4 ways to get between Miami and Orlando
The best road trip spots, plus helpful intel if you decide to take the train or fly
Florida’s two most-visited cities are only about 200 miles apart as the flamingo flies, but there are a surprising number of ways to get between Miami and Orlando, including a brand-new, high-speed rail option. Otherwise, you can take the bus, hop on a short flight, or plan your own Florida road trip, complete with stops for fresh seafood, world-renowned art, and space history. Before you decide, check out our handy guide to each mode of transportation, including information on prices and must-visit stops along the way.
Miami to Orlando by car…
Driving is the quickest and most hassle-free transit option. Broadly speaking, your drive will involve hugging the Atlantic Coast as you make your way north, before cutting across to Orlando in the state’s interior, but there are a few different routes you can take.
The less trafficked, straightforward route follows Florida’s Turnpike the entire way, passing by beach towns like Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, until just outside of Fort Pierce, when it heads northwest through miles of cow pastures, citrus orchards, and no-frills outposts like Yeehaw Junction. It's often much less crowded than the interstate, but you’ll pay for the smoother experience in tolls to the tune of roughly $17.
Alternatively, you can follow I-95 north until you hit the Cape Canaveral area, at which point you’ll turn due west on State Road 528, or the Martin B. Anderson Beachline Expressway. The final leg of the trip is also a toll road, but it only costs $5.50 for cars if you pay by cash.
Of course, the best reason for driving yourself is that you can stop at any of South Florida’s densely packed array of attractions—which extend well beyond just beaches. Here are a few of our favorite side quests:
- For art lovers: Take exit 69 on I-95 or exit 97 on Florida’s Turnpike to check out West Palm Beach’s impressive Norton Museum of Art, which includes a subtropical garden dotted with sculptures by the likes of Keith Haring and Jenny Holzer. A few doors down, Table 26 offers an elegant happy hour that includes a tapas flight with lobster mac and cheese, steak or tuna tartare, and cast-iron shrimp and grits.
- For adventurers: Get off at exit 79A on I-95 or exit 116 on the Turnpike and head to Jonathan Dickinson State Park, just north of Jupiter. Named for a Quaker merchant who was shipwrecked nearby in 1696, Southeast Florida’s largest state park is a hotbed for wildlife, including manatees, alligators, bobcats, and gopher tortoises. After you work up an appetite kayaking, biking, or hiking, refuel nearby at The Catfish House, where the menu includes fried gator and frog legs, both musts for adventurous eaters in these parts.
- For families: Stick to the I-95 route and build in extra time to explore at the Kennedy Space Center, which recently welcomed a new exhibit devoted to the future of space travel, complete with a SpaceX booster and cargo craft and a full-scale mockup of a future livable habitat. Nearby restaurants for a post–space center pit stop include The Tiny Turtle for Caribbean-inspired cuisine and The Fat Snook for refined coastal cooking, including Thai-style fish soup and poblano pesto shrimp.
Miami to Orlando by train…
There’s a shiny new option for getting between the two cities: In April, the Brightline high-speed rail expanded with the opening of the Brightline Orlando Station at Orlando International Airport’s Terminal C. Reaching top speeds of 125 miles per hour, the trains completes nonstop trips between Miami and Orlando in two hours and 59 minutes; for itineraries with stops along the way—in West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale, and Aventura—the ride increases to a still-convenient three and a half hours.
Tip: Be sure to get to the Miami station early to stop at the on-site Mary Mary Bar for pre-trip guava pastelitos and empanadas to snack on en-route. (You can also grab locally brewed beer on tap and cocktails here before your ride.)
Tickets for the 16 daily roundtrip rides went on sale this month and cost between $79 and $199. And it's easy to make a day trip work with Brightline, as hourly southbound departures from Orlando begin at 5:00 a.m. and continue through 8:50 p.m., while northbound departures from Miami run from 6:50 a.m. to 9:45 p.m.
Miami to Orlando by bus…
With up to three trips per day, Megabus departs from the Miami Intermodal Center, a bus and rail hub immediately east of MIA, and arrives at the Florida Mall on Orlando’s southern edge. The trip takes about 4.5 hours, with tickets costing $35, though you can snag one of the line’s famously low-priced $1 seats if you plan early enough in advance. Flixbus, a German intercity bus giant that acquired Greyhound in 2021, also offers tickets for $35, with pickups at not only the Miami Intermodal Center but also in downtown Miami and Miami Beach.
Tip: If you want a more luxe bus experience, book with Red Coach USA, which has wider business- and first-class seats that recline up to 140 degrees. Economy-class tickets start at $25 and first-class can reach $70 during holiday weekends, but the line offers an added bonus of convenience: Buses depart directly from a bus stop at MIA.
Miami to Orlando by plane…
For most, this probably isn’t the most practical option. The flight time of around 75 minutes might sound enticing, but when you factor in getting to the airport and through security, it ends up taking longer than simply driving.
If you're sticking with a flight, know you have a lot of options. Despite the short distance between the two cities, there are an average of 446 flights connecting Miami International Airport (MIA) and Orlando International Airport (MCO) each week, according to Skyscanner. Upon arrival at MCO, it costs about $30–$40 via rideshare app to get to either downtown Orlando or the Walt Disney World Resort, but there are cheaper options to get downtown if you’re trying to stay frugal. Lynx bus #11 costs just $2 and takes about 45 minutes to reach downtown, with departures from the airport every half hour.