Florida Keys/Miami

WinstonsGirl

Tell me what to see.  We've finally booked our trip for April.  We're gone Sunday to Sunday, flying in and out of Miami.  I've done DW 3 times due to cheer competitions, so we're not going there at all.  Here's our itinerary, so please tell me what to see/not miss.  

Sunday - Arrive and crash at airport hotel.  Get rental car

Monday - Leave Miami for the Keys.  Spend 1 night in Key West

Tuesday - Keys, spend night in Key Largo (maybe to the Everglades?)

Wednesday - Keys/Everglades/Miami.  Drive to Orlando late afternoon/early evening

Thursday/Friday - Harry Potter World!!!!  Oh, and the rest of Universal of course.  We're staying on site so we get early entrance and unlimited fast passes

Saturday - Universal/something else, depending on how we do at the park.  Drive to Miami at some point, either later to stay in Orlando, or early to see more Miami.  

Sunday - Early morning flight home

Orlando is covered.  What must we see in the Keys??  Miami isn't totally appealing to us, but if there's something cool we'll go.  We've got 2.5 days, maybe 3.  And yes, we know we're there in high season.  Nothing we could do about that.  

hteverywhere15

You could visit Homestead on your way to/from the Keys. It's just south of Miami. There's this fabulous orchid farm, so if you're an orchid geek like me you'll love it, otherwise you might be bored. There's also an historical village and the name is escaping me but it is cute to walk around. I highly recommend stopping at Robert is Here in homestead and getting a tropical fruit milkshake. 

In Key West there is a train tour I recommend called the conch tour. It takes you around the town and tells you about all the historical sights like Ernest Hemingway's house. Key West is fun but I also definitely recommend a night or two in one of the quieter keys, like Largo. My family friend lives on the gulf in Key Largo and sometimes we get to see manatees swimming around in there. 

If there's one place I would go in Miami, it would be the parrot place called jungle island. I haven't been since I was a kid but it's pretty cool, unless you're afraid of birds. Have fun! 

climbingsingle

Key West - Ernest Hemingway's house, Duvall St., Mallory Square. 

JoanE2012

Honestly, I'd probably stay 2 nights in Key West and skip the night in Key Largo. You can hit the Everglades on your way back to Orlando. We stayed in Key Largo in off season and it was dead. We drove to Key West for the day (about 2 hour drive) and enjoyed it much more....I wish we had more time.

Hmmmm, I just looked up and saw Key West to Orlando is almost 7 hours. It's a lot of driving no matter where you stay. I would still personally do key west the extra night. And the more I think about it, I'd skip the first night at the airport hotel and drive straight to key largo and stay the night there....it's only about an hour drive.

WinstonsGirl

We've already booked hotels, so we're stuck with them.  I'm not worried about time in Key West, since if we roll in late to Key Largo, it's more of a sleeping point on the way to Orlando for us.  As for the first night at the airport, we arrive at 11:30 at night, so we're not looking to drive anywhere.  We're western Canada, so it's going to take the entire day just to fly there.  

Thanks for the suggestions.  We'll start looking into those.  The milkshakes sound tasty

JoanE2012

WinstonsGirl said:

We've already booked hotels, so we're stuck with them.  I'm not worried about time in Key West, since if we roll in late to Key Largo, it's more of a sleeping point on the way to Orlando for us.  As for the first night at the airport, we arrive at 11:30 at night, so we're not looking to drive anywhere.  We're western Canada, so it's going to take the entire day just to fly there.  

Thanks for the suggestions.  We'll start looking into those.  The milkshakes sound tasty

Yikes!  Ok, I don't blame ya on that one!  As for Key West, another vote for Hemingway House.  And definitely don't miss the sunset at Mallory Square.   You can also take a quick photo at the southermost point buoy.

dolewhipper

Keys

-Make sure to stop at The Turtle Hospital in Marathon. Its a great stop and what they do for the turtle is a great cause.

-Dolphin Research Center is great too.

-Conch Trolly in KW is a great way to see a lot of the sites.

-KW: Hemingway House, sunset Mallory Square, southern most point, and of course get some Key Lime Pie on Duvall. Skip the aquarium. 

Everglades

Do this in Fort Lauderdale during the drive. Go to Holiday Park. This is where the Gator Boys are, and I've been on their airboat rides 12+ times

Miami

-While on the drive to/from the Keys, you can stop at Schnebly Redland's Winery in Homestead. Because Florida weather isn't great at growing grapes for wine, they make other fruit wines that was AMAZING (like their Avocado wine)

jenna8984

WinstonsGirl said:

We've already booked hotels, so we're stuck with them.  I'm not worried about time in Key West, since if we roll in late to Key Largo, it's more of a sleeping point on the way to Orlando for us.  As for the first night at the airport, we arrive at 11:30 at night, so we're not looking to drive anywhere.  We're western Canada, so it's going to take the entire day just to fly there.  

Thanks for the suggestions.  We'll start looking into those.  The milkshakes sound tasty

totally haven't been there so I don't have advice. Just wanted to mention that most hotels don't charge you until after your stay. When you make a reservation they sometimes take a deposit but it's usually refundable. Just something to look into if you did decide you wanted to swap hotels/ locations.

hteverywhere15

dolewhipper said:

Keys

-Make sure to stop at The Turtle Hospital in Marathon. Its a great stop and what they do for the turtle is a great cause.

-Dolphin Research Center is great too.

-Conch Trolly in KW is a great way to see a lot of the sites.

-KW: Hemingway House, sunset Mallory Square, southern most point, and of course get some Key Lime Pie on Duvall. Skip the aquarium. 

Everglades

Do this in Fort Lauderdale during the drive. Go to Holiday Park. This is where the Gator Boys are, and I've been on their airboat rides 12+ times

Miami

-While on the drive to/from the Keys, you can stop at Schnebly Redland's Winery in Homestead. Because Florida weather isn't great at growing grapes for wine, they make other fruit wines that was AMAZING (like their Avocado wine)

I second Schnebly!! I can't believe I forgot about that place, their Lychee wine is sooo good. 

floridabride44

Just got back from a friend's bach party in Key West, here were my highlights!

• Sunset at Mallory Square
• "Southernmost Beach" - it's a small beach, but there's a bar/restaurant right there on the sand and you can bring your drinks out onto the beach so it's a good place to chill and relax with food and drink a few steps away
• Conch fritters at Willie T's (restaurant on Duval St.) I don't even like seafood but they were really good. 
• And then since it was a bachelorette party, we spent most of our time at Fat Tuesdays, hahaha Delicious frozen drinks and great music for busting a move. 

Also just to give you a heads up, the drive to Key West is LONG. And it's a one lane road so traffic can be rough. Just want you to be prepared so you're not caught off guard. It's a beautiful, scenic drive though!!

WinstonsGirl

Thanks for the suggestions.  We're going to look into this over the weekend

pattyandmichael

HSGator hit the "long drive" point well.  We drove from Ft. Lauderdale airport to Key West and then back at the end of our trip.  It was one of those "it was incredible (the views/bridges) and I'm glad we did it but am not yearning to do it again" experiences.  If we go again we'll fly into Key West but that said it really is a cool drive the first time as you feel like you're driving out into the never-ending ocean.

While in Key West you may want to hit the Southernmost Point marker and get the obligatory tourist photo.  Hemingway's house is cool as others have pointed out. 

I'd also recommend the waverunner tour around the island.  Just be aware it can be choppy on the Atlantic Ocean side if it's windy.  The gulf side was great though and at one point we pulled onto a sand bar that must have been a couple miles from the island.  It was really fun to be walking around in ankle-deep water in the middle of the ocean or gulf.

Be aware that the beaches in Key West are not good for strolling.  They're mostly rocky.

One note on Universal - you have to get the park hopper pass if you want to ride the Hogwarts Express train.  It's not cheap (maybe $140ish for one day) but the train is pretty cool if you're a big Harry Potter fan.  We were able to really experience both Harry Potter worlds in one (long) day also with the park hopper pass.

Hope that helps!!

thisismynickname2

Stop here, between Miami and Key Largo: http://vizcaya.org/

Amazing. Romantic too!