Train Service
Amtrak, tel. 800-872-7245, offers passenger train service into Tampa and Orlando.
Rental Cars
Rental cars are available at the airports, including Alamo, tel. 800-327-9633, Avis, tel. 800-331-1212 or 813-396-3500 (Tampa), Hertz, tel. 800-654-3131, and Budget, tel. 800-527-0700 or 813-877-6051 (Tampa). Enterprise, tel. 800-736-8222, rents cars from locations in Crystal River, 622 NE First Terrace, tel. 352-563-5511, and Inverness, 3730 E. Gulf to Lake Hwy., tel. 352-637-6632.
Getting Around
Highway 19 (known as Commercial Way in Hernando County and Suncoast Blvd. in Citrus County) is the thread that pulls the Nature Coast together and connects it to northern Pinellas County (see the St. Petersburg & Clearwater chapter).
Highway 41 (also called Florida Ave. and Broad Ave. in parts) heads out of Tampa and through the center of the two counties at Brooks-ville and Inverness.
Interstate 75 swings clear of Hernando and Citrus counties. To cross from the interstate to Hwy. 19, take northernmost Exit 329 (Rte. 44 through Inverness); Exit 321 to the Jumper Creek Tract of the With-lacoochee State Forest; Exit 309 to Withlacoochee's Croom Tract; Exit 301 (Hwy. 98 through Brooksville – a.k.a. Ponce de Leon Blvd.); or Exit 293 (Rte. 52) to the south of Hernando County.
From Orlando, the Florida Turnpike delivers you directly to I-75, just miles south of Exit 328 to Inverness. From anywhere in the Tampa Bay area (Sarasota to Hernando County), dial 511 or log on to www.511tampabay.com for up-to-date traffic and route information.
