How to Spend the Perfect 24 Hours in Orlando: Itinerary for First-Time Visitors

Like many travelers, our first Florida trip started with the city of Orlando. (Or, more accurately, at its world-famous theme parks.)

Since that first visit many moons ago, we’ve realized that there’s plenty more to experience in one day in Orlando than just hangin’ out with Mickey and Goofy! The more we got to know the city, the more we’ve dug outside family-friendly attractions like Walt Disney World or Universal Orlando Resort, and into its natural and cultural ones.

With 24 hours in Orlando now, we’d prefer to spend our day perusing museums and art galleries, strolling through leafy parks and botanical gardens, and roaming the streets in search of trendy cafes, restaurants, bistros, and brewpubs.

Care to join us in our quest to explore Orlando without stepping foot in a theme park? Let us help you plan the perfect day with our complete 1-day Orlando itinerary, including our recommendations for what to see & do, where to eat & drink, and where to stay…

Our recommendations for where to go in Orlando in one day

Fuel up with coffee in Winter Park

To start our day in Orlando, let’s wake up and head off to the suburb of Winter Park. Located north of downtown Orlando, Winter Park is a pleasant city, and whenever we’re in town, we love to visit this suburb to explore its beautiful outdoor spaces, museums, and art galleries.

Downtown Winter Park centers around North Park Avenue near its Central Park. Let’s take a stroll around its charming central shopping district. If we got a later start to the day, we might be able to pop into fashion boutiques like Lilly Pulitzer and Sultre Boutique.

Settle down at one of its cool cafés to fuel up with coffee and breakfast. For a more local feel, skip Starbucks and wander along South Park Avenue to try Barnie’s Coffee & Tea Co. (118 S Park Ave). We’re big fans of their freshly roasted coffee beans and yummy breakfast bites like their croissant sandwich and shakshuka.

For art lovers visiting Orlando, we also recommend another detour here. From South Park Avenue, it’s about a 15-minute walk to the Rollins Museum of Art on the Rollins College campus.

Visiting this art museum, formerly known as the Cornell Fine Arts Museum, we spotted a variety of art & artifacts spanning from antiquity to the modern era.

Uncover priceless paintings from old masters and works from famous artists like Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, and Francis Bacon. The collection also includes over 1,500 prints, photos, and drawings. The exhibits at the Rollins Museum of Art are constantly rotated, so there’s no telling what a visit here will unfold!

After your museum visit, we suggest walking to Dinky Dock Park on the shores of Lake Virginia. Extra adventurous travelers can rent a paddleboard or a kayak to explore the lake and its connected canals.

(Although we’d say it’s slightly too ambitious on this time-crunched itinerary!)

Walk around the Mead Botanical Garden

From Downtown Winter Park, let’s take the 30-minute walk (or less than 10-minute drive) to Mead Botanical Garden. On our visit to this 47.6-acre garden, we wandered past beautiful flower gardens, ponds, and even a butterfly garden.

We also discovered on our trip that Mead Botanical Garden is listed on the Great Florida Birding Trail. If you’re a bird-watcher, we recommend bringing your binoculars. Walk along its pathways to spot species like great blue herons, cardinals, and woodpeckers.

The garden is a wonderful place to visit earlier in the morning on your first 24 hours in Orlando. We’ve noticed that it’s at its quietest during the first couple of hours after its 8 am opening. Admission to the Mead Botanical Garden is free.

Browse the Orlando Museum of Art

From Mead Botanical Garden, let’s take another 30- to 35-minute walk (or 6-minute drive via North Mills Avenue) to the next stop on our Orlando itinerary: the Orlando Museum of Art.

One quick pointer: We recommend skipping the most direct walking route. Instead, opt for the more scenic walk via Lake Shore Drive. The road skims along the shores of Lake Sue and Lake Rowena. We think it’s a much more satisfying stroll than along a busy 4-lane avenue!

We’ll find the Orlando Museum of Art in Loch Haven Park between Lake Estelle and Lake Formosa. Opened in 1924, the museum has amassed a collection of 2,400 artifacts, with exhibits focusing mostly on modern American art and African art. On our visit, we even learned that the museum hosts one of the largest collections of ancient American art in the Southeastern USA!

The highlight for us is the Contemporary Art Collection, featuring a frankly weird assemblage of sculptures, paintings, and photographs by artists such as Kerry James Marshall, John Chamberlain, Mel Kendrick, and Nick Cave.

We also spotted several other excellent museums & art galleries around the area. If art isn’t your thing or you’re traveling with kids, head next door to the Orlando Science Center instead. For even more American art, we found the Mennello Museum of American Art just south of the park, too.

Chill out at Harry P Leu Gardens

From the Orlando Museum of Art, let’s walk along the northern shore of Lake Rowena. Within about 25 minutes, we’ll land at Harry P Leu Gardens. (By car, it should take less than 10 minutes.)

Harry P Leu Gardens spans almost 50 acres of tropical and subtropical gardens. We love wandering its trails, shaded under oaks dating back hundreds of years. On the way, we’ll stroll alongside hundreds of exotic flora species from around the world, including the garden’s prominent collection of over 200 varieties of camellias.

We’d also suggest that history buffs pop into the gardens’ Leu House Museum. Inside the two-floor home, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, we’ll see a melange and 19th- and 20th-century architectural styles and rich period furnishings.

You can tour the Leu House Museum daily between 10 am and 1 pm except Mondays.

Enjoy lunch in Colonialtown

Harry P Leu Gardens sits on the northern edge of Colonialtown, one of our favorite areas in the city. Let’s continue our tour of Orlando in one day with a walk in this charming neighborhood.

Our favorite part about Colonialtown is its eclectic dining scene. Along North Mills Avenue and East Colonial Drive, we’ve found a ton of hip restaurants, cafés, tapas bars, and brewpubs. We think this is perfect place for us to stop for a lunch break!

Most popular here is the Asian culinary scene. We suggest grabbing classic Southeast Asia-inspired fare at Hawkers Asian Street Food (1103 N Mills Ave) or Malaysian at Mamak Asian Street Food (1231 E Colonial Dr).

Relax at Lake Eola Park

Now that we’ve fuelled up in Colonialtown, let’s take a 5-minute drive (or 30-minute walk) to Lake Eola Park. This beautiful park is an oasis in Orlando’s Central Business District.

From the lake’s eastern shores, we always love soaking in the fantastic views across the water to downtown. We think Lake Eola Park is one of the coolest places to see in Orlando for locals and travelers alike!

We love to stroll around Lake Eola Park, spotting ducks and swans along the lakeshore. If you’ve got extra time and energy, you can rent a paddleboat for a leisurely paddle around Lake Eola.

If you’re a beer lover like us, pop into the World of Beer (431 E Central Blvd Suite B) on the southern edge of the park. Whenever we visit Orlando, we can’t get enough of this popular gastropub with its menu of over 500 beers from around the world.

Stroll around Thornton Park

Just east of Lake Eola Park lies Thornton Park, a charming residential neighborhood that’s often touted by locals as one of the best places to live in Orlando. Even more to our liking, Thornton Park is full of great restaurants, cafés, wine bars, and craft beer joints.

Dubbed “Downtown for Grownups,” Thornton Park centers around Washington Street. We like strolling along this drag to enjoy drinks & snacks from morning till night.

A few of our favorite stops from our travels include chowing down on New American classics and cocktails at The Stubborn Mule (100 S Eola Dr Unit 103) or street food and craft beer at Falcon Bar & Gallery (819 E Washington St).

Enjoy dinner & drinks in Downtown Orlando

From Thornton Park, it’s less than a mile west to the heart of Downtown Orlando. The downtown centers around Central Boulevard and Orange Avenue. In our opinion, this area presents some of the city’s best eating, drinking, and entertainment options—and we think it’s a great place to end our day of sightseeing!

Among the restaurants in Downtown Orlando (or Central Business District), we’ve found everything from taquerias and burger joints to international bistros.

For pub grub and drinks in a laid-back, trendy setting, we’d suggest checking out the Downtown PourHouse (20 S Orange Ave).

Tackle your steak & seafood cravings, cocktail in hand, pop into the Kres Chophouse (17 W Church St).

Or for epic tacos washed down with margaritas, we’d give a big thumbs-up to Taco My Guey (131 N Orange Ave Unit 103). 

Where to stay with 24 hours in Orlando

As with any popular tourist destination, we can’t say that choosing where to stay in Orlando is always simple. For this time-crunched travel plan, we think the most convenient area to stay is in the city center. It’ll allow you to stick close to all the action.

(If you’re more interested in the theme parks, though, consider staying outside of the city center.)

More Orlando itinerary ideas

Walt Disney World Resort

Traveling to Orlando with kids? There’s a chance you’ll spend much of your Orlando trip itinerary at Walt Disney World Resort. The world-famous Disney World consists of four separate theme parks. In our experience visiting this magical park, each section could take a full day to explore on its own!

The most popular section of the park is the Magic Kingdom. When visiting Magic Kingdom, we always love strolling along Main Street USA as Disney’s most famous characters pop into selfies. The section of the park is also home to Disney World’s most recognizable landmark, Cinderella’s Castle.

We guarantee your little future travelers will love spending time at Epcot, our own favorite part of the park. For thrills, drop into Future World, where we find the theme park’s two main rides. Travelers-in-training will never forget strolling through the World Showcase, home to 11 different exhibits based on countries around the globe.

Movie buffs will relish the chance to relive their favorite Disney movies at Hollywood Studios. (It’s not Universal, but we still think it’s pretty cool!) Animal lovers will likewise love spotting exotic species at Animal Kingdom.

Don’t want to pay to enter the park? We suggest, instead, scooting over to Disney Springs. Formerly known as Downtown Disney, this outdoor shopping plaza covers 120 acres.

Although we can’t claim Disney Springs is not without its kitschiness, we enjoyed spending time shopping along the main street and trying out some of the theme restaurants. We think they’re perfect for enjoying a fun meal with the whole family.

Universal Orlando Resort

Love the silver screen like we do? Then, we’d recommend carving out in your Orlando trip plan for Universal Orlando Resort. Like Disney World, Universal is, in our experience, worthy of several days on its own.

Universal Orlando Resort splits into three separate parks. Most famous is Universal Studios Florida. At this entertainment complex, you can immerse yourself in the world of some of your favorite movies and TV shows, including at the popular The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

For more thrills, zip over to Universal’s Islands of Adventure. Celebrating over 20 years of history, Universal’s Islands of Adventure is home to eight theme islands and several roller coasters, including The Incredible Hulk Coaster.

Elsewhere in the resort, we’d totally support cooling down at the new waterpark, Volcano Bay. Or you can take a stroll and grab a bite to eat along the Vegas-like Universal City Walk.

Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex

One of our favorite day trips from Orlando, Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex lies about an hour east of the city. The popular tourist attraction is the visitors’ area of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral—and we think it’s a must-see if you’re visiting with kids!

For space enthusiasts, no Orlando attraction is more fascinating than the Kennedy Space Center. At the visitor center, you’ll learn everything you ever wanted to know about NASA’s American space programs.

Our favorites at the Space Center? Sneak a peek at the Saturn V rocket, Apollo Lunar Module, and Apollo 14 Command Module. They’re on display in the Apollo/Saturn V Center.

Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art

Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art sits among a cluster of art museums in Winter Park. The museum is famed for its large collection of art nouveau. It’s also home to the largest collection of artwork from American artist Louis Comfort Tiffany.

If you’re an art lover, add a visit to the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum into your morning. The collections of stained glass, mosaics, furniture, and jewelry are unique among the area’s art museums.

When to visit

The best time to visit Orlando is between February and May. During these spring months, you’ll enjoy pleasant weather and sunny skies. Outside of school holidays, we usually also find cheaper accommodation prices and better availability.

Hurricane season affects Florida between June and November. Although it affects the coast more than central Florida, summer is still not one of our favorite times to visit the city.

From our experience, the heat and humidity can get oppressive in summer. Temperatures can soar as high as 91°F (33°C). June to September are also the wettest months of the year.

How to get there

By air

Orlando is served by Orlando International Airport (MCO). The airport is located 6 miles (10 km) southeast of Downtown Orlando. Several major airlines fly into MCO, including:

• Silver Airways
• Frontier Airlines
• JetBlue
• Southwest Airlines
• Spirit Airlines

By road

You can reach Orlando from several major cities in Florida. Some of the most popular routes and fastest driving times include:

• Tampa (1h25m)
• Daytona Beach (58m)
• Miami (3h32m)
• Jacksonville (2h5m)
• Naples, FL (3h28m)

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