Hi. The spouse and I are taking a 9 day trip to Miami and the Florida Keys in early to mid December.
Looking for suggestions on things to do anywhere between Fort Lauderdale to Key West. And what not to do – in terms of not worth it for a short first-time trip.
We have a place to stay in Miami and we’ve rented a car. But very little else set yet. We’re we’re staying in Miami is a condo where we will but some groceries for many but not all of our meals.
Thoughts on whether we should trek over the the Everglades National Park?
I assume it’s worth heading all the way down to Key West? If so, where to stay there?
The drive down t Key West is amazingly beautiful but can be tricky depending on times and amount of traffic. Plan accordingly.
Key West is fine but we particularly love the middle Keys. We stay in Islamorada. From Islamorada we can easily access Marathon, Islamorada, Tavernier and Key Largo.
What kind of things are you particularly interested in? Restaurants, things to do?
Hemingway house in Key West was fun to visit.
I would say don’t bother going to Dry Tortugas National Park. It costs a lot to get there and back, and we just weren’t impressed.
Years ago we did a trip and one of the highlights was a snorkeling adventure at John Pennekamp State Park. I’m not sure about the conditions in December but they are taking reservations. The reef site was a nice boat ride offshore, the water was crystal clear and the fish were amazing. I highly recommend.
Another cool thing we did was attend a drag show in Key West at Bourbon Street establishment. They have two shows nightly. It was hilarious, entertaining and my wife and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
We ended up staying at a couple of bed and breakfasts in Key West. I won’t recommend any as it’s been awhile and things change but there are so many options.
That’s way too long unless you have great weather and you love the beach - in Miami, not Key West. Yes to Everglades as you’re driving past. You can go South Beach and then Key Largo, Marathon, Key West. Are you a party person ? If not that’s way too long. You can supplement with the West coast - like Naples.
Thanks. What are the good and bad times for the drive? Is it avoid traditional rush hours or more complicated than that?
We are not foodies. Pretty boring food preferences. So while we will eat out sometimes, it won’t be a driver of our time or likely a highlight. I am very active so I will likely rent a jet ski and/or boat and in general like activities and unique experiences (air boat on the everglades, snorkeling, etc.). My wife will likely skip the jet ski and any super physical activities but would do boating, tours, etc. We’re not into clubs or bars so our exposure to nightlite would more likely be out of curiosity but not a regular occurrence
Good to know – it did look like a lot of trouble for a small place and they seem to have major construction going on until 2026 so even less to see and do than usual.
Not party people generally. The original plan has been just 4 nights, but then a friend offerd us his condo with killer views of both the ocean and bay so since we’re not incrementally paying for the nights and will be able to buy groceries and eat a lot at the unit and are empty nesters now, there wasn’t a lot of downside to extending the trip and taking it slow. And it made it less rushed/hectic to add in the Keys for a couple nights. I could see the Keys being +/- 3 days counting travel time, and a day for the Everglades National Park (we have annual park passes and have already been to 5 national parks this year). So that leaves about 4 days for Miami and the greater area. And if a couple of those are just enjoying the nearby beach and pool in nice weather, so be it.
If you are not a partier I would skip Key West. I would opt to stay in Islamorada or Marathon. As I said we love Islamorada. We actually stay for a month in February.
This was a really fun unique activity out of Islamorada. We loved it. The catamaran boats were so fun!
We also enjoyed a sandbar trip also in Islamorada. There aren’t any Long Beaches in the keys so lots go out to the sandbar. We used Islander girl Snorkel and tours.
Go to Loraleis for dinner and Sunset.
We also like Lazy Days in Islamorada, the lower bar and restaurant. Tables right near the water.
Wahoos is a fun bar to sit at and overlook a harbor.
Robbie’s just south of Islamorada offers kayak rentals. A touristy spot with a restaurant and some other things to do. Many people love to go there to feed the tarpon. That’s a pretty popular activity.
As someone said above John Pennekamp state park in Key Largo is a great stop.
In Marathon there is 7 mile bridge. The old bridge is parallel to the bridge which is great for biking or walking. You can go alll the way out to Pigeon Key.
Keys fisheries upper bar in marathon is another fun place to go for sunset. They pass out a free shot every evening to toast the sunset.
Sombrero beach is in Marathon, one of the better beaches in the keys.
We are not foodies either. We generally choose restaurants based on atmosphere and when in the keys prefer the outdoor waterfront atmosphere.
Highway 1 is the only road in and out of the keys. Mostly 2 lane although you will get some divided four lanes through Key Largo and Marathon.
Traveling earlier in the day is better. Try not to go through Tavernier around school start time or release time. Can get stuck in traffic.
We have found that people either love or hate the keys. The ones who tend to not like it go expecting the long soft beaches like in other parts of Florida. You won’t find that in the Keys. It’s more “old Florida “ feel. We love it.
Let me know if you have any other questions, I will try to help.
Another interesting thing in Marathon is Crane Point Nature Center. There’s a small museum and nature trails. Get to the back and there’s a few of the boats that Cuban refugees have come over on. They are fascinating. So rickety It’s amazing to to think they have come over in those and how many they put in those boats to get here.
And if you’re brave enough you can dip your feet for a natural fish pedicure LOL
In the Keys there’s a turtle rescue that was interesting. Also saw a show with seals that was entertaining. If you like to fish at all it’s hard to beat the Keys.
It can take hours to drive depending on time of day/weekend. Beaches weren’t great. Not when compared to other Florida beaches.
We stayed on Marathon for a week last January and loved it (stayed at Isla Bella)! It is laid back and not ritzy like Miami or SB. Beaches aren’t great on the keys, like others pointed out. It’s more of a boating/fishing mecca. We flew into Key West and drove to Marathon. The drive is very pretty. We booked a sailing charter, which I was super excited for but we had to turn back because the water was too choppy. If I had to do it again, I would book a sunset charter because the sea seems to calm down as the day goes on. The kids biked the 7-mile bridge. I think there’s also a walking path on an old bridge that runs parallel to it.
Naples and Marco Island are also great places to visit.
Check with Trip Advisor forums to see about the traffic. They have lots of locals who love to give advice. In late June 2023 we flew into Miami and drove to Key West and back in under a week, and we timed our trip so we had no significant traffic issues - as in we could go the speed limit the whole way. And we hit Key West when the hotels were somewhat cheaper. I think that meant driving during the week and not the weekend.
I was much more impressed with Miami than I would have guessed. We stayed in South Beach, but towards the upper end, not the party end. We did a boat tour of the skyline which was a lot of fun. We also walked the Art Deco district in Miami. We also saw Dexter’s apartment building, lol.
The Everglades were disappointing to us, but we were there at the worst time apparently. We knew that going in, but it still was a bucket item for us.
We are not partiers, but we enjoyed Key West. We did the Hemmingway house and a lot of trinket shopping and a ghost tour that was OK.
I wish we could have biked the 7 mile bridge and explored Pigeon Key. We did walk along part of it, but this was before H’s hip replacement and he couldn’t do but so much walking.
We did the Florida Keys Aquarium Encounters. We enjoyed it. We would have also done the turtle rescue place if we had had more time.
In Key West there is a Butterfly place to see as well. Stop by Rams Head in KW as for Gary (my brother) he would take care of you and gives plenty of advice of places to see. We did a sunset cruise down there and it was beautiful. Also Drag Shows are super fun. Plenty of people watching in Key West.
We did this trip a couple of years ago around this time of year. It was sort of a pilgrimage, as my parents had visited Key West a number of times to fish before I was born, and for them it always their dream of what could have been (if I hadn’t come along and screwed everything up!). We decided to do the trip while my son as at an IMG camp up in Bradenton. We did the drive from Miami to Key West over two days, and spent one night in Key West, staying at the Orchid Key Inn, which we enjoyed. It’s a long drive, but the 7-mile bridge made it all worthwhile for me, especially because we saw a big hammerhead shark lazing along beneath. I have a weakness for touristy places, so I had enjoyed wandering around Key West and watching the sunset with a thousand other people at Mallory Square. I also enjoyed seeing Hemingway’s house even though I don’t particularly like his books. On the whole, though, other than for someone with a particular interest, I don’t think the Keys require many days other than driving time. Miami, on the other hand, was a place that caught us by surprise. I didn’t think I would like it, but we stayed there for a couple of days on another occasion, trying to get rid of jetlag before flying on to Cuba. Miami was terrific, wonderful food, beautiful architecture, great shopping, lots of energy.
There is very good snorkeling at an offshore reef called Looe Key National Marine Sanctuary, off Looe Key. We brought our own snorkeling gear, but they provided it with the boat trip, from the Dive Center on Looe Key.
I recall having seen a giant sea turtle, and a a Bull shark (which I stupidly thought was a harmless reef shark), plus a lot of other sea life including giant Groupers. There is still plenty of sea life to see there, despite the coral bleaching.