Coach Tour Florida

GiJo

My hubby and I (54/64 yrs) are considering doing a coach tour of florida next year, early November. Any recommendations as to who we should go with (Titan/Archers/Travelsphere/Other) and will the weather be OK? Any info/tips gratefully received, and any pitfalls we should be aware of.

jenny2115

We did the travelsphere west coast tour last year, the las vegas one...it was brilliant, we didn`t miss anything out they took us everywhere, and the tour guide was from the area so he throw in a lot of extras that weren`t part of the tour, they couldn`t have been any better, would certainly recomend them.

Cardew

Weather is OK in early Nov - about a max of 80f.

I love Florida and have a property on the coast. However I have never heard of a coach tour of Florida and certainly rarely see tourist coaches.

Frankly most of Florida is dead flat and boring - or at least where the freeways run. There are some beautiful beaches, particularly on the Gulf coast, but surely you want to use the beaches not look at them from a passing coach. Most of the cities are big modern sprawling conurbations with little of historical interest - Miami is nice in parts.

America has spectacular scenery but I would never recommend a coach tour of Florida.

GiJo

jenny2115 wrote:

We did the travelsphere west coast tour last year, the las vegas one...it was brilliant, we didn`t miss anything out they took us everywhere, and the tour guide was from the area so he throw in a lot of extras that weren`t part of the tour, they couldn`t have been any better, would certainly recomend them.

We did that particular tour with Travelsphere about 10 years ago, and like you thought it was great. I know they do 2 or 3 tours in Florida, so I guess the service would be similar.

GiJo

Cardew wrote:

Weather is OK in early Nov - about a max of 80f.

I love Florida and have a property on the coast. However I have never heard of a coach tour of Florida and certainly rarely see tourist coaches.

Frankly most of Florida is dead flat and boring - or at least where the freeways run. There are some beautiful beaches, particularly on the Gulf coast, but surely you want to use the beaches not look at them from a passing coach. Most of the cities are big modern sprawling conurbations with little of historical interest - Miami is nice in parts.

America has spectacular scenery but I would never recommend a coach tour of Florida.

The tours that Archers et al advertise visit the "highlights" of Florida such as Cape Canaveral, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, The Keys, etc, in other words the tourist hotspots.
Are you saying that other than the coastal areas, Florida hasn't much to offer?

melancholly

There are some great places in florida - i'd just agree that the landscape isn't up to much. it's not got the beautiful scenery to look at out the window like much of california. that said, the keys should be pretty good (i've never been) and there are some really lovely smaller towns to visit (e.g. sarasota).
i guess if you want to see lots and don't fancy driving/organising all your accommodation yourself, then a coach would work - just don't expect to see much out of the window! hopefully the places you visit should make up for that.

Cardew

GiJo wrote:

The tours that Archers et al advertise visit the "highlights" of Florida such as Cape Canaveral, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, The Keys, etc, in other words the tourist hotspots.
Are you saying that other than the coastal areas, Florida hasn't much to offer?

It depends what you want on a coach tour.

Orlando has some great theme parks but little else IMO. Cape Canaveral is an hour away and is another theme park.

There is a thread currently running about the Keys - mixed opinions about the place.

Fort Lauderdale is nothing special IMO.

Florida is the most popular tourist destination in the USA. However the great attraction for most people is the weather -particularly in the winter months - the coast and the theme parks.

As I said I love Florida(or I wouldn't have bought a property there). If you have not been to the Parks they are well worth seeing but you would need a week to do them justice.

I would have thought the best way to see Florida is a one or two centre holiday, with some trips out. That's what most people do and with good reason.

Spending hour after hour driving through flat uninspiring countryside is not much fun.

LesD

Cardew wrote:

Weather is OK in early Nov - about a max of 80f.

Hmmmm......

Florida Storm Watch - Hurricanes
When is Hurricane Season?
June 1 - November 30

melancholly

LesD wrote:

Hmmmm......

Florida Storm Watch - Hurricanes
When is Hurricane Season?
June 1 - November 30

november is very late for hurricanes - i had the pleasure of sitting through one 2 years ago in october, and that was the last one of the year. even though it hit, it only meant that for one day we stayed in. shops/parks/restaurants (everything!) was open the day before and after - they're getting pretty practised at dealing with them!! i wouldn't let that put you off!

LesD

Merely a quote from the Florida Department of Emergency Management. And they should know!

Cardew

LesD wrote:

Hmmmm......

Florida Storm Watch - Hurricanes
When is Hurricane Season?
June 1 - November 30

This hurricane threat is blown out of all proportion especially for tourists. Millions of people live in Florida and millions more holiday there in the hurricane season. It is sometimes portrayed as if it is as dangerous as walking in downtown Baghdad waving an Israeli flag.

You get several days of warning of a hurricane approaching and you simply leave the area if you think it is to be a risk. The only people killed -and there have been very few in the last few years in Florida - have been those who ignored warnings to vacate and took the risk.

I have been in Florida when three hurricanes have hit the State. The only time one came near to where I was staying I moved to the other coast and went fishing.

If you are worried about hurricanes bringing poor weather, the day after it passes the weather is back to normal.

The risk of being killed in a traffic accident is several hundred times more than being killed in a hurricane.