Discover Downtown

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MORNING

Downtown Orlando provides plenty of opportunities for families to experience fun and culture. Start off the day at Loch Haven Park - the heart of Orlando's cultural corridor and home to The Orlando-UCF Shakespeare Festival, the Orlando Repertory Theatre, and the Mennello Museum of Art.

The Orlando Science Center (OSC) has four floors of exciting exhibits, amazing giant screen movies and engaging live program making it the perfect destination to occupy your morning. As great as their touring exhibits are, there are some exhibits that are the staple of the Orlando Science Center. NatureWorks will have you up close and personal with some of nature's most fascinating reptiles. At DinoDigs, you'll step back into the prehistoric age. Explore such concepts as electricity and magnetism, lasers, sound waves, and nature's forces in Science Park.

The Orlando Museum of Art (OMA) houses enough fascinating exhibits to occupy your entire morning. The museum's American Collection includes paintings, drawings, prints, photographs and sculptures from the 18th century to the present. Its Art of the Ancient Americas Collection features artifacts from 2000 B.C. to A.D. 1521 from the ancient cultures of the Southwestern United States, Mexico, Central and South America. Its African Collection showcases objects of adornment from Southern African cultures such as the Zulu, Ndbele, Himba and Thembu and ceremonial and utilitarian objects of the Benin and Yoruba cultures of West Africa.

AFTERNOON

For lunch, you'll find dozens of charming restaurants and cafés to choose from in Downtown Orlando.  If you are looking for more organic and option, visit Pine Twenty2, this create your burger joint has mouthwatering meaty explosions, made from locally sourced, raised, grown, or produced products.

If your visit brings you to Lake Eola on a Sunday, join the locals at the weekly Sunday Eola Market, offering the freshest in produce, baked goods, flowers and plants, among other exotic offerings. During the week, take a stroll around the beautifully landscape Lake Eola or take the paddle swan boat out for a swim.

Next, stop by the Orange County Regional History Center, located on two acres (one hectare) in the middle of Downtown Orlando in Heritage Square. Even the building is historic - it's located in a renovated 1927 Orange County courthouse. You and your family will enjoy your journey back 12,000 years to experience Florida's way of life for the first Native Americans, settlers, Florida Crackers, and citrus growers - as well as learn about the influence of Walt Disney World and the aerospace industry on Central Florida. You can reach the Center by circling around Lake Eola to Central Blvd. A parking garage is located on Central Blvd. across from the Orange County Public Library.

EVENING

Right around the block brings you to Orlando's most eclectic trendy art gallery by stopping at the City Arts Factory, located at the heart of Downtown. CityArts Factory is Downtown's largest collective of art galleries which showcases an infusion of local and international works of art, rotated on a monthly basis and is free for admission.
Or to experience a fine art gallery, head over to Grand Bohemian Gallery. Located inside the posh Grand Bohemian Hotel Orlando, this gallery features artwork from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Many contemporary and local artists show their work here, which includes paintings, art glass, sculptures and jewelry. Guests who visit the gallery also have the opportunity to purchase the original display pieces.
For dinner, take a stroll to Historic Church Street Station and wine and dine at Ceviche Tapas Bar & Restaurant, this unique Spanish Tapas Restaurant has over 100 different hot and cold tapas, as well as paellas and cazuelas. Ceviche's offers live flamenco music to spice things up and make sure you try their homemade sangria!