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Location: The Chatterdome in La La Land, CaliFUNia
39,031 posts, read 23,012,380 times
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After getting a taste of Orlando and a sample of Miami back in 2008, I decided to do a Florida vacation incorporating multiple cities. If I were to stay somewhere on I-Drive in Orlando, would I be able to access the following locations for day trips without a car?
- St. Augustine
- Miami
- Tampa Bay/Busch Gardens
If day trips are not feasible, what other suggestions do you have for someone who does not drive?
PS: I would like to thank my fellow posters for all of their wonderful suggestions for my vacation time in December. I'm leaning towards Florida due to the weather and because I had such a wonderful time back in 2008. There were multiple things that I did not do in Orlando and I only got a small sample of Miami so I would like to return and experience those things. Plus, I'm a kid when it comes to themed parks
Without a car your travel will certainly be curtailed. In most Florida areas you do need a car. Two places I could recommend for a non-driver would be
St Petersburg- Excellent bus transportation all over town
Key West-You can walk everywhere
Think Florida is a great place for a December vacation and Key West while quite condensed, could easily take up a number of days exploring things like Hemingway's house, the waterfront and Mel Fisher's museum. Ft Lauderdale is fun too and the water taxis that take you along the canals offer a great, cheap and stress-free respite from your normal commuting options.
Key West is also a great town to ride a bike. While it has been years since we were there, we rented bikes for $2 a day. They were not fancy, but we went everywhere. Not sure if the old movie theatre is still in KW, but we loved it.
PS: I would like to thank my fellow posters for all of their wonderful suggestions for my vacation time in December. I'm leaning towards Florida due to the weather and because I had such a wonderful time back in 2008. There were multiple things that I did not do in Orlando and I only got a small sample of Miami so I would like to return and experience those things. Plus, I'm a kid when it comes to themed parks
Florida is wonderful in December, but if you are planning on going to any of the theme parks, don't try to go between Christmas and New Years. It gets so crowded that the Disney parks (and Universal) have to stop admitting guests due to capacity. Wait times for the premier attractions have gotten as high as 3 hours. The 1st 3 weeks are nice and quiet.
There are a few shuttle companies which run from Orlando to Miami, but I'm not sure what kind of experience it would be.
Location: The Chatterdome in La La Land, CaliFUNia
39,031 posts, read 23,012,380 times
Reputation: 36027
Quote:
Originally Posted by jared422
Florida is wonderful in December, but if you are planning on going to any of the theme parks, don't try to go between Christmas and New Years. It gets so crowded that the Disney parks (and Universal) have to stop admitting guests due to capacity. Wait times for the premier attractions have gotten as high as 3 hours. The 1st 3 weeks are nice and quiet.
There are a few shuttle companies which run from Orlando to Miami, but I'm not sure what kind of experience it would be.
Thanks for the input ... Fortunately, my trip would only be the two weeks before Christmas and I'm hoping that the crowds would be significantly less than Spring Break. I last visited Orlando during Spring Break 2008 and, although I had fun, I would love less crowds
Miami is looking more complicated by the second so I may just forgo visiting ... Yes, I could do a tour but the itinerary is the exact one I took the last time I was there and there was only 30 minutes worth of sight-seeing time outside the bus
Without a car you could take a shuttle from I-Drive to Busch Gardens and back in a day. That's about it. I don't know of any way to get to St. Augustine from Orlando without driving, you can take Greyhound to Tampa, but it's a pretty sprawling place and while HART (bus system) is pretty good, it's not really set up for tourism in general.
I'd suggest flying into Tampa and taking HART to the downtown area of St. Petersburg. Plenty of things to see and do there, and it's walkable. From there catch a shuttle or Greyhound to the Fort Myers area--they have a great bus system and it's a fun place to explore. Then take the ferry from Fort Myers to Key West and spend a few days exploring that city. Fly home from Key West.
That would give you three or four days in each place which should be ample.
my trip would only be the two weeks before Christmas and I'm hoping that the crowds would be significantly less than Spring Break.
Even though December is iffy weather, it's crowded in most of FL, and there is always a crowd in Key West no matter what, the only difference is the size of the crowd. I don't know what your final plan would be, but if you consider Key West, you can fly to Fort Myers and take the ferry from there. Most hotels away from downtown are quieter, less expensive, and there is always free shuttle to downtown, or you can walk.
Location: The Chatterdome in La La Land, CaliFUNia
39,031 posts, read 23,012,380 times
Reputation: 36027
Quote:
Originally Posted by annerk
Without a car you could take a shuttle from I-Drive to Busch Gardens and back in a day. That's about it. I don't know of any way to get to St. Augustine from Orlando without driving, you can take Greyhound to Tampa, but it's a pretty sprawling place and while HART (bus system) is pretty good, it's not really set up for tourism in general.
I'd suggest flying into Tampa and taking HART to the downtown area of St. Petersburg. Plenty of things to see and do there, and it's walkable. From there catch a shuttle or Greyhound to the Fort Myers area--they have a great bus system and it's a fun place to explore. Then take the ferry from Fort Myers to Key West and spend a few days exploring that city. Fly home from Key West.
That would give you three or four days in each place which should be ample.
Thank you ... Although these locations were not on my original itinerary, you gave me some good options that I plan to explore especially as I did not think Key West would be accessible. Thank you for not just saying "it can't be done" as I've heard in my Florida thread but giving me some transit options to look into.
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