Three Good Stops

Orlando to New Orleans: where to stop

639 miles, about 9 hr 4 min of driving. Here are the real towns worth stopping in between Orlando, FL and New Orleans, LA, and why each one earned it.

Your first stop

Alachua, FLStretch your legs in Alachua, FL · mile 141

The other 4 stops on this drive

Named for your own departure time and driving style when you plan the trip — your first full plan is free.

Q•••••, FLstretch, fuel, meal · mile 284
E•••••, FLstretch · mile 426
D•••••, MSstretch, fuel · mile 568
S•••••, LAovernight, fuel, meal · mile 602

Name every stop — first trip free

No card for the first trip. After that it's 99¢ for three trips, or $2.99 a month.

How the days break up

DayMilesDrivingNight in
16028 hr 28 minSlidell, LA
2370 hr 35 min—

How we picked these

Every stop is a real town on your actual route — not a chain billboard. We score towns on what a driver needs at that point in the drive: fuel and food for a stretch break, parks and grass when a pet is along, hotels and restaurants when it's an overnight. Detour distance counts against a town, so nothing here costs you a long side trip.

This page is planned for a 9-hour driving day leaving at 8:00 AM. Change any of that — your hours, your MPG, pets, small children, an EV's charging range — and the stops change with it. Plan Orlando to New Orleans your way →

Questions

How far is Orlando, FL to New Orleans, LA?
About 639 miles, roughly 9 hr 4 min of driving before stops.

Can you drive Orlando to New Orleans in one day?
Not comfortably. At a 9-hour driving day it splits into 2 days, with a night in Slidell, LA.

Where is a good place to stop between Orlando and New Orleans?
Alachua, FL is the first one on this route.