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UKTourist's avatar
UKTourist
Explorer
Jul 19, 2023

UK Tourist Looking for Florida advice

Hi,

I'm from the UK and currently planning a week in Florida next year (1st week in June) starting and ending in Orlando and I'm hoping to get some pointers as to the best sort of route to take.

It'll be my wife, 9 year old son and I and we'll be renting a Class C.

We are hoping to do a bit of kayaking (rental), a bit of beach stuff, the Kennedy Space Centre and visiting one of those gator and air boat places to bother a gator and get deafened.

Currently the plan is:
Day 1: Pick up RV, buy provisions
Day 2: ?
Day 3: ?
Day 4: ?
Day 5: ?
Day 6: ?
Day 7: ?
Day 8: Hand back RV, fly home.

Previous experience of RVing was nearly 15 years ago, going from Seattle to Las Vegas via LA.

So, can anybody help me out with some ideas/warnings/advice please.
Roads and Routes
  • agesilaus's avatar
    agesilaus
    Explorer III
    Jul 20, 2023
    What sort of thing are you looking for? Beaches,Theme Parks? Disney, Sea World etc., Explore Florida?
    If you want to stay in Florida State Park campground then you need to be making reservations right away. I think the window opens 12 months in advance
    State park website

    Be aware that Florida in June will be HOT especially for you from the cool clime of UK. Rain is common every afternoon for thunderstorms
    Expect 90+ deg F days or hotter and 80 90 percent humidity. Wear hats

    shorts and light shirts expect sunburn.
    June is not a prime camping season for tourists in the state but will be for residents. It can be a good time to go to the Keys

    And of course we drive on the other side of the road.
  • pianotuna's avatar
    pianotuna
    Nomad III
    Jul 20, 2023
    Hi,

    If you can shift the trip to the 2nd week in August kids are back in class--which means more flexibility with campgrounds. Or go the last week in May. I prefer the state parks.

    Expect temperatures at 40 C and above.

    Sundown has very little twilight time. It gets pitch dark fast.

    There are a plethora of museums and galleries.

    I find the drivers in Florida are quite rude.
  • RetiredRealtorR's avatar
    RetiredRealtorR
    Explorer
    Jul 20, 2023
    pianotuna wrote:
    Hi,

    If you can shift the trip to the 2nd week in August kids are back in class--which means more flexibility with campgrounds. Or go the last week in May. I prefer the state parks.

    Expect temperatures at 40 C and above.

    Sundown has very little twilight time. It gets pitch dark fast.

    There are a plethora of museums and galleries.

    I find the drivers in Florida are quite rude.


    40C equals 104F --- VERY unlikely.

    Many drivers in Florida, unfortunately, ARE rude, as most of them have come from up north and brought their driving habits with them.
  • UKTourist's avatar
    UKTourist
    Explorer
    Jul 20, 2023
    Cheers all,

    Hopefully we'll be acclimatised to the heat and humidity as we have a week in Disney before picking up the RV.


    The thing that is really causing me worry is the distances involved. Florida is 477miles north to south (according to Wikipedia) while the whole of mainland Britain is only 113 miles bigger than that. The idea of driving from Orlando to the keys (374miles/6 hours) is just quite daunting to me so I'm hoping to split it up into hops but I fear that may well not be th ebest way of dealing with it.

    What do most people do? Do big drives and stay in fewer places or small drives with more opvernight stops?
  • valhalla360's avatar
    valhalla360
    Navigator
    Jul 20, 2023
    Unless you want to do a ton of driving, I would pick north or south but not both.

    As others have said, it will be miserable hot. Temps do get limited as it's humid and once it gets too hot, the air can't hold the moisture, so it rains and it's hot and more humid.

    A north route:
    - WeekiWachee Springs
    - Cedar Key (kayaking)
    - Okeefenoke Swamp (more kayaking)
    - Savanah GA (Add Tybee Island)
    - St. Augustine
    - Cape Canaveral (a couple days to see NASA and get some beach time)
  • UKTourist's avatar
    UKTourist
    Explorer
    Jul 20, 2023
    valhalla360 wrote:
    Unless you want to do a ton of driving, I would pick north or south but not both.



    I am coming to the realisation that I'd be best off doing a big drive to get to an area and then pretty much staying local to that area.

    We have not looked at the north yet, thank you for the pointers.
  • dcason's avatar
    dcason
    Explorer
    Jul 25, 2023
    Coming from the UK, I would not do summer. ITS HOT...ungodly hot. Narrowing down is smart. The state parks are quite nice...but you would need to find cancellations at this point and you may be able to do that if you keep at it. I would NOT wait until you arrive to try and get those...although people do.

    The florida keys are lovely and something you do not have similar in UK...campgrounds are pricey and state park campgrounds are hard to get but cancellations do exist. The temps in florida keys in March are like 85 degrees with swimmable water.

    Enjoy your stay.
  • UKTourist's avatar
    UKTourist
    Explorer
    Jul 25, 2023
    dcason wrote:
    Coming from the UK, I would not do summer. ITS HOT...ungodly hot. Narrowing down is smart. The state parks are quite nice...but you would need to find cancellations at this point and you may be able to do that if you keep at it. I would NOT wait until you arrive to try and get those...although people do.

    The florida keys are lovely and something you do not have similar in UK...campgrounds are pricey and state park campgrounds are hard to get but cancellations do exist. The temps in florida keys in March are like 85 degrees with swimmable water.

    Enjoy your stay.


    Unfortunately the time of year is not something I can do much about due to work and school holidays, other than to go in August which would be worse I think.

    Availability seems low but doable. Currently booked 3 nights in Jonathan Dickinson state park. Looking to get the rest of the days booked in this or next week, but I think the Keys may be too far to reasonably get to, relax and then get back to Orlando to drop the RV off before the flight.

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