Florida Road Trip ideas?

[Reereef]

Hello!

So we’re flying into Miami due a pretty good flydrive price with BA.

We’ve decided to head south and stay in Islamorada for four nights. (A base to explore the Keys). We’ll do some diving etc

Following that we’re heading through the Everglades on the 41(I think?) and intend to drive to Orlando, following the Gulf cost and making stops along the way. We’ll have a few weeks in Orlando and then head down the East coast back to Miami and our flight home.

We’re away for four weeks.

We like relaxation. Aren’t big on shopping or party atmosphere. Prefer isolation to crowds generally (who knows why we do Disney then)...but the stops we’ve contemplated along the way are:

Marco Island
Sanibel/ Venice beach
Vero beach
Jupiter

What do you think? Are there better places to go? How long would you stay at each? Would you make more or less stops?
We travel in July/August...so hot and rainy.

Any ideas much appreciated!
Thank you ☺️

[YorkshireT]

I would go across Alligator Alley and stay in Naples/ Marco (rent a house on Lely it is between the two) straight from Miami.

I like Indian Shores area.

I really like the Panhandle- SanDestin and Seaside area. However maybe a bit far if you also go to Hilton Head which would be my suggestion.

St Augustine is really nice.

If I was going for 4 weeks I would personally go up to Hilton Head as well, and have a day trip from there out to Savannah.

This is how I would do it with 4 weeks:
.

Day 1-4- Naples/ Marco- straight across Alligator Alley from the airport.

Day 5-7 Indian Shores.

Day 8- 12- St Augustine.

Day 13- 17- Hilton Head- day trip out one day to Savannah or Chalrestone.

Day 18 (long drive but fine if you set off early) to WDW.

[Claire@Hull]

I love the pier at Naples - one of my favourite places.

Also I second the comment about St Augustine - its lovely and lots to see there too.

[cornishfrogboy]

I would look at the following...

1, An airboat ride with Buffalo Tiger on the Tamiami about 30 miles out of Miami. Nothing like the sanitised Orlando ones. You get very, very close to the Alligators and the guides even handle them. You also stop at a genuine , preserved Native American Indian island settlement. We have been on 7 other Airboat trips in the Orlando area and this was simply in a different league.

2. Naples . Lovely town and we visited the Delnor Wiggins State Park, beautiful, unspoiled and we saw protected Turtle nests (cage over them), hatched nests, got within a few feet of swimming Pelicans and saw a wild baby Manatee as well as several wild tortoises.

3. Casperson Beach, just south of Venice and with a great Restaurant nearby, ‘ by the Pier’. The beach is boardwalk backed, parking is free and you can find Fossilised Shark teeth in the sand (around 10 per hour of search if you have a Walmart Sieve. It is a great, unspoiled, quiet beach where you also get a lot of Bird Life.

4. Any of Holmes, Anna Maria and Bradenton beaches. It is more civilised and just south of St Petes.

There are obviously loads of choices on this beautiful Coast. With 4 weeks, I would be going all the way up to Destin, Pensacola and even Mobile.

[Sunshinekid]

4 weeks. Wow. I’m super jealous. We’ve done 3 weeks a few times.

3nts Fort Lauderdale or St Augustine
10nts Orlando
3nts Longboat/Lido or Siesta Key
4nts Fort Myers Beach
3nts Marco Island
5nts Key West.

[TheHughesCrew]

We're flying in to Miami too, and have got 4 weeks...

We are going straight to the Keys after 1 night in Miami at an airport hotel, then Florida City for Everglades, Naples, Sarasota, Orlando, then maybe Vero beach or straight back to Miami for 2 nights. Exciting to hear others plans

[Reereef]

Thank you everyone for your ideas! Looks like we will possibly adding a few locations to the trip. We’ve done WDW to death, so are really keen to see some of the other beautiful places in Florida! Thank you also for the recommended itineraries! Very helpful! Definitely open to going further afield than previously planned.

[stepmead]

Following with interest as we’ve booked a BA fly drive for 5 weeks 24/07/20 to 28/08/20. We’ve booked the following accommodation so far:

One night hotel near Miami airport
14 nights villa in Solterra Resort
7 nights WDW Beach Club
7 nights Storey Lake villa (near to WDW to use last 7 days of tickets)

We have six days left to fill and no matter what I want to end up no more than an hour away from Miami airport on the last day (we had a nightmare this year and nearly missed our flight due to traffic!).

I’d really like to spend some chill out time over at Anna Maria Island or down at Siesta Key but open to ideas!

[LostGirl]

Jekyll Island is amazing. Totally unspoilt paradise. Not a lot to do, but relax and appreciate the wild beaches.

[Lisatink]

https://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/sho... php?t=1142897

Here is a link to our week on Marco Island