How far is Sarasota from Tampa? Here's the quick answer if you make this quick drive without any stops. Of course, traffic is going to make a big difference so make sure you check that before leaving.
Nonstop drive: 61 miles or 98 km
Driving time: 59 minutes
Even on a short drive, it might be more interesting to stop along the way and explore the local area. You can scroll down to see the calculation if you drive with stops.
Now let's assume you have a private jet and you can fly in the fastest possible straight line between Tampa, Florida and Sarasota, Florida. Because of the curvature of the Earth, the shortest distance is actually the "great circle" distance, or "as the crow flies" which is calculated using an iterative Vincenty formula.
Flight distance: 42 miles or 68 km
Flight time: 35 minutes
The straight line flight distance is 19 miles less than driving on roads, which means the driving distance is roughly 1.4x of the flight distance.
Your plane flies much faster than a car, so the flight time is about 1/2th of the time it would take to drive.
This is a relatively short flight in a private plane, but you might be planning to book a commercial flight. In that case, your travel time would really need to include how many minutes to get to your local airport, wait for security, board and taxi on the runway, land at the other airport, and get to your destination.
Let's say you're actually planning a road trip to Sarasota, and you want to stop on the way to explore. If it's a real road trip, you might want to check out interesting places along the way, or maybe eat at a great restaurant. That's what Trippy is perfect for, helping you figure out travel plans in detail.
Road trip: 1 day of driving
With the full itinerary planned out, we can estimate your total travel time for this trip.
Travel time: 2 hours on the road
Itinerary
Start in Tampa.
Drive for about 16 minutes, then stop at Fort De Soto State Park and stay for about 1 hour.
Next, drive for another 13 minutes then stop in Riverview and stay for 1 hour.
Drive for 16 minutes then stop at Apollo Beach (Florida) and stay for 1 hour.
Drive for 10 minutes then stop in Ruskin and stay for 1 hour.
Drive for 15 minutes then stop at Manatee RV Park and stay for 1 hour.
Drive for 18 minutes then stop in Ellenton and stay for 1 hour.
Drive for 19 minutes then stop at Old Hyde Park Pl and stay for 1 hour.
Drive for 13 minutes then stop at Big Top Brewing Company and stay for 1 hour.
Finally, drive for about 12 minutes and arrive in Sarasota.
To see all the details on this itinerary, including recommended restaurants, hotels, and things to do along the way, check out the full road trip planner:
Trippy has a ton of information that can help you plan your trip to Sarasota, Florida. Start by reading the Trippy page on where to stay in Sarasota. Trippy members can suggest things to do in Sarasota like Siesta Beach. Check out some of the questions people have asked about Sarasota like Where's the best beer?!. Click the button below to explore Sarasota in detail.
The distance is the same either way if you're flying a straight line (or driving the same roads back and forth). But for a real trip, there can be plenty of differences so go ahead and check the reverse directions to get the distance from Sarasota to Tampa, or go to the main page to calculate the distance between cities.
If you happen to know Tampa, don't forget to help other travelers and answer some questions about Tampa!