Places to Visit in Historic Ybor City in Tampa, Florida

If you want to visit the neighborhood in Tampa Bay that has the most charm and history, look no further than Ybor City. This part of Tampa may have the reputation of a Broadway by day and a Bourbon Street by night, but it is so much more than that!

There is so much history and culture that runs through these cobble stone streets, with plenty of places to visit and learn from, so I’m here to help make it easier for you find those places. Here is my itinerary for you, for when you come to visit Historic Ybor City.

First, I’d start with an Historic Walking Tour. Max Herman runs a fantastic tour where he takes you around this National Historic Landmark District of Florida. There are very few places you actually go into, so depending on the time of year you take his tour, prepare to sweat. On this Historic Walking Tour, you learn how Ybor City came to be in 1885 and was quite the melting pot with so many different cultures, religions and ethnicities choosing to settle in Ybor. This walking tour shows you how each group had their own social club, but today, only the Italian Social Club is still in working order and is still owned by Italians. You’ll learn about Señor Vincente Martinez Ybor and see his cigar factory and his own social club. Without any passports needed, you’ll even visit a slice of a Cuba that is right here in Ybor! And of course, you’ll see and learn all about Ybor’s Chickens and Roosters, that will probably join your tour at some point! I don’t want to give too much away, but Max’s tours run daily and you can learn more about them and book your tour here.

Next, head over to Centennial Park, which is where you’ll find the Ybor City Museum and the Tampa Baseball Museum. Both museums can be visited on the same day. In the Ybor City Museum, you’ll learn more about the first settlers of Ybor, their traditions that followed them here, and how the neighborhood came to be. The coolest part of this museum is that it is in what used to be the Ferlita Bakery, which was an Italian family that made Cuban bread, which you can see a recreation of inside the museum!

Across the street, on 19th Street, is where you’ll find the Tampa Baseball Museum, which is in the actual home that Al Lopez lived in with his family. Al Lopez is Tampa’s first Major league player, manager and Hall of Fame Inductee. In this museum, you’ll learn more about Lopez, as well as Tampa’s Baseball History, which started with their first team in 1887. Today, the most MLB players have come from Tampa. Whether you’re a baseball fanatic or not, you’ll enjoy all the history, artifacts and interactive experiences that come with visiting this museum.

I saved the best for last! It’s now time to go across interstate 4 and go to the other part of Ybor to visit the JC Newman Cigar Factory, which is the only fully functional cigar manufacture left in Tampa! Known as the “El Reloj,” (which means The Clock, in Spanish) for its distinguished Clock Tower, this 4th generation family-owned cigar maker is 127 years old and makes about 60,000 cigars each day for 10 different brands. This was one of the best factory tours I have ever been on because you can get up close and personal with the cigar rollers and really see how it is done. It is a 75 minute guided tour that I highly recommend taking, so you can learn about the Newman’s legacy, Cigar City and everything involved in making a cigar. They also just started offering hand-rolling classes, so you can learn how to roll your own cigar! Learn more about their classes and book your tour here.

UPDATE: Since writing this article, I took J.C. Newman's Hand Rolling Cigar Class and this should definitely be on your list of must-do's in Tampa Bay. How can you be in Cigar City and not learn how to hand roll a cigar? Well, it's a good thing that J.C. Newman gives you the opportunity to do just that! This class really helps you gain a new appreciation for the profession and craft because this was not an easy task to accomplish. As time goes on, J.C. Newman keeps adding more enhancements to the class, like when I took the class it came with a custom J.C. Newman Cigar Box to hold the cigars that I rolled in class. So after rolling my 5 premium J.C. Newman Cigars, I wait 10-14 days and they'll be dry and ready to be lit! The classes happen every other Friday afternoon, so you'll want to book your visit before they fill up! 

So the next time, someone says to you, let’s go to Ybor City in Tampa, don’t think about the people stumbling out of the bars on 7th Avenue, just think about how Teddy Roosevelt rode down 7th Avenue on horseback with his Rough Riders, which you’ll learn all about after visiting all the places I mentioned above!
For more historic places to visit in Tampa Bay, click here.