Orlando/Central Florida

Inexpensive and smothered in nature, these scenic campgrounds are the best for RV and tent campers within an hour’s drive of Disney World.

Camping, kayaking, hiking, biking and a humongous swimming pool are the top features of this state park that straddles the Hillsborough River.

Travel and Leisure magazine calls New Smyrna Beach “Florida’s most underrated seaside city”. We think it is “Florida’s best little beach town.”

Development is creeping up on Spruce Creek and Strickland Bay, but enough has been preserved — for now — to enjoy an awesome day of kayaking. (Watercolor by Stewart Jones)

From art museums to gardens to scenic boat tours, you’ll find many things to delight and amuse you in Winter Park. We took the train to this walkable gem of a town in the Orlando area.

The park is beautiful, the swimming is fabulous and paddling opportunities are numerous. Blue Spring State Park in southwestern Volusia County has something special year-round.

If you haven’t experienced Florida’s most famous spring, you’re missing one of the most beautiful spots in Florida. This weekend, Ocali Country Days, a special living-history festival, will re-create the Ocala of the 1800s. Year-round, this park has it all: kayaking, hiking, glass-bottom boat rides, horseback riding and terrific cabins.

Sebring, a small town along the lovely Lake Wales Ridge in Central Florida, is staking a claim for something new — Florida’s first (and only) craft soda festival, the Sebring Soda Festival. Local small-batch sodas made with real sugar are making a comeback, partly as an outgrowth of the craft beer phenomenon. This Sebring festival is a good opportunity to taste what it’s all about.

Fireflies in Florida? It’s a thing! Two Central Florida state parks, Blue Spring and Highland Hammock, offer special viewing in spring ‘firefly season.’

Here’s a great weekend getaway for bicyclists. The appealing West Orange Trail, a 22-mile rail-trail, goes right down the middle of the lively main street in Downtown Winter Garden. Stay in the Historic Edgewater Hotel for a great base with Old Florida charm.

Like a state fair, the Strawberry Festival has agricultural displays, livestock shows, arts and crafts, local food and a huge carnival midway. But its entertainment line-up is what’s extraordinary year after year.

Manatee festivals celebrate Florida’s beloved manatee in January in Crystal River and Orange City. The family events include good spots to view manatees.

Our guide lists more than 350 locally owned craft breweries in Florida, easily referenced by region and by city.

Mount Dora has a lively downtown and a well-preserved historic district on a pretty lake. It’s a walkable small town with good dining and shopping. What we like just as much: There is great kayaking and biking nearby.

Lake Norris & Blackwater Creek are hidden gems of the Wekiva River system near Orlando. The dwarf cypress in the lake are like a gorgeous watery bonsai garden. It’s an easy paddle worth seeking out for its great beauty.

The winter holidays are different in balmy Florida, but you might be surprised that you CAN hike into the woods and cut down a Christmas tree. In fact, it’s only $10 and you can also explore beautiful Ocala National Forest.

Tucked into the woods between two lakes and a wildlife preserve, this 54-site public campground is $18-$23 per night and only 20 minutes from Disney World.

The Van Fleet Trail into the Green Swamp is one of the most rural, isolated rides you’ll find in Florida. It’s flat. It’s straight. But if you want to truly get away from it all and encounter a little wildlife along the way, here’s the place.