Welcome to Daytona Beach

Ladies and gentlemen... start your engines

Daytona Beach Florida is America's most famous raceway; the scene of roaring V8 engines, hot drifting, sun shine, and racing stars.

February is when Daytona Beach comes alive with the sounds of throbbing engines, staccato race calls and screams of excitement. The original beach racing ran for more than 50 years on the hard-packed sands before moving to the tarmac of the Daytona International Speedway in 1959. You can still drive on the beach today, although car rental companies discourage it (!).

Today Daytona Beach hosts the start of the Nascar racing season, the running of the Daytona 500 and Bike Week in early March.

For the tourist, it's a beach resort as well as a mecca for petrol heads. You don't have to love machinery to enjoy Daytona Beach Florida - but it helps. Check out the Daytona Beach Webcam in February and you'll see what we mean.

That said, Daytona is a beautiful beach the rest of the year. The hard packed sand makes walking the beach early in the morning a pleasure and you can set up camp for a day of chilling by the waves.

For quality rooms just look on Holiday Supermarket for hotels Daytona Beach Florida and you'll get your pick of the best properties.

Daytona Beach is also famous for its Spring Break reputation - when hordes of college kids descend on the town. This has lessened somewhat and the more family atmosphere that the local area council has tried to invoke has resulted in better restaurants and cafes, more family-friendly attractions and less of a late night bar scene.

Information & Facts

Climate

Daytona Beach Florida is a seaside town with everything you need including the famous Florida weather.
Summers are hot and humid with temps in the early 30sC. Winters drop to around the 20 mark. All in all, Daytona is comfortable all year round. Summer brings the occasional thunderstorm but these are usually over and done within an hour in the late afternoon. Spring and autumn are great times of year to visit because you don't get the extremes of summer.

Eating Out

Cheap, expensive and everything in between.

Daytona is geared towards a more relaxed tourist vibe. Much of the eating is outdoors close to the beach, although the back streets are full of the local favourites where you'll get American specialties like barbecue and rib shacks, plus bars where the beer is good and cold.

The budget options - almost all of your eating options are on S Atlantic Ave, the beachfront road. The Cracked Egg Diner does what America does so well - breakfast! Plus good bagels for lunch and light meals for dinner. Tia Cori's Tacos is on Bay St and serves up the best Mexican on this part of the coast. Light tacos, tasty, fresh toppings and plenty of corn chips to go around, plus an energetic young crew doing the serving.

Mid price options - Mike's Galley is on the Avenue and does a good line in home-cooked style meals of the omelettes and French toast variety. Don Vito's Italian Restaurant is back in Daytona proper on the W International Speedway Boulevard. It serves fresh pasta, glorious seafood and plenty of veal, plus pizza. Brilliant food, great staff.

Splurge - because Daytona caters to an international crowd there are many upmarket restaurants, including The Cellar. It's on Magnolia Avenue in the basement area of a historic home. Run by a husband and wife team, it's the full Italian experience with an excellent wine list and gracious service. You won't be disappointed.

Sightseeing

Daytona is way more than racing cars

That said, racing is a key part of the attraction. If you're here in January and February, you'll likely hit one of the major events on the bike racing or speedway calendar. The Daytona 500 kicks off in early Feb and the place is awash with car fans. If you love your speed, this is the time of year for you.

Daytona International Speedway - you can take a 90 minute tour of this famous track on almost every day except race day. For a car fan there is no better way to spend a morning. Go behind the scenes, tour Victory Lane and stand in the middle of the track. Pure petrol-head pleasure.

Richard Petty Driving Experience - of course even better than touring the place is driving like a race car driver. You can choose to go as passenger or you take the wheel yourself and howl around the track at speeds of up to 160mph. It's a real thrill, a supercharged experienced and as close to the real thing as most of us will get. (Great gift idea - just sayin'!)

The Beach - there's nothing quite like Daytona Beach itself. You can drive along a 27km stretch or just enjoy every watersport imaginable. The beach is hard-packed white sand and is a delight to walk on - especially at sunrise, watching the glow fill the eastern sky and feel the warm breeze pick up.

Marine Science Centre - the huge facility is part museum and attraction and part rescue centre for marine wildlife. You can get hands on with the stingrays, help feed the other fish and learn all about the centre's work in the interactive exhibits. They started out as a bird rescue place so there's plenty for the amateur ornithologist too! It's a great place for little kids.

Halifax Historical Museum - is on South Beach St and is a gem of a place set inside an old bank. It's a community run place and the charming staff go out of their way to make you welcome. The exhibits and displays give you a good look at old Florida and the changing face of Daytona.

The must see - the Lighthouse Point Park is a historic monument set in park like grounds with a ton of things to see. Explore the early lives of the lighthouse keepers and the people who made the area safe for seafarers. Make the climb up the 203 steps and you'll get the best view of Daytona and surrounds.

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