Orlando to Tampa - A Day Trip?

[jccollins]

Someone else mentioned Orlando, and it reminded me of my own issue I am trying to find out about Orlando. I will be taking the Sunset Limited from Los Angeles out to Orlando this summer, and am curious if it is easy/quick/possible to plan a one day trip (round trip) from Orlando to Tampa. I checked the Amtrak website, but it appears that only motorcoaches run between Orlando and Tampa, and even then the only service is mid-day in both directions. Do they offer some kind of early morning to Tampa and late-evening back service that I missed? Or does anyone know of another comapny (shuttle/bus company) that offers this type of service? Thanks.

 

[battalion51]

I would say that the motorcoach is the best way. I myself have sunk to the level of Motorcoaches once between Orlando and Tampa, and it's not too bad. If you plan on having a rental car in Orlando I'd just take that as it'd probably be easier for you as both cities are car heavy towns. In Tampa there are the TECO trolleys, refurbished Tampa Union Station, as well as nearby Bone Valley where CSX is always in action, in addition to a lot of activity over at Tampa Uceta Yard.

 

[jccollins]

The motorcoach would be fine -- if it would allow us to visit Tampa for the day and then return to Orlando that night -- but it doesn't appear to offer an early morning out/evening return option. We will not be renting a motor car - that option's out. Is there any other shuttle service between these two cities. I have never been to Florida and know relatively little about the area since I live in California. Any and all help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[battalion51]

The only thing I could think of would be something like Greyhound. I'm not really too sure because A) I live here, and B) I have access to a car. Other places you may try contacting are, CoachUSA, Gray Line Tours, as well as the Visitor Bureaus for Orlando and Tampa as they could probably help you best. Right now my house is torn apart as we just had tile installed. I'll try to PM you some more info once we have some simblance of order around here.

 

[Superliner Diner]

Theoretically, the function of the Thruway bus is to connect passengers between bus and train in Orlando. They are not really supposed to sell tickets to those who are not riding the train, although it is not illegal to do so (in California it is). However, since you are able to make reservations on your own online, and since the program lets you do a trip solely by bus, you surely would be able to make such a trip. I booked my current trip without Thruway buses, thinking I was going to rent a car, and then I later added Thruway bus 6098 for this coming Thursday to connect us from Tampa to the Sunset Limited in Orlando under a separate reservation.

With that said, in my humble opinion it's not a great trip. Traffic on I-4, particularly at rush hour in downtown Orlando and during peak travel periods around Universal, Sea World, Disney, etc. is horrible. Further west they are widening the freeway (methinks the huge median they are creating is for high-speed rail someday!) so there are traffic snarls too. I would be much more in favor of having them split the current Silver Meteor and Silver Star in Jacksonville, so that they can serve Tampa at better hours than the Palmetto currently does (although the current temporary earlier schedule for #90 is not all that bad!).

 

[Chatter163]

Honestly, without a car, this trip would be more trouble than it is worth. h34r:

 

[jccollins]

Well, it is possible on Greyhound, with an early morning departure and evening return. I think I might pass on it though -- it sounds too stressful to do in a day! Thanks for your comments and suggestions.