The Ringling

About

The Ringling is the former winter estate of circus owner John Ringling and his wife Mable, on Sarasota Bay just north of downtown Sarasota. It is several museums spread across 66 acres of bayfront gardens, and walking between them is part of the day.

The Museum of Art holds the Ringlings' collection of European paintings in a Renaissance-style building around a sculpture courtyard, and it has an audio guide. The Circus Museum tells the story of the American circus. Ca' d'Zan is the couple's 1920s mansion on the water, and the Historic Asolo Theater is an 18th-century Italian theater rebuilt inside the estate. The Bayfront Gardens, including a rose garden and a dwarf garden, connect them all. Tickets for the Museum of Art, the Circus Museum and Ca' d'Zan are sold online and are limited by capacity, so buying ahead skips the line. Small-group tours of Ca' d'Zan and the gardens are offered, and Museum of Art tours run Tuesday through Sunday with admission.

The estate is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with last entry 30 minutes before closing. On Thursdays the Museum of Art and the Bayfront Gardens stay open until 8 p.m. It closes only on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day. The Ringling posts current ticket prices on its website.

All parking is free, in the large FSU Center for the Performing Arts lot on the north side of the drive or an unpaved lot on the south side. From I-75, take Exit 213 and drive west on University Parkway, straight through the light at US 41 onto the esplanade. Sarasota Bradenton International Airport is just up the road. The Ringling Grillroom and Mable's Coffee House are in the Visitors Pavilion, and you can bring a picnic to the tables in the Dwarf Garden and the Playspace. The galleries can be cold even in summer, so bring a layer.

Accessibility

The Ringling is mostly wheelchair accessible, with limits. The estate says the historic buildings and the size of the grounds can make access hard in places, and the upper floors of Ca' d'Zan are reached only by spiral stairs.

Parking is free. Accessible spaces are on the north side of the lot near the Visitors Pavilion, but you still cover some distance from your car to the Pavilion. Courtesy carts can carry up to three people for anyone who needs help getting around; ask a Museum Attendant, and expect a wait. Accessible trams have a ramp, but it is steep enough that you may need a companion to help. The trams take wheelchairs but not electric scooters, and carts and trams run only in good weather. Paths through the gardens are uneven in places.

Bring your own wheelchair if you can. A limited number are available first come, first served at each venue. At Ca' d'Zan, all mobility devices can use the first floor, and motorized scooters are limited to it. Touring the upper floors means climbing several spiral staircases and standing the whole time, with no seating inside. Accessible restrooms are in or near every venue; for the Circus Museum and Playspace, the nearest is in the Tibbals Learning Center.

The Museum of Art audio guide includes visual descriptions of selected works, and tours with touch objects and description can be booked with two weeks' notice. Large-print brochures are at the Visitors Pavilion. The Historic Asolo Theater and the Chao Lecture Hall have hearing loops, and one admissions station in the Pavilion is looped. ASL-interpreted tours need two weeks' notice. Book accessible theater seats through the Box Office at (941) 360-7399.

Sensory bags with earplugs and fidget toys are free at check-in or the ticket counter, and a sensory map and social narratives are online. Weekdays from 10 to 11 a.m. and 3 to 5 p.m. are quietest, and Tuesday is the least crowded day. The grounds are not fenced, and the west side runs along the bay. A personal care attendant gets in free, and trained service animals are welcome in all public areas. Email accessibility@ringling.org to arrange an accessibility tour.

Checked by Accessible America, September 2026. Report a change

More accessible places in Florida

• Marie Selby Botanical Gardens (Sarasota)
• Adventure Island (Tampa)
• The Dalí Museum (St. Petersburg)
• Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden (Coral Gables)
• ZooTampa at Lowry Park (Tampa)
• Big Cypress National Preserve (Ochopee)

Photo credits

• The pink Moorish-style gateway at The Ringling main entrance, with palms and a paved walk.: This Photo was taken by Wolfgang Moroder. Feel free to use my photos, but please mention me as the a, CC BY-SA 3.0 (source)
• Ca' d'Zan, the Ringlings' Venetian-style mansion, beside its marble terrace on Sarasota Bay.: This Photo was taken by Wolfgang Moroder. Feel free to use my photos, but please mention me as the a, CC BY-SA 3.0 (source)
• Arched pink loggias and statues surround the garden courtyard of the Ringling Museum of Art.: Eekelley23, CC BY 4.0 (source)