Tampa’s Hyde Park Village brings the charm to holiday shopping

First things first: Hyde Park Village is no shopping mall. And you couldn’t rightly call the sprawling outdoor stretch of stores and restaurants across six city blocks a shopping center, either.

Tucked into one of Tampa’s most charming neighborhoods of historic bungalows and graceful oaks, Hyde Park Village seems to have hit its sweet spot as what developers call a lifestyle center. Visitors stroll wide sidewalks and green space around the signature outdoor fountain in the Village Circle, where there’s outdoor seating for sipping coffee or eating a Hyppo popsicle (or a salty caramel cupcake from the Sprinkles 24-hour cupcake ATM).

Shoppers browse boutique-y stores — Kittenish, Bonobos, Kendra Scott, Rag & Bone, to name a few — and mainstays including Lululemon, Vineyard Vines, Anthropologie, Sephora, Nike and Paper Source.

Shopping isn’t the only draw: Hyde Park Village, part of the neighborhood for nearly four decades, has had farmers markets, a fall pumpkin patch and a towering tree at Christmas. It’s a social hub for dining and drinking at more than a dozen spots with indoor and outdoor seating, including lively Bartaco, swanky On Swann and, for old-school burgers and shakes, Goody Goody. There’s Wine Exchange and Meat Market, too.

For fun, visitors can pour their own candles at The Candle Pour, learn to make Chicken Piperade at a Sur la Table class, create their own dessert treats at Cake Drip or do dinner and a movie at Cinebistro.

And dogs are definitely part of the Hyde Park vibe — perusing collars and treats at Downtown Dogs, enjoying the sun at outdoor tables and partaking from water bowls the shopkeepers set out to welcome them.

Hyde Park Village, 1602 W Snow Ave., Tampa. hydeparkvillage.com.