Holidays in other parts of Florida

[CRISSY61]

We have been to Orlando several times and loved every minute. Now we would like to check out a different area as the children are in late teens , perhaps Gulf Coast or around Daytona/ Jacksonville. Does anyone have any suggestions re web sites or other forums where I could find info on these areas? Looking for plenty to do, within 50 mile radius of base but not sure where to head for.

Any help much appreciated. Have used this forum many times in the past and found it to be really helpful in planning visits and on picking up tips

 

[Pootle]

You could try the official Florida website http://www.flausa.com/

I just noticed it was your first post too - welcome

 

[Andrew Bichard]

I have been visiting Florida two years out of three for the last 25 years or so. Many of those visits have been to Daytona, where my father in Law lives.

Daytona has a great beach and low cost hotels compared to Disney. Also Sandford Airport is close by. If you base yourself in Daytona, you can visit St Augustine in about one hour each way. the Orlando theme parks or Kennedy Space Centre in about two hours. You are not too far from Silver Springs.

Another possibility is to base yourself at the Northern end of the Keys, a couple of hours south of Miami. You are then a short trip into the Everglades National Park with its mangrove swamps, cyprus stands and aligators. You would be right next to the Everglades Nationa Maritime Sanctuary which is great for snorkelling. You can even drive down the Keys themselves. Key West is well worth a visit, though you would need more than just a day trip if you don't want to spend all day in the car.

One of my most memorable trips to Florida was to hire a car on a fly-drive basis. Landed in Miami & drove straight to Daytona to visit family. Then drove across to the west coast, stopping overnight at Disney (just to eat at Flying Fish - didn't even go into the parks). Then down the west coast to Naples, across Aligator Alley & into the Everglades. Three nights in Flamingo, then five nights in Key Lago & back to Miami Airport.

Andrew

 

[Grumpy John]

Have been to Port Richey a couple of times. Worth a visit. Only a short drive to the Gulf of Mexico and some lovely beaches. Homassassa Springs is a really nice place to visit especially if like her indoors is besotted with manatees. Plus it is ideally situated for a nice drive down to Clearwater, Busch Gardens, Tampa

 

[profdsny]

St Augustine is very nice. It's a few hours north along the coast. You could drive to Daytona then take HW1 north for maybe an hour and a half. Could be a bit more. But, first off, you are driving right along the ocean. Then, there in St. Augustine is an old Spanish fort built to fight off the....er... foreign pirates. The town is nice with an walking street past old house. This is, I believe, the oldest town in the US, if not in North America. Well worth a day trip.

 

[TinkTatoo]

On one of our trips (pre kids) we flew into Miami on a fly drive then spent the next three weeks traveling down the Atlantic coast - across the everglades then back up the Gulf coast before spending a few nights in Orlando - where we flew home from.

We had no idea of where we were going to stay, if we liked the look of a place we stayed for a while. My favourite place was Naples - we spent a few days there