Orlando: How to take a culture-packed family trip away from the Disney World and Universal theme parks

OOn a balmy October afternoon in Orlando, my 11-year-old daughter Georgie admired an Art Nouveau vase while Harry Potter fans in hooded robes went on hair-raising rides at the Universal Studios theme park.

In case you’re wondering, I should explain that Georgie doesn’t normally have a particular fondness for vases. In general, she’s more interested in anything related to K-pop, manga, and Harry Potter, and when it comes to roller coasters or water parks, she’ll be hard to get carried away with. However, my partner Henry and I had decided that even though we were visiting the theme park capital of the world, we would split our trip into two parts and not only visit Universal Studios, but also explore another, lesser-known side of Orlando.

I’d heard that the city’s leafy Winter Park area, just a fifteen minute drive north of the city center, was home to world-class art collections, including the beautiful Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art (admission $6/£5), so this was ours first stop.

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The museum houses the world’s largest collection of works by the Art Nouveau genius Louis Comfort Tiffany – son of the founder of the legendary Tiffany jewelry store and best known for making the famous leaded glass Tiffany lampshades, which were copied all over the world in American Steakhouse -Chains.

In addition to lampshades, Tiffany also designed vases, including the sleek, iridescent peacock blue and magenta creation that had captivated Georgie, as well as jewelry and luminous panels of ornate stained glass with trees and flowers in bright greens, yellows and reds.

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As we left the museum, we strolled down Park Avenue, past Chi-Chi boutiques, chic restaurants, and sidewalk cafes selling mashed avocado on toast, handmade pastas, and oatmeal lattes.

We were on our way to the area’s other important art collection – the Rollins Museum of Art, which includes works by artists such as Picasso, Matisse and Salvador Dalí. Only a small part of the collection is on permanent display, but when we were there we saw an excellent exhibition of portraits, including an oil by Thomas Gainsborough and another by the Flemish master portraitist Anthony Van Dyck.

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But Winter Park isn’t just about art. Hidden behind large churches and Hispanic-style villas with manicured lawns lie no fewer than seven large lakes connected by a series of narrow canals.

The best way to see them is by boat and on our guided pontoon tour ($20/£16) we soon passed long-haired oaks and 500-year-old cypress trees before the canals suddenly opened up to the lakes of which each was lined with lavish arts and crafts and modernist-style millionaire mansions.

The next day we headed out to explore more of Orlando after a delicious dinner at Hamilton’s Restaurant at our Winter Park hotel – the Alfond Inn, where my smoked salmon carpaccio and sea bass with asparagus risotto were particularly memorable.

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The city’s art scene isn’t limited to Winter Park, however, and we arranged to meet walking guide Tracy Kuch (tours $55/£43) in the skyscraper-filled downtown area.

As part of the city’s annual “Sculpture on the Lawn” public art program, giant sculptures featuring works by international artists, including those of Henry Moore, stood on the lawn in front of the main building of the Orange County Administration Center Seed formation by American sculptor Hugh Lassen.

Georgie, on the other hand, was particularly taken with a giant pink bunny made of concrete and mesh by Danish sculptor Gleb Dusavitskiy. “The artist wanted to make people smile,” Tracy explained, and it looked like he succeeded.

The tour also included a stop at the fascinating Orange County Regional History Center ($10/£8), where interactive displays detail Orlando’s history from the original Native American population to the planting of Florida’s famous orange groves to the Civil Rights Movement and the present day .

We could have easily spent several hours at the museum, but we were lured in by the lure of ice cream at the quirky The Greenery Creamery nearby.

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As with much of the city we’d already seen, the independently owned salon is about as far away as you can get from a McFlurry or other mass market. Recent art-inspired specialties have included Damien Hirst – a blue ice cream with gummy sharks, Jackson Pollock – vanilla with marshmallow “splashes” – and Edvard Munch Scream – a coconut, guava and passion fruit sorbet a raspberry strudel.

“Most tourists don’t see this side of Orlando,” Liam Gill of Greenery Creamery told me. “I think a lot of them are very surprised to learn that we have our own culture and art outside of the theme parks.”

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We had been surprised too, and while Georgie had enjoyed our days in the city, her anticipation of visiting Universal Studios was in overdrive, so the next day we drove half an hour south of Winter Park to Cabana Bay Beach Resort Universal – a huge hotel complex with water slides and a lazy river.

The studios more than met Georgie’s expectations. From the crooked, house-filled Diagon Alley in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter with its giant, fire-breathing dragon to her favorite ride – the Flight of the Hippogriff roller coaster – she couldn’t have been happier.

The theme park and beach resort were undoubtedly the highlights of her trip, but in addition to Harry Potter rides and water slides, she now also remembers Florida history and a beautiful Tiffany vase.

Travel essentials

How do I get there?

British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and Norse Atlantic Airways all fly direct from the UK to Orlando. The flight time is approximately nine hours.

Where to stay

The elegant Alfond Inn in Winter Park features a pool and spa, as well as large contemporary art pieces displayed throughout the hotel thanks to its partnership with the Rollins Collection. Universal’s retro-style Cabana Bay Beach Resort is another good choice for families.

Eddi Fiegel and her family traveled as guests of Visit Orlando And Visit the USA.

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