Florida without a car

Any suggestions on parts of Florida that a couple of fit Seniors can get
around easily without a car. Interested in Nature, history, scenery and
people... not beaches. Have covered the Orlando area before and this is
second time to Miami. At the moment we have five days booked for Miami and
four for Key West and another two weeks to fill.
George.

"GeorgeE" wrote:
Any suggestions on parts of Florida that a couple of fit Seniors
can get around easily without a car. Interested in nature, history,
scenery and people... not beaches. Have covered the Orlando
area before and this is second time to Miami. At the moment we
have five days booked for Miami and four for Key West and
another two weeks to fill.

Getting around Florida without a car is not easy, but Greyhound
bus lines can help with that. Excluding the beaches and Orlando
doesn't leave much. Do you golf? No. Well, here's some ideas:

Do a day tour to the Everglades for an airboat ride. Check out
the Gulf Coast cities of Ft.Myers for the Winter home of Thomas
Edison and barrier islands of Sanibel+Captiva; Sarasota for the
Ringling Museum and Asolo State Theatre; Tampa for the Florida
Aquarium, Busch Gardens and Ybor City. You could also head
to the Northeast coast to St. Augustine. Its 'oldest city in the US'
attractions can keep you busy for a few days are easily walkable.

In article ,
"GeorgeE" wrote:

Any suggestions on parts of Florida that a couple of fit Seniors can get
around easily without a car. Interested in Nature, history, scenery and
people... not beaches. Have covered the Orlando area before and this is
second time to Miami. At the moment we have five days booked for Miami and
four for Key West and another two weeks to fill.
George.

There's plenty to do in Miami Beach and Key West without driving,
especially if you just want to relax on the beach, shop, and enjoy local
restaurants.

"Shawn Hirn" wrote:
There's plenty to do in Miami Beach and Key West...
"... this is [our] second time to Miami...." (George E)

especially if you just want to relax on the beach...
"... not beaches." (George E)

It helps to read the post.

"We have five days booked for Miami and four for
Key West and /another two weeks to fill./"

I grew up in Miami and can say, categorically, that
after five days in Miami and four in Key West, you'll
definitely want see some other parts of the State.

another two weeks to fill....
nature, history, scenery and people

The Kennedy Space Center is fascinating if you have an interest in
history or science.

If you don't mind a lot of walking, Disney World has a lot of things
that seniors can enjoy, such as Epcot's World Showcase, the Living
Seas exhibit, the Hall of Presidents, lots of beautiful gardens,
Animal Kingdom, etc. Do a Google for "Disney World for seniors", or
check a good guidebook.

James

"Rog'" wrote in message
. ..
"GeorgeE" wrote:
Any suggestions on parts of Florida that a couple of fit Seniors
can get around easily without a car. Interested in nature, history,
scenery and people... not beaches. Have covered the Orlando
area before and this is second time to Miami. At the moment we
have five days booked for Miami and four for Key West and
another two weeks to fill.

Getting around Florida without a car is not easy, but Greyhound
bus lines can help with that. Excluding the beaches and Orlando
doesn't leave much. Do you golf? No. Well, here's some ideas:

Do a day tour to the Everglades for an airboat ride. Check out
the Gulf Coast cities of Ft.Myers for the Winter home of Thomas
Edison and barrier islands of Sanibel+Captiva; Sarasota for the
Ringling Museum and Asolo State Theatre; Tampa for the Florida
Aquarium, Busch Gardens and Ybor City. You could also head
to the Northeast coast to St. Augustine. Its 'oldest city in the US'
attractions can keep you busy for a few days are easily walkable.

Thank you. We did day trip to the Everglades last time but would now like to
see more of the Everglades from Shark Valley or Everglades City. My guide
book gives the impression that without a car one would be a virtual prisoner
in the Tampa area but presumably tour companies must offer a pick up service
from hotels to attractions. When we went to Orlando our hotel ran a shuttle
service to all the attractions. I had not considered St Augustine.... seems
a good idea.
George.

wrote in message
...
another two weeks to fill....
nature, history, scenery and people

The Kennedy Space Center is fascinating if you have an interest in
history or science.

If you don't mind a lot of walking, Disney World has a lot of things
that seniors can enjoy, such as Epcot's World Showcase, the Living
Seas exhibit, the Hall of Presidents, lots of beautiful gardens,
Animal Kingdom, etc. Do a Google for "Disney World for seniors", or
check a good guidebook.

James



Without a car we walk all day every day:-) As I said we in my original post
we covered the Orlando area on an earlier trip.
George.

"GeorgeE" wrote:
Thank you. We did day trip to the Everglades last time but would
now like to see more of the Everglades from Shark Valley or
Everglades City. My guide book gives the impression that without
a car one would be a virtual prisoner in the Tampa area but
presumably tour companies must offer a pick up service from hotels
to attractions. When we went to Orlando our hotel ran a shuttle
service to all the attractions. I had not considered St Augustine....
seems a good idea.

Tampa Bay Visitors Information Center, across from Busch Gardens
( www.hometown.aol.com/tpabayinfoctr/ ) is recommended by
travel website, Frommer (www.frommer.com) for bus tours in the
Tampa area. Tampa also has a public transit system that will take
you to most attractions. See: http://www.hartline.org/

But if the choice is between Tampa or St. Augustine, I'd go with
St. Augustine, as being a more walkable, pleasant city.

"Rog'" wrote in message
. ..
"GeorgeE" wrote:
Thank you. We did day trip to the Everglades last time but would
now like to see more of the Everglades from Shark Valley or
Everglades City. My guide book gives the impression that without
a car one would be a virtual prisoner in the Tampa area but
presumably tour companies must offer a pick up service from hotels
to attractions. When we went to Orlando our hotel ran a shuttle
service to all the attractions. I had not considered St Augustine....
seems a good idea.

Tampa Bay Visitors Information Center, across from Busch Gardens
( www.hometown.aol.com/tpabayinfoctr/ ) is recommended by
travel website, Frommer (www.frommer.com) for bus tours in the
Tampa area. Tampa also has a public transit system that will take
you to most attractions. See: http://www.hartline.org/

But if the choice is between Tampa or St. Augustine, I'd go with
St. Augustine, as being a more walkable, pleasant city.


I have Frommers and had found that reference to the visitor centre. You can
only contact them by phone and as I am in the UK that will need to wait
until we arrive in the US on Monday. I will go back to Hartline but it
seemed quite a limited service, at first glance it seemed to be geared to
commuters hours.
We have plenty of time to cover Tampa and St Augustine and also thinking of
a few days in West Palm Beach.
George.

"GeorgeE" wrote:
We have plenty of time to cover Tampa and St Augustine
and also thinking of a few days in West Palm Beach.

In the Palm Beach area, the historic hotel, "The Breakers" is
worth a visit, if only for a lunch, since staying there is terribly
expensive. I was lucky enuff to have a conference there.
http://www.thebreakers.com/