Two things are true of Sarasota: One, many of our area’s biggest attractions — our beaches and parks, waterfront restaurants, Marie Selby Botanical Gardens and more — are outdoors. Also true: Our area is often hot, humid, rainy and stormy, the extremes of which can make being outside not always the most appealing prospect.
Thankfully for such days, Sarasota has plenty of indoor attractions as well, including museums, games, theaters and more. Some date back nearly a century — such as The Ringling, which turns 100 years old next year — while the newest attraction on the list, Mote Science Education Aquarium, is not even a year old (although, of course, the Mote organization is much older than that).
Here are our picks for the top indoor attractions in Sarasota on a day where you want to be under a roof or in air-conditioning. Note: While we kept this list to places with a Sarasota address, if you expand your search to Manatee County, you’ll find plenty more options, such as The Bishop Museum of Science and Nature or Livingston’s Amusements, to name a few.
Mote Science Education Aquarium
225 University Town Center Drive, Sarasota; 941-388-6683; mote.org/aquarium
Opened in October 2025, Mote Science Education Aquarium (or Mote SEA) is the newest addition to our list — though Mote Marine Laboratory dates back more than 70 years ago, with its previous aquarium on Sarasota’s City Island. Along with sharks, the animal in Mote Marine’s logo, the aquarium features other marine wildlife such as the Florida manatee and North American river otter.
Mote SEA also features a cafe and a gift shop and is near University Town Center, which features several other dining and shopping options (keep reading for more on those.) The aquarium also overlooks Nathan Benderson Park, which on a day with good weather offers plenty of additional outdoor activities.
The Ringling
5401 Bay Shore Road, Sarasota; 941-359-5700; ringling.org
This sprawling estate’s full name is The John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art, and you will certainly find art here, ranging from classic to contemporary across a variety of mediums and exhibitions. But just as key in its name is “John & Mable Ringling,” the circus maven and his wife, as the property also features a circus museum, the Ringlings’ winter residence, Ca’ d’Zan, and the Historic Asolo Theater, currently hosting Summer Circus Spectacular through Saturday.
If it’s a day where the weather is agreeable, the Bayfront Gardens are also worth visiting, and cost just $5 (free under age 17) to visit on their own. The Ringling features a variety of admission specials, including free entry to the art museum and gardens on Mondays, or a discounted rate on Thursdays from 5 to 8 p.m. It also has its own restaurant, The Ringling Grillroom, and a gift shop.
Sarasota Art Museum
1001 S. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota; 941-309-4300; sarasotaartmuseum.org
Opened in late 2019 in the old Sarasota High School building, Sarasota Art Museum operates as a kunsthalle, an art museum without a permanent collection. Visit now and you’ll see “Something Borrowed, Something New,” featuring work by artists such as Roy Lichtenstein, Yoko Ono and Ai Weiwei, and solo exhibitions by Sol LeWitt and Maria A. Guzmán Capron. Come back in late October, and all three exhibitions will be closed, and three others will have opened.
Sarasota Art Museum offers free admission the second Sunday of each month, among other monthly happenings also including Jazz Thursdays, next featuring Ruffus 4tet on Aug. 13. It also has a restaurant, Bistro, which is “inspired by Florida’s regional fruit stands and farmer’s markets” and is housed in a reimagined version of Sarasota School of Architecture figure Paul Rudolph’s 1959 Vocational Shops building.
The Mall at University Town Center
140 University Town Center Drive, Sarasota; 941-552-7000; simon.com/mall/the-mall-at-university-town-center
The mall’s decline as an indoor social gathering space in recent decades is well documented at this point — probably best exemplified locally by the demise of DeSoto Square Mall — but one that’s bucked the trend is The Mall at University Town Center, which opened about a decade ago and remains busy. The mall features more than a hundred stores and restaurants and regularly hosts events, such as a Back to School Bash on Saturday.
The number of places to visit grows dramatically if you expand your scope to the surrounding University Town Center area, featuring popular restaurants such as Ford’s Garage, Rocco’s Tacos & Tequila Bar and the original Oak & Stone, as well as retail including an upcoming IKEA location. Weather cooperating? There’s also the Tiger Woods-backed minigolf concept PopStroke.
Arcade Monsters
326 John Ringling Blvd., Sarasota; 888-652-5055; arcademonsters.com/sarasota
The open-air dining and shopping district St. Armands Circle is one of Sarasota’s most popular destinations, but on days where the weather perhaps makes “open-air” less inviting, Arcade Monsters on the Circle offers plenty of indoor fun. The business with locations in Florida and California, which opened its Sarasota spot in 2021, has more than a hundred arcade games in a colorful, two-floor location.
Customers pay for all-day unlimited play, with a slightly higher fee allowing for re-entry. The arcade has its own food and drink (alcoholic or non-alcoholic) menu, but on a good weather day, it may be worth stepping out for lunch or dinner at one of the Circle’s numerous dining options, including Columbia, a location of the historic Ybor City eatery that’s also Sarasota’s oldest continuously operating restaurant.
Bowlero Gulf Gate
7221 S. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota; 941-921-4447; bowlero.com/location/bowlero-gulf-gate
From Homer Simpson to the crew in “The Big Lebowski,” bowling is one of the most beloved indoor pastimes. And while Sarasota Lanes, which operated from the late 1950s until 2024 when it took severe hurricane damage, has since closed and is being eyed for redevelopment, Sarasota still has another bowling option in Bowlero (which also has a Bradenton location.)
Bowlero Gulf Gate features 40 bowling lanes, arcade games and specials such as Endless Summer Nights, where you can bowl unlimited games for $19.99 per person including shoes from 6 p.m. Sunday and 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday. It also offers a food and drink menu, or take inspiration from its name and visit one of the many restaurants in Sarasota’s Gulf Gate neighborhood.
Burns Court Cinemas
506 Burns Court, Sarasota; 941-955-3456; filmsociety.org
The Sarasota area has multiple movie theater chains — from multiplexes AMC in Bradenton and Regal in downtown Sarasota, to dinner-and-a-movie concept CMX CinéBistro at Crossings at Siesta Key — but for a more unique offering, you’ll want to visit Burns Court Cinemas.
Located at a bright pink building in its namesake Burns Court neighborhood, the three-screen theater shows mainly new independent and arthouse films, along with special events such as Music Movie Mondays and screenings featuring filmmaker Q&As. Want to watch a blockbuster while still supporting local? Sarasota Film Society, which runs Burns Court Cinemas, also operates Lakewood Ranch Cinemas, which shows wide-release films.
Florida Studio Theatre
1241 N. Palm Ave., Sarasota; 941-366-9000; floridastudiotheatre.org
Most of Sarasota’s performing arts venues (which also include Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, Sarasota Opera House, Asolo Rep and Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe) have had some programming over the summer, but arguably none have been busier than Florida Studio Theatre. Currently, you can see “The Last Romance” on the mainstage, “Songbirds of the Seventies” or “Legacy: Motown & More!” in cabarets, or “Out of Bounds: An Improv Showdown” in Bowne’s Lab.
In addition to all the downtown Sarasota restaurants in walking distance, FST has its own Green Room Cafe & Bar and pre-show dining available in its cabarets. And soon FST will get even bigger with the McGillicuddy Arts Plaza which, when completed, will include two cabaret theaters, a mainstage theater, parking and artist housing.
McCurdy’s Comedy Theatre
1923 Ringling Blvd., Sarasota; 941-925-3869; mccurdyscomedy.com
Van Wezel hosts at least a few stand-up comedians every season, with Ron White and John Mulaney coming up later this year, and Bradenton’s Oscura has become an up-and-coming spot for comedy shows, with Chris Kattan and Johnny Pemberton booked there in the next two months. But the biggest name in town when it comes to comedy is McCurdy’s, which over nearly 40 years has hosted stand-up stars such as Chris Rock and Amy Schumer.
Its location off Main Street in downtown Sarasota still hosts a steady stream of regional and nationally touring stand-up comedians (Tom Arnold just performed there), as well as a monthly Drag Queen Bingo Extravaganza. It’s also begun hosting Music Monday concerts ranging from a recent record release show for Sarasota native Duane Betts to big names such as Joan Osborne, Cracker, and Blues Traveler’s John Popper.
Bookstore1Sarasota
117 S. Pineapple Ave., Sarasota; 941-365-7900; sarasotabooks.com
Looking for your next read and would rather shop local than a bookstore chain or online retailer? Bookstore1Sarasota has been open for 15 years, and in 2022 moved spaces downtown into The Mark condominium building. Along with offering a wide variety of books for sale, Bookstore1Sarasota regularly hosts events such as book clubs and author talks/signings, including a signing by famed writer and Casey Key resident Stephen King in 2017.
The bookstore’s new location puts it in close proximity to a number of other shops and restaurants such as Beso and Toastique. It’s also a quick walk away from Main Street and its various dining and shopping spots, including A. Parker’s Books, which specializes in “rare and antiquarian books” and is also well worth a visit for any book lovers.
Email entertainment reporter Jimmy Geurts at jimmy.geurts@heraldtribune.com. Support local journalism by subscribing.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Rainy day in Sarasota? 10 fun indoor things to do
Reporting by Jimmy Geurts, Sarasota Herald-Tribune / Sarasota Herald-Tribune
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By Jimmy Geurts, Sarasota Herald-Tribune | USA TODAY Network
