Gainesville can be a little slow sometimes, especially when it's not football season. Luckily, Gainesville is located right in the middle of so many fun day trip getaways. Here are some of the best day trips from Gainesville:
A quick drive over to St. Augustine and Crescent Beach will set you back roughly just shy of two hours. There's plenty to do here so it's worth the drive! Whether it's the Castillo De San Marcos or the lovely beaches, you're sure to have plenty of fun here.
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There are also a lot of great restaurants to savor when you've soaked up all of the sun you can at the beach such as Blackfly and Mango Mango's. Not to mention, there are plenty of great bars and even a winery to relax at after a long day of walking the old cobblestone roads in Downtown St. Augustine.
Tampa is also roughly a two hour drive from Gainesville and is the home to so many great restaurants and shopping. If you're like me and the stores in Gainesville just don't do it for you, a quick drive over to Tampa is totally worth it.
Check out International Plaza, a two-story indoor mall filled with stores from Lululemon to a macaroon shop! Westshore Plaza is also a great place to shop because they're home to all of the popular department stores.
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If you're tired and hungry after a long day of hauling around shopping bags, check out Daily Eats in Downtown Tampa for a homemade milkshake and a glorious Buddah bowl concoction.
If you want to step away and get back to nature, check out the Ocala National Forest! Ocala is a short 35-minute drive on I-75 south from Gainesville. In the Ocala National Forest, you can swim in a cool spring, paddle, hike, bike, ride a horse, and camp!
Not to mention, it's also incredibly affordable to visit and, because it's so vast in size, you could make plenty of day trips to the Ocala National Forest and still not have seen everything. There's also a great golf course in the Ocala National Forest if swinging golf balls around is something you want to do on your next day trip out of town.
One word: DISNEY! One of the biggest perks of living in Gainesville is that you're only two hours north of Disney World! Make a visit to Disney Springs and Disney's | Animal Kingdom. Not only is Disney right around the corner, but so is Universal Studios | Orlando and SeaWorld | Orlando.
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Be prepared to drink a lot of water and wear comfy shoes for all of the walking you'll be doing, but Orlando is a great spot to getaway from Gainesville for a day.
Most of these day trips from Gainesville are outdoors, so be sure to bring your sunscreen!
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Cover photo courtesy of Pxhere
