While being a new college student at the University of Tampa, I have come to explore so many of the fun winter traditions and holiday fun that the city of Tampa has to offer! Some of these places I have visited, but some are still on my winter bucket list before returning home for the long break!
- Winter Village Tampa
Located at the Curtis Hixon Park right next to the river walk, a Winter Village is going on! This includes ice skating, pop-up shops of local vendors, Icicle Cafe, and many light and tree decorations perfect for getting the cutest holiday photos! This location is right across the river from Plant Park, so it is a very convenient holiday spot to stop at and will continue to be set up until January 1st, 2024.
https://wintervillagetampa.com/#
- Willa’s Provisions
This next spot is the cutest Pinterest-worthy decorated coffee shop. They serve many different types of coffee-like drinks along with teas, juices, and a special holiday nutcracker latte! Along with that, they have some house pastries as well as breakfast and lunch options like bagel boards, salads, and a bacon egg taco. They have some of the most festive decorations throughout their store and hanging from the ceiling for the holiday season! They are located at 310 N Rome Ave and open every day from 8 am-4 pm. I have yet to visit this spot, but from what I have seen online, I am making a point of visiting before my trip home!
https://www.willasprovisions.com/
- Water Street
I went for a long evening walk along the river walk last week down into the downtown area and came across the cutest winter decorations set up all along Water Street! They have all the naturally planted trees lined up on the street strings with the prettiest warm lights, making it feel magical outside, along with some life-sized light-up stars, golden bears, and a big Christmas tree perfect for pictures. Along this walk, a friend and I stopped for some ice cream at a shop called Chill Bros Scoop Shop. They have the cutest little shop located on Water Street, with so many unique Flavors and great prices! They also have some fun festive flavors for the season, including Apple Pie, Birthday Cake, Fluffer Pumpkin, and Candy Cane Forest, which was our personal favorite!
- Armature Works
During the entire month of December, Armature Works has a long itinerary of holiday events going on for multiple days throughout every week in December. One of their final events of the month is a Holiday Double Feature Movie on the Lawn on December 18th! They are showing the movie Elf in celebration of its 20th anniversary at 6 pm and Home Alone showing at 8 pm. They also have their big Christmas trees set up, which is the perfect scenery to do some last-minute Christmas shopping and grab some lunch! Armature is one of my favorite and closest places to go and walk around, but with the holiday events, this makes it twice as much fun!
https://armatureworks.com/holiday-happenings-at-armature-works/