Travel from Uk

My wife and I have only just discovered this beautiful paradise Anna Maria Island. We would love to visit next October. Would anybody be kind enough to advise us on the following.

1/ Best way to travel to the Island from the UK.

2/ A nice 1 or 2 bedroomed beachside place to stay.

3/ Would it be warm in October?

Many thanks

Travel from Uk

1. Nearest airports to fly into: Sarasota (1/2 hr or less, drive), Tampa (1+ hr drive), Ft. Myers (1.5 hr drive), Orlando (3 hr drive), Miami (3 hr drive), Sanford (3.5 hr drive).

2. Read past messages to get an idea of what is available.

3. It is usually still warm enough to go into the water in October.

Travel from Uk

I would say the best way of travelling is by plane

:-))

You can fly into Tampa, Sarasota, Fort Myers, Orlando or, if you like to drive, Miami...

I highly recommend to rent a car.

It will be hot in October and the humidity is going to drop by then. Nice weather unless a storm is passing by.

A lot of options to rent a home on the beach. Depends on what you are looking for and how your budget is.

We rent our condo too. If you want to check:

www.tourist-online.de/619697.html

(It′s german though!)

If you browse the forum you will find tons of places and Kris, chuts, steve and Rusty will give you their 5 cents for sure too! :-))

They know a lot of places!

Have fun!

Sascha ... gotta be faster than that. LOL.

dee, I love October on the island, it is warm but not too hot with the humidity. The hurricane season is about over too so you dont have much to worry about there.

Check out Floridianer%26#39;s condo at La Costa, very nice, right on the beach!

There are lots of rentals so if you find something you are interested in let us know and we can comment on it.

Good Luck

We have flown over a few times - direct to Tampa with BA is best but most expensive and I think quite difficult to get flights. We have flown from Gatwick to Atlanta and then down to Sarasota (its only about 30 minute drive from there), or flown into Charlotte or Cinncinati and down to Tampa. That is a bit further drive to AMI but to be honest, very simple direct route.

We usually go in October as the weather is good - not too hot ( high 70%26#39;s to low 80%26#39;s ), the humidity is starting to go / gone and it is fairly quiet ( not that AMI ever gets really busy ).

We normally fly to Orlando (Virgin or BA )as we have a few days there first. However we flew to Tampa this October with Continental via Houston. There are quite a few other options e.g. US Airways via Charlotte or New York, North West via Detroit, Delta via Atlanta.

BA fly direct but quite expensive and gets booked quickly.

Tampa airport is about an hours drive to AMI.

Have a look at Airline Network web site for good deals. I looked the other day and there were flights for next October for ￡345 with US Airways.

The prices may come down in a few weeks; May fares are down at ￡275 for example. The airlines are struggling to fill the seats.

Have a look at La Costa, Coconuts, Tortuga Inn, Island Paradise,

annamaria.com have some really nice properties

( Tropical Paradise is stunning as are a couple of others they rent out )

Have fun searching.

1,Even with the drive from Orlando this is probably still the quickest way of getting to Anna Maria island.You also have the option of staying afew days in Orlando.

2,the island is so small you are never far from the beach even if you are inland so do not rule out any accommodation if it is not directly on the beach

3, Compared to the UK it will fell warm

BA offering flights to Orlando in October (non stop direct ) for ￡354 - good deal !!

2 hour drive to AMI from Orlando.

Hey Chuts, I guess I′m getting older :-))

As you%26#39;ve probably deduced already, the closest airport to Anna Maria is Sarasota (SRQ is the airport code). Sarasota has no flights to the UK, however; the closest city with a direct UK flight is Tampa and the drive from there to Anna Maria is short and easy. Alternatively, as others have mentioned, you could fly into Orlando or Miami and drive from there, or into other airports farther afield (Atlanta, Charlotte, New York, Cincinnati) and change planes there to continue nonstop to Sarasota. The largest carriers serving Sarasota are AirTran (hub in Atlanta) and Delta (hubs in Atlanta and Cincinnati).

should she tell someone