Rent a car and drive through the keys?

We are going to visit Key West on Magic in December. It will be our first time to visit Key West and I'm thinking to rent a car and drive through the keys. Would it be more fun, comparing to stay at Key West and ride a trolley? Any comments and suggestions are highly appreciated!

I'm not sure how far up the Keys that you want to drive, but, it's about a 2 1/2 - 3 hour ride one way up to Key Largo - so - check and see how long your ship is in port before you arrange the rental car. It is a beautiful drive though!

I recommend everyone drive the Keys once in their life. But doing it during a cruise stop isn't a great idea in my opinion. You wouldn't have time to stop and enjoy things along the way much. If you haven't been to Key West, there's a lot more to see and do than just ride a trolley around.

I'm not sure how far up the Keys that you want to drive, but, it's about a 2 1/2 - 3 hour ride one way up to Key Largo - so - check and see how long your ship is in port before you arrange the rental car. It is a beautiful drive though!

I am thinking to drive to Long Key (past seven miles bridge) and back. One way will be about 1.5 hours. True, time might be a problem. Magic will arrive at 10 am and leave at 8 pm. We intended to have dinner on board then it will be 6 pm. Then it will give us about 5 hours driving around.

I recommend everyone drive the Keys once in their life. But doing it during a cruise stop isn't a great idea in my opinion. You wouldn't have time to stop and enjoy things along the way much. If you haven't been to Key West, there's a lot more to see and do than just ride a trolley around.

Could you please give me more ideas? We have a 4-year-old boy with us. Therefore we don't plan to go to any museums. Right now I'm thinking southernmost point, sunset pier, and.... nothing else. :confused::(

Could you please give me more ideas? We have a 4-year-old boy with us. Therefore we don't plan to go to any museums. Right now I'm thinking southernmost point, sunset pier, and.... nothing else. :confused::(

The Eco Discovery center and the Key West Aquarium, maybe Key West Butterfly.

Mike:)

The Eco Discovery center and the Key West Aquarium, maybe Key West Butterfly.

 

Mike:)

Awesome! Thank you, Mike. I didn't know there is an Aquarium on Key West. My little one will definitely enjoy it.

Here are some links to the aforementioned places:

http://www.keywestaquarium.com/

http://floridakeys.noaa.gov/eco_discovery.html

http://www.keywestbutterfly.com/

Have a great visit!

Mike:)

The Eco Discovery center and the Key West Aquarium, maybe Key West Butterfly.

 

Mike:)

If you're going to go back to the ship for dinner, try one of the many great restaurants in KW for lunch!

Greetings

There's not that much to see/do on your proposed trip between Key West and Long Key. You will go over the seven mile bridge which is probably the best known item on that route. Once across the seven mile, there's not that much scenery going through Marathon. The Dolphin center is on the far east side of Marathon, but you may not have enough time for that. On the Key West side of the seven mile there is Bahia Honda State Park, it is very nice but again you are time limited. Big Pine has the Key Deer, but by mid morning they are usually back in the woods and you may not see any.

Don't misunderstand me, the lower keys has a lot of thing to do but most involve water activities. Driving through the lower keys is pleasant but not the best of options.

Good Sailing

Tom

Could you please give me more ideas? We have a 4-year-old boy with us. Therefore we don't plan to go to any museums. Right now I'm thinking southernmost point, sunset pier, and.... nothing else. :confused::(

He (your 4 year old) definitely needs to pay a visit to the "It's Sugar" store!!

Just wander about town with a small child....lots to see, even if it isn't educational. A 4 year old won't really care! Pretty buildings, lots of shops, tons of people....

The southernmost point isn't much...a pier in the middle of the day...just wander!

I agree with the others here that renting a car to drive up Highway 1 may not be worth the time and effort, especially north of the Seven Mile bridge. This drive is pretty slow going also.

In Key West your four year old might appreciate the Butterfly Conservatory, the small Key West Aquarium, the free Eco-Discovery museum or a walk along the Historic Sea Port docks to see the tall ships docked there and the many charter fishing baots and luxury yachts. Maybe your child would enjoy a glass-bottomed boat cruise also.

The Southernmost Point is an interesting and popular landmark where folks line up to take selfies, but it is not an essential part of the Key West experience.

For adults, Key West has very interesting archectecture and you won't see much of that special style north of Key West, certainly not in the concentration of Old Town, Key West.

In Big Pine Key and No Name Key, it is wonderful to see the adorable little key deer wandering around freely, but you may not see any of them at all for all the driving. There's an old historic bar on the way out to No Name Key, but again, I don't think it is really worth the time involved in driving that far.

LOL, not sure if it helps any but check this out. I'm just throwing this post out there for anyone that might want to do more than just Key West in a trip and is worried about time:

This is when I had a little over 36 hours to kill and that is from the Miami airport back to the Miami airport. I just crunched a few things in a little over a minute. John Pennekamp park for a while, Bahia Honda for a while, sea plane to Dry Tortugas, quick stop at Key coloney, just chilling by hotel pool and few other quick things here and there I did not try to cram in here.

Of course you won't have near this much time, but on other visits I have had to the Keys I find it a place where you actually can do a ton of stuff in a day. On one hand I agree with others to save a drive of the Keys for when not on a cruise. On the other hand I was staying in Marathon one time in March (pretty busy time) and easily spent a long day at Bahia Honda, strolled around Key West for a while, explored Fort Zach and did that beach for a bit, then some late afternoon bar hoping at Key West and made it back to Marathon before it was super late. I am not a mega Keys expert, but I know of the several times I have been there I have never had a hold up with traffic anywhere on highway 1 or in Key West. Not that it can't happen, I have just never experienced it. Like I said above, I love it because the drive is wonderful and you really can do a ton in a day!

All this being said, if someone has never been to Key West before and is there on a cruise ship I would definitely stay around Key West and not worry about a car and exploring highway 1. There are a ton of interesting things there to do and see. If you have had cruise stops in Key West more times than you can remember and have done "everything" there and are tired of Fort Zach and are a beach lover and are in port longer than something like 7 a.m. to 1 p.m., I would consider either renting the car and heading up to Bahia Honda for a full day while making a couple other stops and just driving highway 1, OR, my favorite, taking the seaplane to Dry Tortugas!!!

whoa. Thank you so much guys! Your suggestions offered me a lot of ideas! I think we will stay at Key West since we can find so much fun there already. :D

just4steven, I enjoyed your video very much. I would love to take seaplane to Dry Tortugas if time allowed!

Could you please give me more ideas? We have a 4-year-old boy with us. Therefore we don't plan to go to any museums. Right now I'm thinking southernmost point, sunset pier, and.... nothing else. :confused::(

How about the Hemingway House to see the cats that roam there?

Almost anything would be more interesting to a 4 year old than sitting in a car for 1.5 hours... :)

Depending on where you live, just BEING in Florida can let a little kid see things they won't see at home. The birds in Florida astonish us every time we're there! We get seagulls here near Seattle; they have egrets and weird other birds with long bills and curved bills and they have turkey vultures and all that. Just the birds will be interesting!

If you're not from FL. :)

How about the Hemingway House to see the cats that roam there?

 

Almost anything would be more interesting to a 4 year old than sitting in a car for 1.5 hours... :)

 

Depending on where you live, just BEING in Florida can let a little kid see things they won't see at home. The birds in Florida astonish us every time we're there! We get seagulls here near Seattle; they have egrets and weird other birds with long bills and curved bills and they have turkey vultures and all that. Just the birds will be interesting!

 

If you're not from FL. :)

We live in Houston. Not many interesting birds here. So yeah, bird watching would definitely make my little one happy. Did a little search.. it seems Sonny McCoy Indigenous Park is a good place to go. :D Thanks!

We live in Houston. Not many interesting birds here. So yeah, bird watching would definitely make my little one happy. Did a little search.. it seems Sonny McCoy Indigenous Park is a good place to go. :D Thanks!

Absolutely!

If you like birds you must visit the Key West Wildlife Center as it is nothing short of amazing.

Mike:)

Absolutely!

 

If you like birds you must visit the Key West Wildlife Center as it is nothing short of amazing.

 

Mike:)

I'll write this one down! :cool:

I would NOT make that drive... It can slow to a crawl and you could miss the ship! If you do drive up, definitely eat at Square Grouper... Mile 32, I believe. You'd have to rent a regular car, not an electric, but those aren't allowed off island. If you do get one, I believe they run about $100 for the day.

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I'll write this one down! :cool:

Peppa,

These folks do wonderful work.

http://www.keywestwildlifecenter.org/

Mike:)

I would NOT make that drive... It can slow to a crawl and you could miss the ship! If you do drive up, definitely eat at Square Grouper... Mile 32, I believe. You'd have to rent a regular car, not an electric, but those aren't allowed off island. If you do get one, I believe they run about $100 for the day.

 

 

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Greetings

Mile Marker 32 is on Big Pine. Square Grouper is on the ocean side of Cudjoe, should be around Mile Marker 22.

Good Sailing

Tom

Could you please give me more ideas? We have a 4-year-old boy with us. Therefore we don't plan to go to any museums. Right now I'm thinking southernmost point, sunset pier, and.... nothing else. :confused::(

Lighthouse ... visit Hemmingways 6 toe cats, aquarium ?

Could you please give me more ideas? We have a 4-year-old boy with us. Therefore we don't plan to go to any museums. Right now I'm thinking southernmost point, sunset pier, and.... nothing else. :confused::(

Butterfly Conservatory