In the late 1800's, Florida started to gain a reputation as a spot for the wealthy Americans to go on retreat. As smart investors began to purchase land and build luxury hotels, areas like Jacksonville, St. Augustine, and West Palm Beach started seeing more and more visitors spurred by advancing railway system making its way into the region. As time passed and the railways expanded out into new regions of Florida. (Each of these regions and links to vacation rental homes in each city are located above this.) Because of this more areas of tourist development were started. By the beginning of the 1900's, northern Florida had become a tourist destination for visitors from the northern states. This period was known as the Florida land boom of the 1920's as investors bought and sold the land and developers began building up new resort communities for the influx of travelers. As the 20's came to an end and the depression of 1929 hit the whole country, speculation and development of Florida came to a halt for all but the wealthiest investors in the country.

Florida remained a tourist destination after the depression and saw an economic resurgence after World War II. Due to its constant temperate climate, Florida was one of the main training grounds for US troops. This led to a sophisticated transportation system being set up throughout the state spurred by the increasing use of railways and automobiles by our armed forces. This also led to a population boom in the 50's, from within the US as well as from other nations in the Caribbean, such as Puerto Rico, Cuba, and Haiti. Not only did this make Florida one of the countries most populated states, but also led to a boom in the economic development of the cities and communities. This is turn made the attraction of Florida as a tourist haven even greater and the travel enthusiasts continued to pore in from all over. The increase tourism is what led Walt Disney to lay out plans for a theme park in the Orlando area using land he purchased in the 1960's. In 1971, the Magic Kingdom theme park, based on the most well-known Disney characters, opened to the public. Over time this made Orlando the most popular tourist destination in all of Florida, as the Magic Kingdom grew to become the world's largest theme park, the Walt Disney World Resort.

Since then, Florida has blossomed even further, with distinct regions and cities becoming the frequent vacation spots of travelers everywhere. After hotels carved the way onto the beaches and into the Disney region, condominiums and Florida vacation homes have become the highlight of vacation leisure throughout the state, and there is just about any size and style to choose from in any of Florida's luxury resort communities. The people of Florida have embraced their place as top vacation spot in the US and have added all of the perks you will ever need to have an amazing vacation, with or without the family. But where will you find your favorite Florida vacation rentals? Which part of Florida is right for you? Take a look at the description of each region above and we'll help you figure that out.