Orlando is such a cool place to be. From the weather, theme parks, outdoor spaces, phenomenal food, and art and culture, you can find anything you want to do. One of my favorite things to do to date are tours. There are many types of tours you can select to do but over the years I’ve done three that stuck out to me that I still talk about to this day with friends and visitors to the area. And now I want to share them here with you.
Moonlight Walking Tour at Greenwood Cemetery
What!! A cemetery tour? Before you say “No Way.” Let me give you some reasons why you should say “Yes Way.” First of all, it is one of Orlando’s most popular yet exclusive tours to go on. This is a historical tour that is held every 4th Friday of the month during a Full Moon. Not a 100% sure why it’s held only during a full moon but my only guess is that it helps keep the place well-lit at night so you can see the 100 graves you’ll be visiting over 4 miles. Also, if you’re into history and want to know more about Orlando’s beginnings, you’ll enjoy and benefit from this tour as Greenwood Cemetery is home to some notable figures in Orlando’s history. And thirdly and most importantly, the tour is lead Greenwood Cemetery Sexton Don Price. Don is the man! He has so much knowledge about the city beautiful and its most notable figures. Additionally, he is a dynamic storyteller so he will definitely grab your attention and he makes the tour so enjoyable. The tour is FREE of cost to you and Don volunteers his time to do these tours. As a way of giving back he sponsors a charity of the month that you can make a donation to if you choose. Are you ready to sign-up? Good! Sign up opens two weeks at 9am on Eventbrite prior to the tour date. There are only 20 spots available for this tour and those spots always SELL OUT within minutes of opening. Just a quick Curious Gal Tip: Go on to the sign up site on Sign Up Day at least 5 min. prior to the list opening time and refresh your screen immediately at 9AM and sign up FAST! If you don’t make it in you get placed on a waitlist and that would be tragic. If your curiosity is peaked from reading this definitely click on the clickables in this paragraph to learn more. And plan to sign-up, it is time well-spent.
Hard Rock Cafe VIBE Tour at Universal CityWalk
Who knew you could take a tour of the illustrious Hard Rock Cafe? Let alone a VIP tour that was absolutely FREE. Was there anything wonderful to see? Yes there was to my surprise. I did this tour a few years back during a friend’s birthday dinner and it was amazing. The tour was a behind the scenes look of the Hard Rock Cafe and Hard Rock Live facilities. As you know, Hard Rock is well-known for all of its memorabilia on the walls. Our tour group was educated on some of the significant pieces placed in the dining areas and in the behind the scenes areas of the facility. There are even a few rooms that have some major significance such as the John Lennon Room and The Attic, where you’ll find a mix of things from autographs to stage props from actual concerts. What’s cool is that the Orlando location is the largest in the chain and has the most memorabilia so you will get to see a lot on this tour. The tour is FREE to everyone and runs every day between 2pm and 9pm. To do the tour is simple, just walk in to the Hard Rock Cafe at Universal CityWalk and ask for a host to give you a tour.
Bike Tours Using Juice Bike Share
I remember a couple of years back I went on this amazing photo bike tour of some hidden gems in Downtown Orlando that involved a stop at Black Bean Deli and anything that involves Black Bean Deli and seeing sights in Orlando, count me in. When I signed up for the tour which was $30 I think, I did not have a bicycle of my own. However, you could rent a bike through Juice Bike Share. This worked out well for me because the cost of the rental was included in the tour fee. SCORE! Unfortunately, the company that hosted the bike tour is now defunct. The good news is that you could still take advantage of touring spots in Orlando through Juice Bike Share by simply renting one of their bikes from any station in the Downtown Orlando area and get to riding. The system is very easy to use. Just download the Social Bicycles App to your mobile device and you can view the map of where all the bike stations are located. For further instructions on how to use the bikes check out the Juice Bike Share website. It costs about $8/hr. Once you have your bike, finding places to tour is easy. Here are some places I suggest bicycling by:
Mills/50 District (You can take pics in front of the murals)
Orlando Urban Trail
Lake Eola
Orlando Historical Districts (Thornton Park, Lake Lawsona, Fern Creek)
See Art Orlando
Downtown Orlando (Begin at Dr. Philips Center end Lake Eola)
I hope you check out one of these awesome tours. I am sure you will find something you will enjoy. Have you been on any fun tours in the Orlando area? Share some fun ones with me in the comments below. I’m always up for a new adventure.
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