Road Miniature Train Village in Germany, and the Mexican Folk Art Gallery in Mexico. 

This article first appeared on Good Info News Wire and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.