Mount Dora, Florida makes a great home base for holiday or vacation.
Getting to Mount Dora, click here for directions.
Central Florida has long been popular as a home base for Florida vacations, with Orlando International Airport, many of the most popular attractions within a short drive from one another, and its central location from both coasts. For many though, being in the middle of all of that congestion and traffic can wear on a vacation. Instead of relaxing and enjoying the time off and away from work, you’re always in traffic, tons of tourists and everyday life of the locals. Being able to get away to a place that lets you still get to everything you want easily, while letting you have some peace and quiet and enjoy your break is a desirable vacation. So think Mount Dora.
Situated an easy drive from Orlando, the coasts and so many places tourists, travelers and locals like to go, Mount Dora offers the perfect peaceful retreat, a great small town atmosphere and close proximity to everything there is to do. Here are just a few of the hot spots of Florida travel and how long to get there. Do consult your Google maps and a good map to help you plan your exact day trip or getaway. And the next time you’re considering where to stay vs. what to do, consider making Mount Dora your home base in Florida and mix peace with pleasure!
Walt Disney World, Universal, Sea World Orlando: Located an easy 45 or so minute drive from Mount Dora, you can easily get back into Orlando and the city, plus these great travel favorites. Consult a Google Map or regular “old fashioned” map for exact directions, but options include 441 to 429 to 408, 441 to 429 directly to Walt Disney World’s western entrance, and Interstate 4 to Highway 46.
New Smyrna Beach: What a lovely drive in the Florida countryside to New Smyrna Beach. Here you’ll enjoy the New Smyrna Beach for which it is named, the Canaveral National Seashore just to the South and a range of watersports and activities. Roughly an hour drive depending on where you choose to go, it’s a wonderful way to spend a Sunday drive or pretty much any day of the week.
The Villages and Ocala: We recently did this road trip, heading up route 19 directly through The Villages, home to a very large and growing senior community, and on to Ocala, home of horses and apparently a John Travolta home (though you’ll never get close to the Urban Cowboy star’s actual home in a private airplane community. You’ll enjoy this drive through the country for about an hour to two hours depending on stops, traffic, weather and where you’re headed. While you’re in Ocala, check out Silver Springs and the other
area parks and springs.
Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex: The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, the actual facility that hosts tours of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral, is located about one and a half hours from Mount Dora. Check the maps for directions and take either a route through Orlando or head straight across to the coast and down.
The Gulf Coast & Clearwater Beach, Tarpon Springs, and Tampa: The Gulf of Mexico and its Gulf Coast are a little farther in some ways – with these three towns at: Clearwater Beach: two and a half hours, Tarpon Springs: two and a half hours, Tampa: two hours away. How can that be? It is based on how you get there: Tampa is on highway 75 or highway 4 and the other two, on the actual coast and requiring more surface streets as you get to them. Still a great place to visit, there are many beaches and spots along the Gulf, these three included, for a long day or overnight, then returning to Mount Dora. Or start at one, spend time, then move on to the other.
Enjoy a restaurant, daily demonstration, tours, and immersive museum. It’s a fun place for all ages. Drive time is about an hour and fifteen minutes.
Mount Dora to start/end your vacation: Another great option is to spend some time in Mount Dora, then proceed to another part of the state. Among the options and your drive times:
- Miami: 4.5 hours.
- Jacksonville: 2.5 hours.
- Tallahassee: 4+ hours.
- Gainesville: 2 hours.
- Key Largo: 5.5 hours.
- Fort Myers: 3.5 hours.