21 Best Sights in Orlando, Florida

Given to the City of Winter Park by the Genius family (benefactors of the Morse Museum), this 11-acre green space has manicured lawns, specimen plantings, a beautiful rose garden available for private functions, a fountain, and a gazebo. If you take a seat and listen as the Amtrak passenger train rolls by, it's not hard to imagine how Winter Park looked and sounded in the late 19th century. The SunRail commuter and Amtrak trains stop right within the park, giving great car-free access, particularly during the packed art festivals, to and from Downtown Orlando, Kissimmee, and Sanford. The Winter Park Farmers' Market draws people to the southwest corner on Saturday between 8 am and 1 pm. If you don't want to browse in the shops across the street, a walk beneath the park's moss-covered trees is a delightful alternative. There's free Wi-Fi within the park, as well.

A refined and dazzling private collection of American and international pieces by mid-20th-century modernist artists features the work of George Nakashima, Wendell Castle, and the more radical Memphis Group, as well as pieces collected by musician David Bowie. The museum shares resources and a gift shop with the 1921 restaurant across the street, so special dining and exhibition events are held throughout the year.

On the Rollins College campus, this museum houses Florida's oldest art collection (its first paintings acquired in 1896)—one with more than 5,000 pieces, from Italian Renaissance works to 19th- and 20th-century American and European paintings. Special exhibitions feature everything from Native American artifacts to Soviet propaganda posters. Outside the museum, a small but charming garden overlooks Lake Virginia. Some of the museum's collection graces the walls of the nearby, Rollins-owned, Alfond Inn. The museum is free to visit; free guided tours are offered on weekends at 1 pm. A new downtown Winter Park home for the renamed Rollins Museum of Art will break ground in 2023.

Stroll along on a guided tour through gardens showcasing the graceful sculptures created by internationally known Czech sculptor Albin Polasek (1879–1965). The late artist's home, studio, galleries, and private chapel are centered on 3 acres of exquisitely tended lawns, colorful flower beds, and tropical foliage at the edge of Lake Osceola. Paths and walkways lead past classical life-size figurative sculptures and whimsical mythological pieces. Inside the museum are works by Hawthorne, Chase, and Mucha. The Capen House, a historic 1885 building, has been moved to the grounds to be used for public events.

The racing legend lent his name to this entertainment facility that offers boutique bowling on black-lit lanes, a video game and pinball arcade, a sky-trail ropes course with curved ziplines, virtual reality attractions, a shoot-em-up 7-D dark ride, and, naturally, racing. Pro racing simulators add motion, vibrations, sound effects, and even add tension in the seatbelt so you feel as if you're on an actual racetrack. When you're ready to actually race, three indoor tracks let you whip around corners, change elevation, and zip into banked curves on small, high-torque karts. Add laser tag, a restaurant, and more than 100 screens tuned into the day's top sporting events, and you have a lot of entertainment packed into one exciting complex.

This group of museums, divided into two campuses a block apart, includes the Maitland Art Center, the Maitland Historical Museum, the Waterhouse Residence Museum, and the quirky Telephone Museum. Hidden down a tree-lined side street, the Maitland Art Center is a collection of 23 buildings in the Maya Revival style—with Mesoamerican motifs—that contain an art gallery and artists’ studios. The restored Waterhouse museum reflects the life of a middle class Victorian family during the early days of the City of Maitland. Recognized by Florida as a historic site and on the National Register of Historic Places, the center was founded as an art colony in 1937 by American artist and architect André Smith (1880–1959). It continues his tradition of art instruction and houses a major collection of his works.

More than 20 bird species, including hawks, eagles, owls, falcons, and vultures, make their home at this wildlife rehabilitation center on Lake Sybelia. You can take a self-guided conservation tour with interactive exhibits and walkways through the wetlands, or you can call ahead for a private tour ($50 annual pass), which includes an up-close look at different birds in the center. There's an earnestness to this working facility, which takes in more than 800 injured wild birds of prey each year. Fewer than half can return to the wild; some permanently injured birds continue to live at the center and can be seen in aviaries along the pathways. To get here, take U.S. 17–92, and turn west on Lake Avenue and then north on East Street.

Sanford has had a zoo since 1923, and there's a certain charm about the place. In addition to 400-plus animals, including giraffes (you can feed them), cheetahs, monkeys, and crocodiles, there's the Seminole Aerial Adventures, with rope bridges and a zipline through the treetops, and the Wharton-Smith Tropical Splash Ground, a mini water playground. Evening events for grownups are as popular as summer camps for kids. The Florida black-bear habitat and Florida Trek are delightful, as is the steam-powered, 1/5-scale train that puffs around the grounds. Burgers, salads, and kids' meals are available

Housed in one of Downtown's oldest buildings, this charming, small gallery features mostly local and regional artists.

Almost crowded out by the glitz of new shops, restaurants, and art galleries is the original, once-thriving area of Hannibal Square, one of the oldest African-American communities in the country and home to Pullman porter families to this day. The Heritage Center has a permanent collection of photographs and oral histories of the significant West Winter Park area. It's a touching and important memorial to a neighborhood that influenced American history.

Enormous cypress trees shade this 5-acre public park on the shores of Lake Maitland. It's hidden within an upscale neighborhood and comes alive with heady color from January through March. The thousands of blooming azaleas (hence the name) make a perfect backdrop for romantic strolls, and sunset weddings are common at the park's Exedra monument overlooking the lake.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, this country inn, built in 1883, overlooks 4,500-acre Lake Dora and is Florida's oldest continuously operating hotel. A stroll around the grounds, where seaplane passengers board or disembark, makes you feel as if you've stepped into the pages of The Great Gatsby. You, too, can book a seaplane tour or a cruise; both leave from the inn's large dock. Three restaurants offer indoor and outdoor dining. There are 90 guest rooms if you have time in your schedule for an overnight stay.

Featuring wax copies of real and fictional characters, Madame Tussauds lets you grab a selfie with the faux superheroes, including Wonder Woman, Superman, Batman, and Aquaman, as well as celebrities both living and dead—from Taylor Swift and Pink to Pitbull and Michael Jackson—and the rich and famous from politics and sports.  Combo tickets are available for this museum, The Wheel at ICON Park, and SEA LIFE Orlando Aquarium.

Local and national artists are highlighted in this lovely art center, which grew out of the annual arts festival. The center is a focal point for the community, serving as headquarters of the arts festival, a gallery, a gift shop, and a place to take art lessons. A new facility is in the works.

Old Town is the heart of tourist Kissimmee, with carnival-type attractions and a 1950s theme. Highlights include magic shows in the Great Magic Hall, a haunted funeral parlor attraction, video game and shooting arcades, a laser-tag hall, go-karts and bumper cars, and regularly scheduled classic car shows. Shopping has become the realm of "As Seen on TV" stores and flea market staples, and dining takes the form of generic food courts and sports bars.

Part of the City of Orlando's collection of arts venues, the Museum of Art sits in the Loch Haven Park complex. It exhibits contemporary art, mid-18th- and 19th-century American art, and an important collection of ancient artifacts of the Americas. In addition to American art created before 1945, and an extensive photography collection, exhibits of African textiles, and graphic art from such artists as Andy Warhol and Jasper Johns add to the diversity of its displays. The museum's collection of Chihuly glass, obtained during an exclusive exhibition in 2004, is among the finest in the country. A live music and art social mixer, called 1st Thursdays, runs 6 to 9 pm.

You can travel at 45 mph on this 450-foot-tall swing, said to be the tallest in the world, which also rotates 360 degrees. It's as terrifying as it sounds, so this ride is not for either the faint of heart or small children.  Ticket packages for ICON Park attractions are available.

Based on the popular and long-running British kids' show and built with accessibility and the little ones in mind, this park is also a Certified Autism Center. Explore playscapes such as Rebecca Rabbit’s playground, Grandpa Pig's Greenhouse, and the Muddy Puddles Splash Pad, which has slides and water fountains. At the Fairgrounds, play games and ride on Peppa Pig’s Balloon Ride and Mr. Bull’s High Striker.

Other attractions include Grampy Pig’s Dinosaur Adventure, Grandad Dog’s Pirate Boat Ride, and the popular Daddy Pig’s Roller Coaster—a great introduction to coasters for little ones. At The Cinema, relax indoors and watch episodes of Peppa Pig cartoons. Peppa tells interactive stories in live shows at Mr. Potato’s Showtime Arena, Miss Rabbit’s Diner offers kid-friendly meals, and Mr. Fox’s Shop sells exclusive park merchandise. The park is just steps from LEGOLAND Florida but requires a separate ticket; combo tickets are available, though.

Founded by international photographer Patrick Kahn, SNAP! is the leading repository of contemporary images in Orlando. The gallery in Colonialtown has shown cutting-edge photos from artists such as Shawn Theodore, Roger Ballen, and musician Moby, along with world premiere exhibitions, emerging graffiti artists, and even jewelry makers.

This museum, just a few minutes west of Maitland, is in Eatonville, the first African-American town to be incorporated after the Civil War. It showcases works by artists of African descent during five six-week-long exhibitions each year, with one reserved for up-and-comers. The museum is named after former resident Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960), a writer, folklorist, and anthropologist best known for her novel Their Eyes Were Watching God. This is the home of Zora Fest, a street festival and cultural arts and music event celebrating Hurston's life, which is held each year in late January.