Sandford Area - worth a visit?

[juliebro]

We were wondering whether the Sandford area is worth a visit while we are over there on our next trip. We always fly in/out of Orlando International and so have never been to Sandford.

According to Simon's book, there are a number of attractions in the area. Anyone recommend any? Also, how long would it take to drive from West 192 to Sandford?

Thanks

Julie

 

[allie5]

I dont know that I would bother with a special trip. If we are flying home from Sanford, then we visit the Seminole Towne Center Mall, which is great for last minute bargains. Im not sure what other attractions there are here though?? Sanford is about 45 mins from Kissimmee.

If you want to venture out, then Winter Park might be a better bet. Its very pretty, you can do a little boat trip on the lake and there are lots of little speciality shops to visit.

 

[juliebro]

Thanks for the response. We visited Winter Park on Easter Sunday and did the boat trip. It was great. Also, we saw the shops, but they were all closed for the day! I'll have to time our return trip a bit better and then we can enjoy the shops too.

Julie

 

[Pootle]

I agree with Allie - Sanford is probably not worth a special trip. If any of your family are interested in railways and you don't mind a bit of a drive, Mount Dora, 25 miles NW of Orlando (so 35-40 miles or so from Kissimmee) is a very pretty town by a lake, with antique shops, English tea room etc and a steam railway (limited service so you would need to check in advance) run by volunteers. This link gives a bit of information http://www.theotherorlando.com/contents/chapters/18/train.html

 

[SimonV]

Visiting Sanford is a bit like seeing Orlando PD - Pre-Disney. It is small-scale, rather quaint and, along the lake shore, quite pretty (although it suffered a lot from flooding during the hurricanes). The Rose Garden tea room is a must-do for lunch, while the little Sanford Museum gives a neat litle overview of the former 'Celery capital of the world' (I'm not kidding!). The antique stores are not up to much by UK standards but it is redeveloping slowly and is worth an hour or two; half a day if you go for a trip on the Rivership Romance on the St John's River or take in the highly worthwhile and child friendly Central Florida Zoo. All in all it makes for a slow and relaxing side-trip and, while it is not anywhere near as chic as Winter Park, it gives a nice idea of the 'real' Florida as opposed to the tourist version. Check out more on Visit Seminole!