Family Trip to Gainesville Florida

I second Meredith; I was going to mention most of the things she already said. Devil's Milhopper will be a good way to burn energy off the kids; it's a long stairway down into a very old sinkhole that's now a nice nature-y area. And it's free!

The Itchetucknee River is fun but if you don't want to commit a whole day to tubing, there are other springs in the area too. Blue Springs comes to mind...sorry, that's the only name I can seem to remember, but there are others.

There's a roadside pull-off point on Hwy 441 alongside Paynes Prairie with a dock that's a great spot to see alligators up close in their natural habitat but still out of jaws' reach. You can also see them at Lake Alice on campus, which is near the bat house. Go right at dusk and you can see all the bats fly out of the house. It's pretty neat. I think it's one of the largest bat colonies in existence, too.

I'd probably pass on Kanapaha Botanical Gardens, unless they've gotten better over the last few years; when I lived there, the gardens were always in poor shape.

The next town south (of any size) is Ocala, and there's a two-sided park there called Silver Springs and Wild Waters. One side is a water park, the other is a cross between a small theme park and a zoo. Much calmer atmosphere than Disney World. Just east of Ocala is the Ocala National Forest, which has some great hiking. Do your research before you go, though, because it's huge. Or you can just drive through the Forest on your way to St. Augustine, which is a tourist trap for sure, but still a neat little town with a lot of history. And beach access, if you don't mind the spring breakers.

If you would rather stay away from the spring breakers, then like other people have said, the Gulf Coast is your best bet. Plus the water will be warmer and calmer, which is good for the little ones. If you want waves, though, you'll have to go to the Atlantic side.

About 60-90 minutes southwest of Gainesville is another tourist trap called Cedar Key. It's a small town, mostly known for their great seafood restaurants with great views of the Gulf. There's a small historical society museum with a lot of interesting artifacts and pictures.

Do check out the Florida State Parks website as well as the National Park Service website. There are a lot of parks, wildlife management areas, etc near Gainesville.

The only other thing that comes to mind is the flea market in Waldo, about 30 minutes northeast of Gainesville. Just don't speed in Waldo. It's a known speed trap.

Hope you have fun! I really miss Gainesville sometimes!

Honestly... there really isn't much to do in G-ville outside of the campus activities. See if you can get tickets to a baseball game or another sporting event. Even if your kids aren't "into sports", the atmosphere on that campus during a sporting event is awesome! GO GATORS (I'm a FL girl).

The "Bat cave" on campus is really cool (if it's still there). My BF from highschool was an animal science major and worked there giving tours... kind of creepy, but really fun and interesting at the same time.

You aren't far from Orlando, so Disney/MGM/Universal are all options. G-ville is in the middle of the state, so you're kind of an "hour away" from a lot of things.

The beach is definitely an option (not the ocean, though) so you just have to decide "which coast" you would prefer. If you have young children I would strongly suggest the West coast solely b/c of the "spring breakers" who are more prevalent on the East coast and "panhandle" area.

Have fun!

There really isn't much to do at all in gainsville. You are a couple of hours from Orlando (disney, universal, sea world,etc) but not to far to go visit for the day for a weekend.

It will usually be warm enough to swim in the pool in March but not a gaurentee. A lot of the pools around Disney are heated if you were thinking of staying over there for a few days. We have actually had a pretty cold winter here (for us)so I'm not sure how long that will continue. Most of our splash parks and things open the first week of April.

As the other poster commented it will be lovely at the beach (especially the west cost - you are coming during college spring breaks!) but the water might be a little too chilly for swimming.

We drove to FL (from DFW) last year for our family trip. While I don't know a lot about the Gaineville area, I can tell you that Disney is atleast 2-2.5 hours from Gainesville. If you really want to do Disney, you will probably want to get a hotel in that area for the evening. And honestly, if you're going to 'do Disney' I would go all in and JUST do Disney. There's just SO MUCH stuff there that I think one day would just leave you wishing you'd stay and to do more.

If you're wanting to do a theme park, maybe just do Busch Gardens instead. That will be a closer drive for you.

Sorry I can't offer other advice on what's in the Gainesville area. Hopefully some other moms will have some ideas.