Forget Disney, Orlando has an epic hike, guaranteed sun and high-speed rail (2024)

As we eke through the jungle that cloaks the Wekiva River, there is not an oversized mouse in sight. Our kayak safari instead floats above a waterway alive with snakes, ospreys, alligators and – that most Floridian of creatures – the manatee. Welcome to Orlando, a world away from Disney and Universal: think more Jurassic Park than theme park.

Three million people may live within an hour’s drive of the Wekiva River, but we don’t see another soul in two hours of paddling downstream through the Seminole State Forest, a land that, our guide insists, bursts with more black bears than people.

Greg, from Adventures in Florida, says: “People think Orlando is all about theme parks, but we’ve got oases like this just on the edge of the city. And from here you can continue on the Florida Trail, a 1,500-mile hiking route that takes you right to Miami.”

We ease up on a sandy bank and Greg assures us this is a safe spot for swimming. I forget all about water parks and rollercoasters while bathing in the balmy river. The only sound breaking the calm of a scene that has changed little in thousands of years is a tortoise easing along the banks.

While on the Wekiva River, it is hard to believe Orlando is one of the most popular destinations in North America, with 74 million visitors in 2023. Traditionally, almost all have been swallowed up by the Disney and Universal resorts. However, a new breed of savvy tourist is venturing beyond, helped by the opening last year of the Brightline high-speed rail line connecting Orlando with its airport and Miami. Miamians coming north to Orlando for a weekend is now a thing.

My base is The Alfond Inn in the city of Winter Park, which is considered a suburb of Orlando, just to the north of the emerging skyscrapers of downtown. People share the local waters with alligators. Mother Nature is omnipresent in and around Orlando, a lake-dotted city that is tucked just west of the Atlantic littoral.

Indeed, Orlando, which gets around 230 days of sunshine per year, possesses scarcely hidden depths. I had never heard of Winter Park, but it is one of Florida’s oldest communities, a lake-peppered retreat, with boat tours connecting its waterways and millionaire mansions.

No mere inn, The Alfond is a boutique hotel associated with the city’s Rollins College. The property’s revenues are ploughed into arts scholarships and its walls are awash with art. You can take guided hotel tours that delve deeper into the eclectic collection.

Orlando is a city of distinct districts and a rich cultural and creative vein also ripples through another: Mills 50, which is named after its main thoroughfares. In the 1970s, many Vietnamese refugees settled in Mills 50, and influenced the local culinary scene. Today, the neighbourhood is renowned for its street murals and for housing the most Michelin-listed restaurants in Orlando. Michelin only came to Orlando in 2022, but it has quickly developed a voracious appetite. Earlier this year, the organisation recognised 48 local restaurants, with seven starred, 11 Bib Gourmands and 30 recommended.

“Mills 50 is a microcosm for this changing city,” says Ricky Ly, a local food blogger.

“People came to Mills 50 chasing their dreams and now you can taste the dreams of the younger generation who are going on to explore the cuisines of the world.”

Their dreams are dynamic. And delicious. Over crisp, spice-kissed baguettes at Bahn Mi Boy, Ricky tells me about the bijou Tien Hung Market that surrounds us. The market was recently reinvented with stalls offering Cantonese grills and Japanese rice balls.

Around the corner at Michelin-recommended Tori Tori, there are small plates such as Hokkaido scallop crudo with tomato dashi, and local shrimp spiced with yuzu pepper. It’s a bar brimming with energy and creative spirit. This spirit is alive, too, at nearby Sampaguita. I tuck into the ridiculously lavish “Halo Halo” ice cream sundae at this Filipino ice cream parlour.

Its owner chimes with the positive Mills 50 attitude: “We’ve already featured on Netflix’s Somebody Feed Phil. There is just such a buzz about Mills 50 and Orlando at the moment.”

I lose days to Orlando, peeling through its layers. Yes, it has some of America’s best shopping malls, but there’s also a self-guided walking tour of downtown that digs into the cowboys, cattle barons, citrus farmers, and Nasa pioneers who helped put Orlando on the map. There are parks, cycleways and golf courses, too. And, yes, the city may really have been named after that Shakespeare character. All this was long before Walt Disney arrived in 1971.

Exploring Orlando and its environs on a map, it feels like the possibilities keep multiplying. I spot the sprawl of theme parks to the south, but gun my car east instead. Just along the freeway from Orlando, past the airport, the Space Coast is irresistible. It’s a tip from kayak guide, Greg.

“You can witness rocket launches at the Kennedy Space Center, tuck into seafood overlooking the water, kayak with bioluminescence and learn to surf at Cocoa Beach,” he told me. And all without a cartoon character in sight.

Getting there
Robin McKelvie flew with jetBlue from Edinburgh to Orlando, via New York, jetblue.com

Staying there
The Alfrond Inn has doubles from $254/£193 per night, thealfondinn.com

Further information
visitorlando.com
visitflorida.com