PLT OF C172 LANDED ON RWY 5 AT BOW; THINKING IT WAS RWY 5 AT LAL. HAD RECEIVED LNDG CLRNC FROM LAL LCL CTLR.

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1 DAY PRIOR TO INCIDENT; RECEIVED CHKOUT FLT WITH FBO AT LAKELAND; SINCE WAS NEW TO THE AREA AND THE FBO. CFI ORIENTED ME TO GEOGRAPHY NW OF ARPT. WX TO S PROHIBITED GOING THERE. DAY OF INCIDENT DEPARTED LAL FOR SCENIC FLT AND AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY. AFTER 2 HR FLT RETURNED FROM THE S AND MISTOOK BARTON FOR LAKELAND ARPT. WAS TALKING WITH LAL TWR; AND CLRED TO LAND RWY 5. LANDED ON RWY 5 AT BARTOW; AND FOUND I COULD NOT RAISE (LAL) TWR OR GND OR LAL FBO. NOT UNTIL TOLD BY BARTOW FBO TO CALL TWR DID I REALIZE I WAS NOT AT LAKELAND. (ON THE APCH; NOTICED ACFT DEPARTING RWY 9 THAT CROSSED MY RWY WHEN I WAS ALMOST OVER THE THRESHOLD.) RETURNED TO LAL UNEVENTFULLY. PROB AROSE 1) BECAUSE I WAS UNFAMILIAR WITH THE AREA; 2) DID NOT GET ORIENTATION THE PRIOR DAY FOR APCH FROM THE S; 3) TOO BUSY; DISTRACTED SCANNING FOR TFC TO USE THE LAL VOR TO VERIFY I WAS AT THE CORRECT ARPT; 4) MY PILOTAGE WAS POOR. I SAW A LARGE LAKE THAT WASN'T CONSISTENT WITH THE CHART; BUT IGNORED THIS DISCREPANCY; BECAUSE THE FIELD LOOKED SO MUCH LIKE I HAD EXPECTED IT TO. RECOMMENDATIONS/LESSONS LEARNED: 1) GET AN ORIENTATION IN THE AREA FROM WHICH APCH IS ANTICIPATED; IF POSSIBLE; OR CAREFULLY STUDY THE CHART AND MEMORIZE KEY LAND MARKS PRIOR TO DEP. 2) IF TWR DOESN'T SEE YOU ON SHORT FINAL; SUSPECT SOMETHING AND MISS THE APCH. 3) USE THE VOR! I HAD DONE SO; BUT AFTER MANEUVERING FOR TFC EARLIER DID NOT RECHK. 4) STUDY CHART FOR THINGS THAT MAY CONFUSE; SUCH AS 2 ARPTS OF SIMILAR SIZE/APPEARANCE. 5) IF POSSIBLE; CLB A BIT WHEN A WAYS OUT TO GET A BETTER VISUAL PERSPECTIVE OF THE AREA. NOT POSSIBLE IN THIS CASE; DUE TO CLOUDS ABOVE. 6) IF POSSIBLE; BRING PAX ALONG TO HELP WITH CHART READING AND ORIENTING.