A GUIDE OF ORLANDO

I lived in Orlando for more or less two years, but before I ever moved there I used to visit every summer since I was two years old, so I wanted to create a guide for you guys of the best spots to go if you are traveling to this destination.

As in all my guides, I will include a couple of pieces of information about Orlando:

Visa: This is dependent on what passport you hold, but you should check if you need a visa to go to Orlando as it is in the United States. I always needed a visa whenever I went, but my tourist visa was valid for 10 years once I got it and at one point I also had a student visa because I was going to school there.

Language Spoken: English

Currency: USD

Accommodation

I had a house in Orlando, so I never really stayed at hotels there, but from visiting some hotels for dinners, I would say the best ones are The Four Seasons, Ette Hotel, and the Alfond Inn. Choosing a hotel depends on what you are looking for in your trip. The Four Seasons is closer to Disney, whereas the Alfond Inn is much farther (it is actually in a neighboring city called Winter Park) but is in a very nice area to walk around in.

Restaurants

Kabooki Sushi

There are several good restaurants in Orlando, but my favorite is by far Kabooki Sushi. This sushi restaurant has two different locations in Orlando, I usually go to the one on Colonial Drive, but both locations are good. Not only is the sushi at this restaurant incredible, it also has a very nice vibe and atmosphere.

Note: This restaurant is always busy, so if you want to go there you should try to make a reservation a couple of days before hand.

Sea urchin, tuna, semi-fatty tuna, fatty tuna, salmon, foie gras, waygu nigiris

My favorite dishes from Kabooki are the Maguro Truffle and the Hamachi Carpaccio. Those are my staple items every time I go to the restaurant, which is quite often when I am in Orlando.

Prato

Prato is a great Italian restaurant located in Winter Park, Florida. This restaurant is always super busy so it is important to make a reservation if you wish to go. Whenever I go there, I always order the fennel arancini as a starter, it is my favorite dish they make. This is one of my mom’s favorite restaurants so we go there a lot when we are in Orlando.

Fresco

Fresco is another very good Italian restaurant my family and I go to quite often in Orlando. This is a smaller and more traditional restaurant than Prato and is run by a very nice family.

Other very good restaurants in Orlando are Eddie V’s, a seafood restaurant, Hillstone, Fogo de Chão, a traditional Brazilian steakhouse, and Seito Sushi.

Activities

Visiting the theme parks

I think one of the most obvious activities when going to Orlando is visiting the theme parks. This is the main thing that Orlando is known for as they host several Disney and Universal Parks.

The list of parks in Orlando includes: Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Epcot, Universal Islands of Adventures, and Universal Studios.

I recommend getting the fast passes when going to these parks because they get extremely busy and the rides often have hour long lines. If it is something you can afford and would be interested in, I highly recommend doing the Disney VIP Tour as it makes the whole experience more pleasant and allows you to optimize the amount of rides you go to.

Shopping at the Outlets and The Mall at Millennia

There are a lot of outlets in Orlando where you can buy many things with high discounts so this is something that a lot of people enjoy doing when they go to Orlando. After living there I don’t go as much, but I remember when I used to visit when I was younger I would go to the outlets all the time with my mom.

The Mall At Millenia is the nicer mall in Orlando featuring several designer stores including Hermes, Louis Vuitton, Dior, Chanel, Neiman Marcus, etc.

Visiting park avenue in Winter Park

I highly recommend visiting Park Avenue in Winter Park when traveling to Orlando. This is a beautiful street filled with little shops and restaurants. Winter Park is a city right next to Orlando, it is actually where my home used to be when I lived there.

Walking Around DISNEY SPRINGS

Disney Springs is an area owned by Disney filled with fun stores and restaurants. I love going there to play bowling at a place called Splitsville. This is a spot where you could go to spend the whole day, shopping, eating, bowling, and maybe even going to the movies. Or, you could just spend an afternoon walking around and looking at everything. I recommend taking your time there as there are a lot of stores to look at and it is a big area to walk around.

I hope you guys enjoyed my guide of Orlando and that this was helpful to you guys!

Xoxo,

Valentina Vontobel