The keys

[mickey68]

You have to do what fits in best for your family and your itinerary. We did the Keys at the end of a road trip and wanted one base as we had already had some 1 and 2 night stops and we also didn't want to be too far south as we had to get back to Fort Lauderdale. We had our then 14 year old with us who was happy to travel and the drive to Key West was stunning! You may prefer shorter drives and be happy with shorter stops and moving more frequently. We did a mixture of shorter and longer stops on our trip. We looked at the places we wanted to visit and based the itinerary and stops around this. The trip reports were great for inspiration and people are great at answering questions. The planning was daunting at first but great fun! Enjoy 😊

[cornishfrogboy]

We stayed at the Hawks Cay resort on Duck Key in a 2 bedroom villa. The resort is of very good quality and overrun with Iguanas. It was heaven!

More importantly, it was only a few miles to the Seven Mile Bridge and an easy, beautiful drive down to Key West.

We are going to visit once more in the future, but fly into Keywest indirect via Atlanta, then spending sea real days meandering our way back up to the Tamiami and Naples.

[kateh134]

Originally Posted by mickey68

We based ourselves in Islamorada at mile marker 81. It was a good base and easy enough to get to Key West for a day and also explore the upper keys. Have a great trip!

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We did the same and found it was a good base. We did it as part of a Florida road trip and spent 4 nights there. The Keys are just beautiful; enjoy!

[Rach86]

Thanks for all the replies. It's so hard haha. We don't mind long drives so that's not the concern. Just don't want to keep going back on ourselves. Didn't know if it was better off going straight from the airport to somewhere in the keys and then Miami on way back? Instead of Miami first? So airport , keys for 3-4 nights then Miami for 2 then Fort Lauderdale for day when we finish in Miami then drive to Orlando? Does this sound stupid? X

[Rach86]

Originally Posted by cornishfrogboy

We stayed at the Hawks Cay resort on Duck Key in a 2 bedroom villa. The resort is of very good quality and overrun with Iguanas. It was heaven!

More importantly, it was only a few miles to the Seven Mile Bridge and an easy, beautiful drive down to Key West.

We are going to visit once more in the future, but fly into Keywest indirect via Atlanta, then spending sea real days meandering our way back up to the Tamiami and Naples.

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Just looked at this hotel and it looks amazing. I think it'll be too expensive tho. We need hotels there and Miami so will need just a basic one with a pool. I'd love to stay there though x

[cornishfrogboy]

Originally Posted by Rach86

Just looked at this hotel and it looks amazing. I think it'll be too expensive tho. We need hotels there and Miami so will need just a basic one with a pool. I'd love to stay there though x

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We got a really good deal through Virgin Holidays.

I am generally a Premier Inn, Marriott, Springhill Suites, Staybridge type of person and that stay at Hawks Cay was only a little bit more. I was astonished by what we got for what we paid. It was a Virgin featured hotel at the time.

Hope it helps.

[Rach86]

Originally Posted by cornishfrogboy

We got a really good deal through Virgin Holidays.

I am generally a Premier Inn, Marriott, Springhill Suites, Staybridge type of person and that stay at Hawks Cay was only a little bit more. I was astonished by what we got for what we paid. It was a Virgin featured hotel at the time.

Hope it helps.

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Fingers crossed I can get it then. Thank you helps a lot x

[nothingless]

You can do it different ways! I visited the Keys with my husband on our honeymoon, before we had kids, in 2015. We stayed in Homestead 1 night, Key Largo 1 night, Marathon 1 night, Key West 4 nights, and then 2 more nights in Miami on the way back. We loved exploring the Keys that way - not too much driving in one day and plenty of time in each destination for fun stuff! We ended up liking Key West itself the least, and I wish we'd had more nights in Key Largo and Marathon, as they suited us much better! In Key West itself there seemed to be a real party culture, lots of drunk people partying etc.

[Rach86]

Originally Posted by nothingless

You can do it different ways! I visited the Keys with my husband on our honeymoon, before we had kids, in 2015. We stayed in Homestead 1 night, Key Largo 1 night, Marathon 1 night, Key West 4 nights, and then 2 more nights in Miami on the way back. We loved exploring the Keys that way - not too much driving in one day and plenty of time in each destination for fun stuff! We ended up liking Key West itself the least, and I wish we'd had more nights in Key Largo and Marathon, as they suited us much better! In Key West itself there seemed to be a real party culture, lots of drunk people partying etc.

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I would like to stay in different hotels etc I'm just thinking of the cost. Are they expensive hotels and do you have to pay for parking like Miami? X

[Wismgari]

My trip sadly got cancelled, as it was supposed to be a few weeks ago, but I will share what we had booked with you! We were planning to fly into Miami and spend one night in Homestead (just north of the keys) to save a long drive in case of any delays. Then we were going to drive to Key West for 2 nights, Marathon for one night and then Key Largo for one night. We were then going to drive up to Disney.

Lots of hotel switching, but we do a lot of road trips and I like to maximise the time in each destination and not spend the time travelling back and forth to a central hotel. It also meant we could park at the hotel in Key West to save the hassle of finding parking. Key West is expensive to stay in, but the other two weren't TOO expensive... The Keys are not cheap!

We are planning to do a similar trip in 2022 (seems so far away... sob), but may add an extra night onto the Keys so we can fit in everything we had planned