Miami and Florida Keys help please

[LFG0721]

We are spending a week (of a three week holiday) in Miami and the keys in July. We haven't been before as we always go to Kissimmee so would really appreciate some help. Should we do 4 nights in the Keys and 3 in Miami or 5 nights in the keys and 2 in Miami ? Not sure of the ratio of things to do with a 15 and an 11 year old Also we are planning to stay midpoint in the keys so we can explore. Maybe Islamorada, Marathon or Duck Key. Just wondered if anyone could recommend anywhere to stay. Thank you.

[Leyfy]

I can't recommend anywhere to stay apart from in Key West, but if you like water based things then I can highly recommend Fury water adventures there. The other place that I've always wanted to go but haven't made it to yet is 'Theatre of the Seas'.

[florida addict]

We are doing 2 nights miami in seacoast suites and 3 in keys. Have booked hyatt place and banana resort just deciding which one to cancel. I'm also thinking of doing the 3rd nt in key largo. Looking at Go Miami passes at the min. We go end of June 2 teens 13 and 15
Planning in miami a beach day 1 st day
Hop on bus duck tour and millionaire row cruise 2nd day
In keys hoping for some fishing, kayaking and glass bottom boat trip plus airboat in the glades on last day on way to Orlando

[paultall90]

done both the keys and miami i would definitely do 2 nights miami and 5 in the keys

[colin39]

We stayed at limetree bay resort, lovely clean cheap and the sunsets where amazing

We used this as a base, we were 50 m8n drive from key west and much 5he same off the keys, so we could go either way to sight see, key west was vibrant interesting and dam hot during the day, when we went, sept 2018.
The national parks are mostly desimated by irma , as the mangrove trees have been wiped out so the shade you crave while walking in them has gone, they are returning but a lot slower than the park rangers expected.
We did 3 days in the keys but wished we has done 4.
If you are a foody i cant reccomend, meat eatery and taprooms, more. Its only small but ,diners drive inns and dives did a thing on it and yea its amazing.
Which ever way you decide to do it you can change your options on the fly, we were in florida for a month, and we changed most of our plans on the go, but it was just the 2 of us.

Enjoy you break.

Colin n Chel

[goggles]

We did two nights in Miami and 4 in the Keys which was the right way round. Similar aged children.
We did a bus/boat tour of Miami on day one and saw all the major sights. Next day we wandered along South Beach and were ready to move on after that. Without children we may have stayed longer.
Stayed at The Glunz hotel in the Keys. Lovely.

[Ridersmom]

I highly recommend a stop here
fws.gov/refuge/National_Key_Deer_Refuge/

The key deer are adorable and wonderful to watch.

My son was just there last month and made no mention of issues with hurricane damage. He also saw a bobcat in the keys. (DS is a wildlife biologist who spends his vacations looking for wildlife. He had a wonderful trip to the keys.)

[Tracy34]

In the Keys we have stayed at ..
Best Western Hibiscus..1 night
Orchid Key Inn...3 nights
This time we are staying 8 nights in an apartment in The Truman Annexe.

The Keys are a fab place to visit..very hot though..especially in the summer months...☀

Happy planning..

[sandshal]

As above post, cannot recommend Best Western Hibiscus, Key West highly enough. We've stayed there 3 times and have booked for September again.

We far prefer Islamorada to Marathon, it's more "Keysey" if that makes sense. Close to Robbies, which will keep you and the teens entertained on the water for hours, great restaurants too. Islander Resort has been completely refurbished if you want a resort style property, however we prefer "authentic" so love the better value options such as Breezy Palms, Sands of Islamorada and Ragged Edge.

Cannot comment on Miami but didn't like Fort Lauderdale at all ... We were so glad we only booked the one night there. Based on that I'd do a max of two nights Miami and the rest down The Keys ... They really are beautiful.

[LFG0721]

Thank you so much for your replies. They are really helpful. I have written down all the suggestions and will have a look at them all. So far all we know is we are flying to Fort Lauderdale and the next morning driving to the Keys. Planning to stay midpoint for 4 nights. We then thought that we would leave early and stop at Key Largo for the day en route to Miami. That way we get 4 nights/5 days in the keys and 3 nights/2 days in Miami. We are then off up to Kissimmee