New Orleans to Orlando road trip: Best stops, drive time & distance
The best road trip stops on the New Orleans to Orlando drive are Pensacola, Tallahassee and Gainesville FL. The distance from New Orleans to Orlando by car is 640 miles, with a 9h3m driving time.
Planning a New Orleans to Orlando road trip itinerary
The New Orleans to Orlando drive takes you from the hedonistic hub of Louisiana to the theme park capital of Florida.
New Orleans resolutely refuses to feel like any other American city. From the raucous hedonism of Bourbon Street to the European-influenced charm of the French Quarter, New Orleans is mesmerizingly unusual to hang out in.
Top New Orleans experiences include French Quarter food tours, haunted pub crawls, jazz cruises aboard the steamboat Natchez and cemetery walking tours.
For other attractions, try the National WWII Museum, the Vue Orleans observation deck and the urban enslavement tours at Hermann Grima House.
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.
New Orleans to Orlando distance and driving time
By car, the distance from New Orleans to Orlando is 640 miles. That makes for a driving time of around nine hours and three minutes. The quickest route is mainly along the I-10, I-75 and Florida Turnpike.
For more suggestions, check out the guides to the individual legs of the journey:
- New Orleans to Pensacola drive.
- Pensacola to Tallahassee drive.
- Tallahassee to Gainesville drive.
- Gainesville to Orlando drive.
New Orleans to Orlando road trip attractions
The westernmost city on the Florida Panhandle, Pensacola is home to a major US Naval Station. But for most visitors, interest will lie in the white sand beaches and barrier islands.
Top Pensacola activities include nighttime kayaking with colourful LEDs lighting up the kayaks, and dolphin-watching cruises around the bay.
Other ways of exploring include downtown food tours, ghost and graveyard tours, guided pub crawls, Segway tours and sunset cruises.
For beachside Pensacola accommodation with great guest reviews, take a look at the Pensacola Beach Resort and the SpringHill Suites Pensacola Beach.
Best stops between New Orleans and Orlando: Tallahassee
Top Tallahassee experiences include the Museum of Florida History, which tells the tale of the Sunshine State. That covers everything from prehistoric mastodons to the Spanish conquest and Disney.
The Tallahassee Museum, meanwhile, flits all over the place, from sculpture to birds of prey. For natural beauty, head to the Alfred B Maclay Gardens State Park.
New Orleans to Orlando drive: Gainesville FL
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.
More New Orleans road trips
Atlanta to New Orleans | Baton Rouge to New Orleans | New Orleans to Biloxi | Chicago to New Orleans | Cincinnati to New Orleans | Cleveland to New Orleans | Dallas to New Orleans | New Orleans to Destin FL | New Orleans to Galveston | New Orleans to Gulf Shores | Houston to New Orleans | Huntsville to New Orleans | Jackson MS to New Orleans | Kansas City to New Orleans | Memphis to New Orleans | Nashville to New Orleans | Panama City to New Orleans | Pensacola to New Orleans | New Orleans to San Antonio | Savannah to New Orleans | Tallahassee to New Orleans | Tulsa to New Orleans.
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 | Gainesville to Orlando | Houston to Orlando | Huntsville AL to Orlando | Jacksonville to Orlando | Lakeland to Orlando | Macon GA to Orlando | Nashville 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.