During a detour from my trip up the A1A Scenic Byway, I went on a Scenic Boat Tour in Winter Park, Florida. Winter Park is about 15 minutes north of Orlando and about 30ish minutes away from Disney World.
Location
The official Scenic Boat Tours embark from the banks of Osceola Lake, just minutes from downtown Winter Park. It’s actually kind of hard to see from the road but if you navigate to the address, there is a bit of parking on either side of the road. Just keep walking towards the end of the parking lot and towards the water!
If you’re coming in on the Sunrail, which has a station in Winter Park, it’s about a 10 minute walk.
Sort of below the level of the parking lot, there is a ticket shack and they ONLY TAKE CASH OR CHECKS, no credit cards! It’s currently $14 per adult, $7 for ages 2-11, and free for kids under 2. (Prices include tax.) They give you a wee little ticket like you would get at a carnival and there is a waiting area with plenty of benches and shade.
The boats and COVID
While there is shade while you wait, there is NO shade in the boats. They are open-top pontoon boats. So wear a hat and sunglasses! With a hat, shades, and a mask, I looked like a bandit.
During Covid precautions, they are currently spacing everyone out on the boats. It’s basically every other seat in a zigzag pattern, so you’re not directly next to anyone either. With the open air, masks, and the spacing, I feel like it is a pretty safe Covid activity.
The tour
Once you’re all loaded in, the tour lasts just short of an hour. Long enough to be leisurely about the tour, but fast enough to load boats every hour on the hour. The tour is of three of the seven lakes in Winter Park, including two man-made canals.
Those canals are really interesting – you can kind of see into folk’s backyards and there are low bridges to duck under and lots of rich vegetation. Out on the open lakes, you might even pick up enough speed to have to hold onto your hat.
What I didn’t realize is that this is mostly a homes tour. There’s a lot of history of Winter Park, and they’ll point out any animals you come across, but mostly – at least on my tour – we talked about the houses. There’s a college, historic houses that have moved from here to there, and someone is always having a major renovation. It’s really fun! I love to see big houses I can’t possibly afford and I really enjoyed having a guide tell me what’s what. They’ve apparently been doing this since 1938, so I guess they’ve really seen how things change.
It’s also really fun to be out on the water in general, and see the community from that side and be a little nosey. The guides are great fun and all in all, it’s a great way to spend a part of your day in Winter Park.
Here are more pictures, take on a sunny day in October.
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