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Old 7 Jun 18, 11:08 AM  
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Maggi68
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Mobile Florida road trip - Orlando to Key West and back?

Hoping to go to Florida again in 2020 and there's potential that we could go for 3-4 weeks but it would be during the main school summer holidays.
We've only ever been once and stayed on I Drive so feel like we want to try and see more this time especially if we have a longer period to do it.
Thinking of a week in Orlando to do Disney then a couple of weeks touring around before coming back for a few days to do universal etc.

Has anyone got my suggestions or possible itineraries for touring the area? Initial thoughts are to head over towards coco beach and then drive down the coastal highway to miami then down to Key West. On the way back up I thought of going via the everglades up to tampa to do busch Gardens and then back to Orlando.

Does this sound a reasonable route? Manageable in two weeks? Ideally only a couple of hours driving a day and maybe stop over 2nights in some places? We'd need to keep costs down so would be looking for clean, comfortable accommodation along the way without breaking the bank.

Any advice appreciated or links to trip reports appreciated.

Thanks
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Old 7 Jun 18, 11:29 AM  
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Raggyavn
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My only piece of advice is not to underestimate the distance involved.

We drove from Key West to Orlando and it took us 8 hours with 1 stop. This year we are looking at driving from Key West to Tampa and Google Maps is saying 7 hours (with no stops). So if you only want to do 2 hours a day it's going to take some time.
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Old 7 Jun 18, 11:55 AM  
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Kcstyle
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we have done something like that - minum the disney when we were kid free!

we flew to Miami, drove down to the keys for a few days (IT IS AMAZING AND WELL WORTH DOING!), drove back up to Miami area and across to Naples (also AMAZING!) then up to St Petersburg and crossed over Orlando to Cocoa Beach (AMAZING!) and down to Fort Lauderdale.

It IS alot of driving but its easy driving.

I would suggest drive to St petersburg for a night (or push on to Naples) then a night in naples then push on to the keys (or a night in Miami)

The keys are amazing as is naples.

Coming back stop off at Miami or Fort lauderdale (unless flying out of there is an option?)

just rock up at any la quinta inn, holiday inn express etc they are fun and good enough for a night and around $50 with breakfast. always felt safe in them.
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Old 7 Jun 18, 12:40 PM  
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tspill
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Originally Posted by Raggyavn View Post
My only piece of advice is not to underestimate the distance involved.

We drove from Key West to Orlando and it took us 8 hours with 1 stop. This year we are looking at driving from Key West to Tampa and Google Maps is saying 7 hours (with no stops). So if you only want to do 2 hours a day it's going to take some time.
I agree with this. We have also done that trip in one go. Its a long way - but well worth it. The drive through the Keys is incredible. Unfortunately Key West is very over rates and wouldn't stay there again.
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Old 7 Jun 18, 01:18 PM  
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alannamr
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Just to add to the equation! St Augustine is suppose to be well worth a visit too! Thats to the north of orlando. I would love to visit there one day!
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Old 7 Jun 18, 01:33 PM  
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mickey68
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For our road trip we flew in and out of Fort Lauderdale. We travelled up to Orlando for 7 nights.
Orlando to Anna Maria Island for 4 nights
Down to Naples for 1 night.
Across the Everglades to Islamorada for 4 nights then back to FLL
Longest stretch was 3 hours from what I recall and was manageable with a 14 year old. There are so many places to visit - we looked at places we wanted to see and planned the route and itinerary around these. It was a fantastic trip!
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Old 7 Jun 18, 10:39 PM  
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Maggi68
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Thanks all, we're looking to take two weeks to get around Inc miami, the keys and wherever else takes our fancy so maybe spend 3 days getting down to miami, 3 days in miami, 3 in the keys, then 5 days to cover the everglades and up to tampa? Is this manageable?
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Old 8 Jun 18, 08:03 AM  
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brown78p
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Another thing to throw into the equation is that to get value from the park tickets they last for 14 days. I would also say that the driving tends not to be scenic in Florida. We have gone from Miami to Orlando to Cape Coral (Via a few different routes.) then back to Miami via Naples etc. The places are great but the driving not scenic.
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Old 8 Jun 18, 08:54 AM  
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Kcstyle
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3 days in Miami is quite a lot unless you like lying on the beach - there was too much mosquitos for us aswell there in October...the other areas did not seem as bad..3 in the keys is good.
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Old 8 Jun 18, 01:20 PM  
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flipflop75
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We did this last year.
Started off in Orlando for a few days(did a day trip to St Augustine) then headed for an overnight stay in Miami then down to Key west for three nights.
Went through the Everglades(via Robert is here for refreshments) to Naples for another 3 night stay then back to Orlando for a couple more nights.
We did 1600 miles in total(I did all the driving) but personally did not find it too bad and managed to see plenty of sights.
I would certainly do it again and would certainly try to factor in a stay at Naples rather than 3 nights in Miami.

Hope this helps
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