10 day Florida itinerary

Hi there lovely people.

I am looking for some advice from some people who are familiar with Florida. Planning a lovely romantic trip with my boyfriend to Florida for 10 days but we don't really know how to plan it. We are hiring a car. Our flights are coming into Orlando and leaving from there too.

The things we want to see are:

Universal Studios

Cape Canaveral

The Florida Keys

Miami

Tampa Bay

Maybe the Everglades but not totally pushed on it.

How can we structure our holiday? I am not sure if it is even possible to fit all this in in 10 days.

Any suggestions greatly appreciated

We did the 10 day whirlwind trip around Florida this past summer. I recommend not seeing 101 things. Pick three things that you really want to see and spend some time there enjoying it.

I wouldn't miss the Everglades if I were you - quite stunning, and no big distance from other places you're visiting. A good way to experience them is to hire a bike at Shark Valley.

In an entirely different way, St. Augustine in the north of the state is a lovely little historic city and well worth a visit.

The Keys are a maybe a little over-rated IMHO.

I agree St. Augustine was nice and I also loved the Gulf Coast.

I've been to Florida many, many times and have a lot of friends down there.

Skip Miami. That place is a dump. I found it to be ghetto, but that's just me.

Orlando is lovely IF you are seeing Disney World. The locals will tell you... once you leave Disney, there is really nothing much to do in Orlando. For a romantic excursion without going through the whole park... definitely visit Downtown Disney.

Jacksonville is a nice, relaxed city with a lot of neat shopping centers. I had a lot of fun there. It's in the northern part of FL, but a nice place.

My parents did not like Universal Studios, but I knew people who did. It's not a park for everyone and I strongly suggest doing your research on it.

I do STRONGLY recommend seeing the everglades. I enjoyed myself, got up close to an alligator, and got to walk through a tropical forest. You see all kinds of exotic wildlife. If you love taking pictures, definitely stop there. Outside are a lot of food stands... definitely stop by the food stands!

As for the keys... I LOVED Key Largo and the nearby lagoons/beaches. Dolphin Cove is in Key Largo where you get to swim with dolphins (I couldn't go, but will sometime). Beautiful, beautiful place. There also is a Cuban restaurant there that sells FRESH orange juice. It was the best OJ I ever drank in my life.

While you're there... definitely schedule a day to go out snorkeling. That was truly the best part of Florida for me and I plan to go back with a scuba certification soon!

For me miami was kinda like a day trip kinda place...we did a few things but didnt stay there this time..we stayed in palm beach...the backroads instead of the highway is always a great scene too

Parts of Miami are nice, including the beach, but like in any city a few parts are bad and big stretches are just dull. Read up on it first to make sure you're staying in one of the more interesting areas.

Agree there's nothing much interesting in Orlando besides Disney stuff (though I did have the best steak of my life there). Park-wise, I've only been to Epcot, which I found crashingly dull. Nearby, the town of Celebration is worth a quick visit, intriguing in a rather Stepford Wivesish way.

So would you recommend us to stay in the Keys for more than one day?

Parts of Miami are nice, including the beach, but like in any city a few parts are bad and big stretches are just dull. Read up on it first to make sure you're staying in one of the more interesting areas.

 

Agree there's nothing much interesting in Orlando besides Disney stuff (though I did have the best steak of my life there). Park-wise, I've only been to Epcot, which I found crashingly dull. Nearby, the town of Celebration is worth a quick visit, intriguing in a rather Stepford Wivesish way.

So would you recommend us to stay in the Keys for more than one day?

My recollection of the Keys is a slow, painful drive (because obviously there's only one road) down to Key West, which is moderately fun. But on subsequent visits to Florida, we never went there again. It's a great state, lots to see that aren't on the obvious tourist itineraries.

All I can say is Florida is what you make of it. The state has a lot to offer- from hiking to tanning along the beach, snorkeling/scuba, and a lot of nightlife. There are a lot of cheap places. Not a lot of people liked the keys, but I LOVED it. It's a different planet/culture down there.

If you're looking for nightlife, truthfully I had a much better nightlife experience in Jacksonville than in Miami.