The best road trip stops on the Atlanta to Tampa drive are Macon, Valdosta and Gainesville. The distance from Atlanta to Tampa by car is 704 miles, with a 10h13m driving time.
Planning an Atlanta to Tampa road trip itinerary
The Atlanta to Tampa drive takes you from the capital of Georgia to the Florida coast.
5 great Atlanta experiences to book
- ✊ Take a black history and civil rights tour – the unquestioned number one option.
- 🚋 Get to know the city on a 90 minute trolley tour.
- 🍷 Go wine-tasting in North Georgia’s wine country.
- 🍽️ Taste the best of Atlanta on a Midtown food and cocktails tour.
- 👻 Explore Atlanta’s spookiest spots on an after-dark ghost tour.
Atlanta played a massive part in the Civil Rights movement, and a black history and civil rights tour taking in the city’s Martin Luther King Jr sites is pretty much a must-do.
Elsewhere, Zoo Atlanta, the Fernbank Museum of Natural History and the Atlanta Botanic Garden cater to nature-lovers, while the High Museum of Art and Margaret Mitchell House are key cultural sites.
For more Atlanta experiences, try a sightseeing trolley tour for orientation and overview. Or a guided bike ride to get a better feel for the neighbourhoods.
Other Atlanta favourites include the World of Coca Cola, Midtown food and cocktail tours and multi-brewery beer tours.
Tampa is justifiably one of the most popular holiday destinations in Florida. It’s home to top attractions such as the Florida Aquarium, ZooTampa, the Glazer Children’s Museum and the Tampa Museum of Art.
Other great Tampa experiences include historic Ybor City food walking tours, seeing the highlights in a street legal golf cart and a Haunted Tampa tour that combines ghosts and pubs.
Also on offer are history cruises, dolphin-watching and celebrity homes tours.
5 Tampa experiences worth booking
- 🐬 See dolphins playing in Tampa Bay on a relaxed dolphin sightseeing cruise.
- 🚶 Take a historic Ybor City walking tour and learn how Tampa was built on cigars.
- 🍽️ Combine history with food and drink tastings on an Ybor City food tour.
- 🚗 Tour Tampa’s main highlights in a fun, street-legal vehicle on a golf cart city tour.
- 🪂 Fly high over Tampa Bay on a zipline adventure with a twist.
Atlanta to Tampa distance and driving time
By car, the distance from Atlanta to Tampa is 456 miles. That makes for a driving time of around six hours and 33 minutes. The quickest route is largely down the I-75.
The best stops to add to an Atlanta to Tampa road trip are Macon, Valdosta and Gainesville.
Best stops between Atlanta and Tampa FL: Macon GA
Macon GA, on the Ocmulgee River, is a handy journey-breaker on the drive to or from Florida.
There are several interesting cultural attractions in Macon. These include the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame and the Italian Renaissance-style Hay House.
The Tubman Museum is devoted to African American culture, history and art, while music fans should enjoy the Allman Brothers Museum. The top historic attraction, however, is the Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park. Here, there is evidence of more than 17,000 years of continuous human inhabitation.
Atlanta to Tampa road trip attractions: Valdosta GA
In Valdosta GA, the Lowndes County Historical Museum does the local history thing. And the Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts hosts strong porcelain and East African art collections.
Most visitors, however, will beeline it to Wild Adventures. This is a zoo, water park and theme park rolled into one, and there’s a decent clutch of thrill rides.
Atlanta to Tampa drive: Gainesville FL
Gainesville is home to the University of Florida, and will be best known to college football fans as the home of the Florida Gators.
For everyone else, there’s the Butterfly Rainforest at the Florida Museum of Natural History, the Harn Museum of Art and the Devil’s Millhopper Geological State Park. The latter is based around a limestone sinkhole.
Gainesville hotel prices can rise sharply based on university and football events. Hunt for bargains in advance.
More Florida travel
Other Florida travel guides on Planet Whitley include:
- Learn about the early French settlement at Fort Caroline in Jacksonville.
- Getting to Jacksonville: The best stops on the Gainesville to Jacksonville drive and Savannah to Jacksonville drive.
- Guide to the Marine Science Center and Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse at Ponce Inlet.
- First time visitor’s guides to the Castillo de San Marcos, Fort Matanzas and Mission Nombre de Dios in St Augustine.
- Visitor guides to the Lightner Museum, Old Jail, St Augustine History Museum, St Augustine Pirate & Treasure Museum and Oldest Store Museum Experience in St Augustine.
