somewhere different

[jotter]

hi everyone flying out 26/06 staying in a villa on us27 not doing as many theme parks as this is our 7th trip looking to visit somewhere different in the orlando area ie small local towns any ideas folks

[neilandkay]

I have heard that Winter Park is a nice town to visit. Never done it myself yet thought.

--Kay

[orlandobabe]

We always do Mt Dora and Winter Park is excellent too.

Mt Dora is up the 27 , towards Clermont then you can take the 19 towards Tavares and then follow signs to Mt Dora.

If your based at the other end of Kissimmee-I daresay there will be another route out to it. There's lots of lovely restaurants, curio and antiques shops, train, icelandic pub-sadly the christmas shop closed.


We went to Winter Park last week-still a great day out. Go up I4 and come off at Fairbanks Ave and onto Park or take the 417 and drop down from Aloma Ave if you want to avoid I4. The Briarpatch's food is still great-superb day out.



Lake Eola is a lovely park in downtown Orlando and you can't beat Boggy Creek for getting away from it all Huckleberry Finn style on East lake Toho.

I haven't tried it yet but it's on my must do list is the Indian Reservation at Lake Okeechobee.

Tarpon Springs, Weekee Watchee Springs and Blue Springs are all good days out also

[orlandobabe]

We always do Mt Dora and Winter Park is excellent too.

Mt Dora is up the 27 , towards Clermont then you can take the 19 towards Tavares and then follow signs to Mt Dora.

If your based at the other end of Kissimmee-I daresay there will be another route out to it. There's lots of lovely restaurants, curio and antiques shops, train, icelandic pub-sadly the christmas shop closed.


We went to Winter Park last week-still a great day out. Go up I4 and come off at Fairbanks Ave and onto Park or take the 417 and drop down from Aloma Ave if you want to avoid I4. The Briarpatch's food is still great-superb day out.



Lake Eola is a lovely park in downtown Orlando and you can't beat Boggy Creek for getting away from it all Huckleberry Finn style on East lake Toho.

I haven't tried it yet but it's on my must do list is the Indian Reservation at Lake Okeechobee.

Tarpon Springs, Weekee Watchee Springs and Blue Springs are all good days out also

[blott]

Or you could try Sanford (not the airport, the town!) which has a lots of interesting shops. Also Central Florida zoo is nearby.

Kissimmee Old Town (not the one with the sky flight, the proper one further along with the archway) also for interesting shops and the lakefront park.

Kissimmee Rodeo on Friday nights on Hoagland Boulevard off the 192.

Silver Springs is very nice for a day out.

Disney Wilderness Preserve at Poinciana, turn off the 192 at Poinciana Boulevard.

Reptile World Serpentarium on Highway 192 through St Cloud.

Further afield, there's St Augustine which is a really interesting town to visit.

Ron Jon's at Daytona Beach or the race track and Cape Canaveral if you haven't already been there is nearby.

[timmy]

We had a good day out in Dunedin followed by a boat trip to Caladesi Island, one of the mos beautiful beaches in the US.[8D]

[esprit]

Tampa is a more interesting place to visit than you would think. There is the Ybor cigar district and museum ( like little Cuba) and also the area around the waterfront where the Florida Aquarium and Dplphin watch are situated is full of little shops and restaurants and really lively. Some good museums too. Plenty for a good day out, or even two.

[jotter]

Thanks for all your replies some great ideas

[Cowboy]

Hi,
We had a great time at WEKIVA SPRINGS. Kath and I hired a canoe to go on one of a choice of two river runs---we took the shortest. If you you are lucky you can see monkeys,wildlife and of course alligators. It can be a bit tricky though, particularly were trees have fallen into the river and careful negotiating is needed.

Mike

[orlandobabe]

At Tarpon Springs they do an excellent boat trip-Island wind -it's called for about $7.

Takes just over an hour and as there is a thriving greek community you can eat in one of the rtestaurants.

I see that the Silver Springs Rodeo re-opens in the autumn. Looks like they have made more of an attraction out of it.

We spent a good hour tonight just taking it easy in and around the Hotel Boardwalk-unlike Downtown Disney-this place gets all the sun and at 7-30pm it was still lovely and hot.