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The Ringling, Sarasota, FL

Photo: This Photo was taken by Wolfgang Moroder . Feel free to use my photos, but please mention me as the author and send m..., CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and resized.

MuseumsHistory BuffRainy-Day PickFamily Favorite

The Ringling

5401 Bay Shore Rd · Sarasota, FL

Why you should go…

The Ringling is the estate of circus owner John Ringling and his wife Mable, now the official art museum of the State of Florida. The Museum of Art fills 21 galleries with European paintings, including a notable group of works by Peter Paul Rubens. The Circus Museum, established in 1948, documents circus history, and the Bayfront Gardens lead to Ca' d'Zan, the couple's Venetian Gothic mansion completed in 1926 and under restoration after the 2024 hurricanes. Ca' d'Zan needs its own ticket.

  • #art museum
  • #circus museum
  • #historic mansion
  • #gardens
  • #ca' d'zan

Good to know

General museums guidance

Habits that pay off across this whole category, not rules for this one venue. Always check the official site for the specifics.

  • Check the special exhibition separately

    Touring shows usually carry their own ticket and their own opening hours, listed apart from general admission.

  • Look for the free window

    Many museums run community days, member evenings, or discounted late openings. It is worth a look before you pay full price.

  • Travel light through the door

    Large bags and backpacks often have to go to a coat check, and lines for it move slowly at opening.

  • Weekday mornings beat weekend afternoons

    School groups clear out by early afternoon midweek, while weekends stay busy from late morning on.

What's around here?

The closest stops to The Ringling, ordered by straight-line distance. A few more like it, plus some different kinds of fun so you can build a full day.

  • Sport & Outdoor
    Family Favorite

    Siesta Beach

    Free

    Swim and stroll on a very wide Gulf beach of fine white quartz sand that stays cool under bare feet.

    8.2 mi awaySwitch it up: Sport & Outdoor

  • Sightseeing
    Iconic

    Sunshine Skyway Bridge

    Under $25

    Drive over Tampa Bay on a four-mile cable-stayed bridge, or view the whole span from the old-bridge fishing piers.

    18 mi awaySwitch it up: Sightseeing

  • Museums
    Iconic

    The Dalí Museum

    $25–$50

    See Salvador Dalí's paintings and drawings in a waterfront museum entered beside a 75-foot glass spiral.

    27 mi awayMore like this

  • Attractions
    Family Favorite

    The Florida Aquarium

    $25–$50

    See a 500,000-gallon coral reef tank, loggerhead sea turtles, moon jellies, lemurs and stingrays in downtown Tampa.

    39 mi awaySwitch it up: Attractions

  • Sightseeing
    History Buff

    Ybor City

    Free

    Stroll 7th Avenue in Tampa's historic Latin Quarter for cigar shops, hand rollers, free-roaming chickens and the Columbia Restaurant.

    41 mi awaySwitch it up: Sightseeing

  • Attractions
    Family Favorite

    ZooTampa at Lowry Park

    $50+

    Meet manatees, elephants, giraffes and rhinos across a 63-acre zoo that also runs a hospital for injured manatees.

    44 mi awaySwitch it up: Attractions