Getting around The Villages in my Golf Cart

How do I get around The Villages in my golf cart? Unless your golf cart is certified street-legal, you will need to stay on golf cart trails or in a designated golf cart lane. With the addition of the bridges over highway 44 and the turnpike, all areas of The Villages are golf cart accessible. Paper maps are available at The Villages mercantile shops at each of the three squares. But they can be difficult to read. There are two apps for your smartphone that can help you navigate one is free and the other one is $7. Villages GPS has a one-time charge of $6.99 and can direct you to golf courses, rec centers, town squares and country clubs. The app is associated with the talkofthevillages.com website. The free app is from The Villages. To use it, select destinations and choose your destination. Select directions and then golf cart directions. Directions are given as a moving map with verbal turn by turn commands. Can you get around The Villages without a smartphone app or a map? Yes, if you know how to drive your car to a location you can figure out the way by golf cart if you remember a few key rules. First, there will be tunnels under any major road such as Buena Vista, Morse, 466A, etc. Next, you will never be on a roundabout with your golf cart. Last, if you see this sign you have gone too far. Go back and see if you missed a tunnel. Other golf cart rules can be found at the districtgov.org website or in the phone book. Yes, I said phone book. Check out my blog post about why The Villages still has a phone book.

The Villages really is a golf-cart community. You won't fully comprehend it until you see it. Hundreds of golf carts buzzing around the trails and in the street at the square and shopping areas. Each of the town squares and the new town center (Sawgrass) are about 15 minutes from each other by golf cart. It's 15 minutes from Spanish Springs to Lake Sumter Landing, 15 minutes from Sumter to Brownwood and 15 minutes from Brownwood to Sawgrass. Also, every house in The Villages is within 20 minutes by golf cart to a grocery store, restaurant or gas station. We are much closer! I can get to Walmart, Publix, Fresh Market, several fast food restaurants, a few sit-down restaurants, 2 nail salons, hair salons and a medical center complex all within a 5-10 minute golf cart ride!

Golf carts serve many purposes here in The Villages. Not only for golf or getting to the town square but also it allows for seniors who feel less comfortable getting around by car to stay involved in their community. You must have a valid driver's license to drive a golf cart but, unless you are driving irratically or on a road you aren't supposed to, you won't be pulled over by the police for them to check your license. In addition, golf carts get great gas milage so people on a fixed income are less effected by rises in gas prices. Finally, here in Florida, the weather is pleasant year round and driving around in a golf cart allows you to get outside, feel the wind in your hair! Golf carts here also either have solid sliding doors or roll-down plastic sides that can be used incase it's too cold or raining.

Golf cart tips: insure your golf cart. Some companies sell individual policies and some home owners policies will cover the golf cart. Also, in the past, gas golf carts were the only type that was recommended here in The Villages. However, the new electric carts can provide enough power and distance you will need to get around. Be aware if you purchase an older electric cart, it may not be able to get you very far.