Gainesville to Orlando road trip: Best stops, distance & drive time
The distance from Gainesville FL to Orlando by car is 112 miles, with a 1h38m driving time. The best Gainesville to Orlando road trip stops are Ocala FL, the Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing and the Chain of Lakes.
Planning a Gainesville to Orlando road trip itinerary
The Gainesville to Orlando drive takes you from the University of Florida to Florida’s theme park capital of the world.
Gainesville is home to the University of Florida, and will be best known to college football fans as the home of the Florida Gators.
For everyone else, there’s the Butterfly Rainforest at the Florida Museum of Natural History, the Harn Museum of Art and the Devil’s Millhopper Geological State Park. The latter is based around a limestone sinkhole.
Orlando is known worldwide as the home of Disney World, but there’s far more to it than Mickey and Co. You can get crazy selfies at the Museum of Illusions or WonderWorks, learn how chocolate is made at Chocolate Kingdom and ride the Wheel at ICON Park or Orlando StarFlyer. Alternatively, visit Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition, play adventure golf at Pirates’ Cove and say hi to the stingrays at Sea Life.
In the evenings, there’s the Polynesian Fire Luau and Dinner Show, Cirque du Soleil’s Drawn To Life and the Outta Control magic comedy show.
Other Orlando experiences include glow-in-the-dark kayaking, foodie walking tours and kayaking through Cypress forest.
Gainesville to Orlando distance and driving time
By car, the distance from Gainesville FL to Orlando is 112 miles. That makes for a driving time of around one hour and 38 minutes. The quickest route is largely along the I-75 and Florida’s Turnpike.
The best stops to add to a Gainesville to Orlando road trip itinerary are Ocala FL, the Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing and the Chain of Lakes.
Best stops between Gainesville and Orlando: Ocala FL
Ocala is home to the Golden Gypsy Horse Farm, where visitors can meet the rare and beautiful Gypsy Vanner horses. The Appleton Museum of Art, meanwhile, mixes contemporary art with pre-Columbian artifacts and the Discovery Center does the interactive science thing.
The most important site in Ocala, however, is the Fort King National Historic Landmark. This was a major military post in the Second Seminole War, and the first inland fort in Florida.
- For more suggestions, read the guide to the Gainesville to Ocala drive.
Gainesville to Orlando drive: Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing
The Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing celebrates an especially American form of motor racing. It covers the history of the sport – which is generally about blasting along a short course in a straight line as quickly as possible.
It also looks at drag racing’s greatest competitors with its Hall Of Fame.
Gainesville to Orlando road trip attractions: The Chain of Lakes
As the name suggests, the Chain of Lakes is a collection of lakes near Clermont and Winter Haven in Florida.
Perhaps the most fun way of exploring is on board a small personal catamaran, guided to all the best spots over a two-way radio. These mini-catamaran tours leave from Clermont.
More Gainesville FL road trips
Atlanta to Gainesville | Gainesville to Jacksonville | Gainesville to Ocala | Gainesville to St Augustine | Tallahassee to Gainesville | Gainesville to Tampa.
More Orlando road trips
Albany GA to Orlando | Asheville to Orlando | Atlanta to Orlando | Augusta to Orlando | Austin to Orlando | Baton Rouge to Orlando | Orlando to Daytona Beach | Orlando to Destin | Houston to Orlando | Huntsville AL to Orlando | Jacksonville to Orlando | Lakeland to Orlando | Macon GA to Orlando | Nashville to Orlando | New Orleans to Orlando | Orlando to Palm Coast | Panama City to Orlando | Pensacola to Orlando | Ocala to Orlando | Orlando to St Augustine | Tallahassee to Orlando | Orlando to Tampa | Valdosta to Orlando.