Florida keys

[dafman]

Going to Florida Next year but are also thinking of going to the keys for a couple of days, any advice on where is best and also how long would it take to drive, i would of thought a full day

[Genie]

There is a trip from Orlando that we have done down to the keys excelent value. You leave Orlando the Wednesday morning for Key Largo stopping off at a Gator farm. You get a brilliant Airboat ride , then down to the Keys where you have a bar-b-que on the beach , watch a sunset and enjoy a cocktail, stay the night at a hotel, continental breakfast , then the next day you can do a swim with the Dolphin excursion, then drive into Miami, a boat trip round Millionaire's coast, then back to Orlando. Brilliant trip can really recomend it. $199 for the 2 day trip plus $135 for the Dolphin swim.

[Magical Dreams]

I'm sure you will have a fantastic time in the Keys, could you not fly there and use the extra time to see more of the Keys?
Or is it part of the fun driving there and back?

[msnsmile2]

[John Rocke]

We stayed on Key Largo a few years ago and it was a fair drive from Orlando. Key West is another two hours from there. It is a great place to go but I think you have to stay overnight in Key West to get the flavour of the place, as it is in the evening that the place comes to life. Its very touristy (no surprise), very liberal.

There is a tourist train you can take which circles the town and passes all the must see places, and this is a good way to see and pin point the places you may want to lookover in greater detail, such as Hemingway's house.

There are plenty of trips on the Keys, all related to the wildlife and the flora and fauna of the region.

There is a coral reef off Largo that has regular boat trips to from the John Pennekamp National Park.

If you are going in High Season, you really need to book accommodation before you arrive.

You should be able to do everything in the keys in a couple of days, but you need to allow a day at either end for travelling.

have fun

john r.

[trevlad]

genies idea sounds good dafman, but is that on a coach ?

we drove down last year to 'run away from the bad weather' for the weekend in august high season. very busy getting down on a friday night rush hour thru miami. made a mistake of getting on the us 1 road high up to see some local life and spent ages chugging along.so stay on the fast road as long as poss.

key largo to key west was only an hour for us. we didnt pre book. to get an idea of the accomodation, we just grabbed a couple of the voucher and hotel books you see at the road side and the kids and off we went - road run.
we ended up staying at the key west hilton, very nice.right on the front where the liners pull in and has use of its own island!!!!!.
did the usual visits and had a trot about duval street on a night - some real characters out on the town, but not really a nasty atmosphere with it. some good fish restaurants too, obviously . as it was late on the friday, we just picknicked back at the hotel on the first night,hired a film on the tv, got some pizza and nibbles and 'brown bagged it' with some wine and a bottle opener from the local store.great fun[msnsmile2]


we are going to give it a miss now this year but next time we will go early in the morning and stop off on the way down to swim and eat, go fishing etc

have a great time matey[msnsmile2]

[Ruth]

We have been to the Keys a few times and like Key Largo the best:)I would stay overnight there if possible as the drive is a long one.

[chrizzy100]

My daughter just phoned me from the keys and she is having a good time.....she said its well worth a visit......

[Ray&Sarah]

The keys are well worth a visit, a few days is enough though with children.[msnsmile]

I think I read about the trip Genie has mentioned and it was highly recommended.[msnsmile2]

[Genie]

Yes it is on the coach, but you can relax then, it was brilliant , we have done it twice now, well worth it.

[adh619]

we drove, brilliant drive and loved it, loads of places to stay, you will enjoy it

[dafman]

Brilliant some good ideas, thanks everyone

[blue nose]

hello dafman,just got back from Florida on thursday,[msnsad]we stayed in Marathon in the keys for the last three days,we loved the place.[msncool]
We drove down from Orlando to Miami on the turnpike it took us about three and a half hours with a couple of stops on the way.We stayed in Miami overnight i would suggest you do,then drove to the keys the following day,[msnwink] it took us about two hours to drive to Marathon about 150 miles.Marathon is part of the middle keys, so it would take about another hour to drive to Key west.From Cristmas to about April is the peak season for the keys. bluenose

[michellemaxted]

Florida Keys is absolutely fantastic.

We drove down their last August, we drove to Miami and stayed there for a night. It took about 4 hours. We found some coupons in the local free magazines and booked up on the night, so very last minute. Then drove to Key West the next day. We stopped off at Islamorada for something to eat and then drove down to Key West. Took a couple of hours to drive to Key West and very slow roads just single lane too, but stunning roads with sea on every side. My parents were with us and they have fallen in love with the place, so much so my Dad is buying every book possible about Key West at every opportunity (now I think I might book up another visit for them both as a surprise one day!!!). We again, booked up on the day for accommodation in Key West and ended up staying in a suite at a local Marriott Hotel, just outside the main town in Key West. It was a taxi ride in at night time.

It was very hot though in August, we went to Ernest Hemmingway's house for a tour which I would recommend. Lots of little shops and quaint restaurants etc. Nice to be able to walk around too, rather than having to drive to the shops...:)