In July 2026, CNN Travel named Sarasota County No. 1 on its list of America’s Best Towns to Visit. The beaches certainly helped, but the real answer lies in an unusual mix of circus history and serious arts, rare botanical collections and wild mangroves, an increasingly notable dining scene, and some of Florida’s most celebrated shoreline.

From coastal towns in Alaska to mountain communities in Vermont, the competition stretched across the country. But when CNN Travel released its 2026 list of America’s Best Towns to Visit, it was Sarasota County that landed at No. 1.

So, what propelled this gulf coast community of Florida to the top? Sarasota may have the celebrated gulf beaches you’d expect, but they share the spotlight with a circus legacy that helped shape a serious arts scene, botanical gardens devoted to both beauty and scientific research, mangrove ecosystems made for exploring by paddle, and a dining scene increasingly attracting national attention.

Just as striking is how easily those different sides of Sarasota intersect. On Lido Key, for example, travelers can go from the Gulf to mangrove tunnels to the shops and restaurants of St. Armands Circle within minutes.  It’s one small snapshot of the variety found across Sarasota and its barrier islands, and a compelling clue to why CNN’s editors put this corner of Florida at No. 1.

A CIRCUS TOWN GREW INTO A SERIOUS ARTS DESTINATION

Long before Sarasota became synonymous with Gulf beaches, it became a circus town. In 1927, John Ringling moved the winter quarters of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey here from Bridgeport, Connecticut, bringing performers, craftspeople, and an international cast of characters to what was then a much smaller Gulf Coast community. The circus eventually moved its winter headquarters south to Venice in 1960, but its imprint on Sarasota proved much harder to relocate.

Today, that history translates into some of Sarasota’s most distinctive things to see and do. At The Ringling’s 66-acre bayfront campus, visitors can explore historic circus wagons, costumes, posters, and a sprawling miniature circus before stepping into an entirely different world: John and Mable Ringling’s Venetian-inspired Ca’ d’Zan mansion, galleries filled with European art, and an 18th-century Italian theater reconstructed in Sarasota. The circus tradition is still performed, too. The Circus Arts

Conservatory stages professional shows and trains new generations of performers through programs including Sailor Circus, whose roots stretch back to a Sarasota High School gymnastics class in 1949.

That legacy has helped give Sarasota a cultural scene that now extends to ballet, opera, theater, visual arts, and more. Even Cirque St. Armands Beachside gets in on the act, riffing on the city’s circus past with striped patterns, theatrical drapery, and a pool composed of three interconnected rings.

NATURE HERE GOES WELL BEYOND THE BEACH

For all the attention Sarasota’s shoreline gets, some of its most interesting natural attractions lie beyond the sand. At Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, visitors can wander a 15-acre bayfront campus filled with orchids, bromeliads, banyans, and other tropical plants, explore a conservatory devoted to rainforest species, and take in Sarasota Bay from gardens woven throughout the grounds. There’s serious science behind all that beauty, too: Selby is the only botanical garden in the world dedicated specifically to the study and display of epiphytic orchids, bromeliads, gesneriads, ferns, and other epiphytes.

A few miles away on Lido Key, the landscape gets considerably wilder. At Ted Sperling Nature Park, travelers can launch a kayak or paddleboard and follow narrow waterways beneath arching mangroves, with opportunities to spot birds and other coastal wildlife along the way. It’s an immersive look at a side of Florida that can be easy to miss from a beach chair – and it’s only minutes from Lido’s Gulf shoreline and St. Armands Circle.

THE DINING SCENE HAS EARNED ATTENTION, TOO

Sarasota’s culinary reputation is increasingly extending beyond the expected beach-town fare. The MICHELIN Guide now recognizes local restaurants including Lucky 8, Focaccia Sandwich + Bakery, and Tralia, reflecting a dining scene that ranges from inventive American cooking to Italian-American sandwiches and pizza.

Of course, there’s still something to be said for a meal that could only happen on the Gulf Coast. Consistently ranking among Sarasota’s top restaurants on Tripadvisor, Drift Kitchen & Bar inside Lido Beach Resort pairs panoramic Gulf views through floor-to-ceiling windows with a seafood-forward menu that leans into its coastal setting. Time dinner right and sunset becomes part of the experience – the kind of meal where Sarasota’s notable food scene and its most famous natural asset come together.

THERE’S MORE THAN ONE WAY TO DO A BEACH DAY

The appeal of Sarasota’s shoreline isn’t limited to the sand itself. Its barrier islands each lend a different rhythm to a day on the Gulf. On Siesta Key, powder-fine quartz sand and a broad shoreline invite the classic spread-out-and-stay-awhile beach day. Lido Key makes it easy to mix swimming and sunbathing with a mangrove paddle or shopping and lunch at St. Armands Circle. And on Longboat Key, the pace quiets down, with long stretches of Gulf shoreline and Sarasota Bay just across the island.

Longboat is particularly well suited to travelers who want the beach built into the stay. At The Resort at Longboat Key Club, a morning by the Gulf can give way to golf, tennis, pickleball, spa time, or getting out on the water from the marina. Farther north, Zota Beach Resort offers a more laid-back Gulf-front experience centered on beach and pool time. Both put Sarasota’s mainland attractions within reach, so choosing an island stay doesn’t mean choosing only the beach.

EVEN THE AQUARIUM PUTS SCIENCE ON DISPLAY

One of Sarasota’s newest attractions brings another side of the Gulf Coast indoors. Opened in 2025, Mote Science Education Aquarium, or Mote SEA, pairs encounters with marine life with a behind-the-scenes look at the science devoted to understanding it. Visitors can watch sharks swim overhead, explore galleries devoted to Florida waters and the Gulf Coast, and peer into working STEM and workforce-development labs.

The aquarium is the public-facing side of an institution with much deeper Sarasota roots. Mote was founded in southwest Florida in 1955 and spent decades operating its aquarium alongside its research campus on City Island. With Mote SEA now handling the aquarium experience, that longtime City Island home is being transformed for expanded marine research and conservation work.

TOP REASONS TO VISIT SARASOTA

In a nutshell: Sarasota’s strength isn’t any single attraction. It’s how much variety fits into one Gulf Coast destination – and how easily travelers can move between it all.

The Beach is Just the Beginning

Sarasota pairs celebrated Gulf shoreline with museums, performing arts, gardens, dining, marine science, and outdoor adventure.

Its Culture Feels Distinctly Sarasota

The city’s circus roots aren’t simply history; they continue to shape its museums, performances, architecture, and even hotel design.

Nature Comes in Several Forms

Spend one day on powder-soft sand and the next paddling beneath mangroves, wandering botanical gardens, or exploring Sarasota Bay.

Its Barrier Islands Offer Different Personalities

Siesta Key delivers the classic beach day, Lido Key mixes coast with culture and shopping, while Longboat Key offers a quieter resort rhythm.

You Can Pack a lot Into Very Little Travel Time

Beaches, mangroves, museums, restaurants, shopping, and other attractions often sit just minutes apart.

There’s Something for Very Different Kinds of Travelers

Beachgoers, food lovers, families, arts enthusiasts, and outdoorsy travelers can build entirely different trips from the same Sarasota home base.

It Works Equally Well at Full Speed or No Speed at All

Fill an itinerary with attractions and activities, or make the Gulf the main event and dip into everything else when the mood strikes.