Winter Garden
Winter Garden is a small town in Orange County, Florida, located just west of Orlando. It is a quickly expanding community that is becoming a hub for shopping and is also home to the West Orange Trail. It is known for being an upscale suburb of Orlando and is frequented by locals for its attractive downtown area on Plant Street.
Understand
editThe town is on the shore of Lake Apopka, one of several large lakes surrounding Greater Orlando. To the east of Winter Garden are the inner suburbs of Orlando, as the town is on the eastern fringes of the metropolitan area, the center of which is 14 mi (23 km) away. Winter Garden was founded by Henry Harrel in 1857, and was called "Beulah" before receiving its current name. In 2019 its population was 46,000.
Get in
editBy plane
editWinter Garden, like most of Central Florida, is served primarily by the Orlando International Airport (MCO IATA).
By car
editThe easiest way to get to Winter Garden from the Airport is the highway. Winter Garden is located next to two highways: Florida's Turnpike and SR 429. There is a network of Orlando highways in a somewhat grid-like pattern on which Winter Garden is a part.
By bus
edit- See also: Orlando#By bus lists the intercity bus companies serving the Orlando Metropolitan area from all parts of the state.
The 1 Winter Garden Bus stop in front of the Winter Garden Regional Shopping Center serves as the transfer point between LakeXpress (Lake County) and Lynx Bus (Orange County):
- Lynx, (first/last stop) Winter Garden Shopping Center (SR-50 & Park Ave), ☏ +1 407 244-0808. Lynx operates public transportation for the Greater Orlando Metropolitan area in Orange, Osceola, and Seminole Counties: $2/trip, $4.50/day pass.
- Link 25[dead link] Goes by the Greyhound Bus Station on 555 S John Young Pkwy. Passengers transfer between the 105 and the 25 bus along W Colonial Dr (SR-50) between Ferguson Dr and John Young Pkwy.
- Link 105[dead link] runs hourly from Orlando Lynx Central Station in downtown Orlando to W Colonial Dr (SR-50) & Park Ave at Winter Garden Shopping Center via West Oaks Mall. The route begins/ends at the Winter Garden Shopping Center at W Colonial (SR-50) and Park Ave.
- Link 812 NeighborLink[dead link] (shuttle). Door to door service from Winter Garden Shopping Center, appointment required.
Lynx does not operate cross-county services to Lake County in the west from Winter Garden.
- LakeXpress 50 (Lake County Transit), (first/last stop) SR-50 in front of Winter Garden Shopping Center, ☏ +1 352 323-5733. Bus 50 continues west from Winter Garden Shopping Center towards Mascotte via Clermont in Lake County on FL-Hwy 50. $1 for One-Way Fare, $3 for Day Pass.
Get around
editDowntown is small enough to walk around.
See
edit
- 1 Winter Garden Heritage Foundation, ☏ +1 407 656-3244, museum@wghf.org.
- 2 History Research & Education Center, 21 E Plant St, ☏ +1 407 656-3244. Th-F 11AM–3PM.
- 3 Winter Garden Heritage Museum, 1 N Main St, ☏ +1 407 656-3244. Tu-Sa 11AM–3PM. A small museum with several exhibits about the history of Winter Garden and the surrounding county. free.
- 4 Central Florida Railroad Museum, 101 South Boyd St, ☏ +1 407 656-0559, info@cfrhs.org. Tu-Sa 11AM–3PM. Shares the history of railroading in Central Florida through photos, exhibits, maps, signage, charts, historic railroad artifacts and more. The last room, the Ken Murdock Gallery, is only open on Saturdays. free.
- 5 Lake Apopka. The state's fourth largest lake, Lake Apopka is 12 mi (19 km) long and 10 mi (16 km) wide. It is a part of the St. Johns watershed. The lake was known in the mid-20th century for its bass and was a popular destination for anglers. However, human activities, including the construction of a levee in 1941 and the introduction of pesticides to the lake in 1980, caused significant damage to the local environment. During the 1990s work began to reverse this environmental damage, and by 2010 the condition of the lake had improved substantially. In 2014 a hiking trail near the lake was opened to the public.
Do
edit- 1 West Orange Trail. A 22-mile paved trail going from Killarney, passing through Downtown Winter Garden, up to Apopka.
- 2 Oakland Nature Preserve, 747 Machete Tr, ☏ +1 407-905-0054.
Buy
edit- 1 Winter Garden Farmers Market, Winter Garden Pavillion @ 104 S Lakeview Ave (S Lakeview Ave & Tremaine St in downtown), ☏ +1 407 656-4111. Sa 8AM-1PM. Award-winning farmers market that operates weekly year-round.
- 2 Winter Garden Regional Shopping Center, 14001-14221 W Colonial Dr (SR-50) (W Colonial Dr & Park Ave). Aldi Food Market, Anytime Fitness, Harbor Freight Tools, Dollar General, Pet Supermarket, Regional Bank, Gochi's Japanese, Kitchen, Little Caesar's Pizza, Regino Bike Co, Servando Mexican Restaurant, Captain D's, etc etc.
- 3 Winter Garden Village, 3041 Daniels Rd. An outdoor shopping center containing numerous department stores and restaurants.
Eat
edit- 1 Chef's Table Restaurant, 99 West Plant St, ☏ +1 407 230-4837. M 4–9PM, Tu–Th 4PM–10PM, F–Sa 11AM–11PM, Su 11AM–9PM.
- 2 Mooncricket Grille, 14 W Plant St (near the junction of Plant St and Main St), ☏ +1 407 905-5325.
- 3 Urban Flats, 132 W Plant St, ☏ +1 407 614-2765, freshfunandhip@urbanflats-wintergarden.com. M–W 11AM–9PM, Th–Sa 11AM–10PM, Su 11AM–8PM.
- 4 Plant Street Market, 426 W Plant St (Plant St & Central Ave, west of downtown core). M-Sa 10AM-7PM, Su 10AM-6PM. Local indoor artisan market with a variety of food vendors.
Drink
edit- 1 Crooked Can Brewing Co, 426 W Plant St (South end of the Market Street Market Building towards Smith St), ☏ +1 407 395-9520. Su-Th 11AM-11PM, F-Sa 11AM-midnight.
Sleep
edit- 1 Historic Edgewater Hotel, 99 West Plant St, ☏ +1 407 654-6921. A local Bed-and-Breakfast Hotel in the heart of Historic Downtown Winter Garden.
