Florida Keys Vacation Guide

[This post contains sponsored links. Our Home Exchange is linked in this post is provided by Home Exchange -all opinions and reviews are my own.]

Picture description: This bridge is the Old Seven Mile Bridge, in The Florida Keys, between Marathon and Big Pine Key.

The Florida Keys are known for clear crystal waters, incredible coral reefs, key lime pie, Key West roosters, and a laid-back, sunny weather, kinda-life! This slice of USA paradise is a bucket-list destination and a trip that you will remember for a lifetime.

Bahia Honda State Park

The Florida Keys are comprised of multiple different islands, or Keys, and are found at the most Southern part of the continental United States. Get ready for fabulous weather, snorkeling, water sports, great food and more in The Keys!

We spent 8-days in The Florida Keys, staying in Marathon and we ended up exploring most of the Florida Keys, Key West and The Everglades. Now we’re here to share our epic adventure itinerary to help you plan your own trip and discover how to spend 8 epic days in The Florida Keys!

How To Get To The Florida Keys

Miami is a very convenient way to travel and you’ll likely find a direct flight to this major city. From Miami, you will drive for 1 hour 20 minutes on Highway 1 to reach The Keys. We drove our Jeep to the Florida Keys. We even had a flat tire on the way! 

Do I Need A Rental Car?

From the Miami International Airport, you will need to rent a car or arrange for a shuttle to drive you, 1 hour and 20 minutes to the Keys. I  recommend renting your own vehicle. The drive down highway 1 has plenty of incredible views and multiple stops along the way.

Key West is very easy to get around without a rental car-hiring  a taxi or Uber will only take you a few minutes to get around Key West. You can find cart rentals, bike rentals and scooter rentals all over Key West!

How Many Days Do You Need In The Florida Keys?

The Florida Keys had over 800 Keys in total, stretching over 180 miles! You can expect to spend 5-7 days or extend your trip to 10-14 days and still have plenty of things to do! Our itinerary is 8 days in the Florida Keys and although we were able to do a lot of exploring, we still have so much we’d love to see and will do in the fall, when we visit again!

Where To Stay In The Florida Keys

The Florida Keys are comprised of multiple different islands, or “keys”, which means, you’ll have plenty of options on where to stay. We stayed in Marathon, which is directly in the Middle Keys. Since we explored a lot of the Florida Keys, this was the perfect spot for our family.

We use the Home Exchange program, so our 8 night trip was free, with guest points on Home Exchange. Yes, you read that right. Sign up for a Home Exchange account-You can use my code and add me as your sponsor, then you will receive 250 additional guest points, which means 1-2 nights for free!! My code: C3A81

Check out this blog, where I share how to sign up for the Home Exchange Program.

When is the best time to visit?

One of the best things about visiting the Florida Keys is the year-round sunshine and good weather! Whether you’re planning your visit in the Winter or Summer, you’ll enjoy beautiful weather in the Florida Keys.  

Our visit was in the fall and the weather was perfect! The humidity was down, but still warm enough to enjoy the beaches! The water was a tad chilly, especially after it rained but there were tons of people snorkeling, us included! 

8 Day Itinerary in the Florida Keys

Our 8-day Florida Keys itinerary includes some of the best views, best beaches, best restaurants, and best tours/activities to get you out on the water in The Keys. We split our time between Marathon and Key West, with stops along Highway 1 throughout the other Keys. We also stopped by The Everglades, at sunrise! If you’re looking for the best way to spend your time in the Florida Keys, keep reading y’all! 

Day One: Arrive in the Florida Keys

On day one, we packed up the car and headed towards the Florida Turnpike, with the destination of the Florida Keys!! We lost about two hours time due to a flat tire in Florida. Our first real stop was at the Whole Foods in Miami, grabbing a late dinner and a few groceries. We finally made it to our destination in Marathon around midnight! 

Day Two: Explore Marathon Beaches

We started day two with a slow morning and breakfast on-site at our Home Exchange home, in Marathon, before heading out for the day. We decided to take a slower day and explore Key Colony Beach and Marathon. My husband and I watched the sunrise, while drinking coffee. 

 One of our first stops was at a local Walgreens and we loved seeing the chickens and roosters that are like regular locals! They just hang out in the parking lots of area businesses!

We spent our day at our local Beach Club in the house we stayed in, in Key Colony Beach. We enjoyed the weather and meeting many people from around the world! 

Day Three: Drive to Hwy 1 to Key West

We decided to spend the day in Key West, at one of the local public beaches (it did not disappoint), in Key West, called Smathers Beach.

As one of the four beaches within the City, Smathers Beach is well-known by visitors & hosts approximately 150,000 patrons annually. Smathers Beach is the largest public beach in Key West, Florida, United States.  It is approximately a half mile long and located on the island’s south side, along the Atlantic Ocean and State Road A1.

After spending most of the day at Smathers Beach in Key West, we headed to the Southernmoist Point. The buoy was erected in 1983, by the City of Key West, to establish, from the corner of South and Whitehead Streets, is a mere 90 miles to Cuba. 

The Southernmost Point Buoy in Key West is an anchored concrete buoy marking the southernmost point in the continental United States, the lowest latitude land of contiguous North American states.

Time to head into Downtown Key West for an early dinner to Key Lime Square!

The Cuban Coffee Queen was our next stop for an dinner! They have delicious Cuban coffee and sandwiches!

Definitely worth a stop!! Delicious!

After dinner, we headed on over to The Shops of Mallory Square. We purchased a hand painted rooster ornament, as one of our souvenirs.

You haven’t lived until you’ve tried the famous key lime pie, here in Key West! And boy, it doesn’t disappoint! The Key Lime Pie Bakery is located right in The Shops of Mallory Square!

After pie stuffing, head over to Mallory Square for the sunset and watch local performers like jugglers, local musicians, artists, and food vendors that combine for an incredible cultural experience.

The iconic phrase “See you at Sunset!” has embodied the history of Key West, since the nightly event took off in the late 1960’s. Iconic figure, Mark Twain, in the 1800’s came to see the Key West sunset.

The Key West Sunset Celebration invites everyone to partake in watching the glowing pink and red sun sink into the Gulf of Mexico horizon.

Day Four: Exploring Bahia Honda State Park

Day four started us off with watching the sunrise with our youngest daughter. The sunrise is not to be missed in the Keys!  We decided to spend the day, exploring and snorkeling in Bahia Honda State Park. 

Stunning, brightly colored, palm trees with white sand beaches, clear waters and magnificent sunsets — the park is known for its balmy breezes, all year long. The water feels amazing and snorkeling was our favorite here!

There was a storm the day before this and there was a multitude of sea life! We found brightly colored coral reef from turquoise blue to emerald green! We found sea sponges and all kinds of wildlife!! 

The park is an excellent place to observe wading birds and shorebirds, along with the island’s plants and animals.

Kayaks and snorkeling gear can be rented, and boat trips to the reef for snorkeling excursions are available.

Day Five: Girl’s Day, Exploring Historical Key West 

Day five concluded a girls day trip to exploring the historical Key West, but first, we headed to Marathon Bagel Co. 

The bagels are pretty good! Definitely worth a stop! 

The Key West Lighthouse

After the U.S. Navy established a base, in Key West, in 1823, the need for a lighthouse became evident. A lighthouse was essential for both military and commercial vessels navigating the shallow, reef-laden waters, off the Florida Keys.

Today, you can climb 88 steps to the top of the Lighthouse Tower to get one of the best views of the island and its surrounding turquoise waters. Nerve wracking? A but for us gals but we pressed through!

Next up lunch at the Moondog Cafe & Bakery. Wonderful service and lunch!! We definitely worked up our appetite’s after climbing and exploring the lighthouse!

Next up, the Hemingway Home & Museum!

The Hemingway home was built in 1851, a Spanish Colonial style. It was constructed of native rock hewn from the grounds. The home was in bad shape when the Hemingways took ownership, but both Ernest and Pauline could see beyond the ruin and appreciated the grand architecture of the home. The restoration and remodeling began in the early 1930s turned the home into the National Historical Landmark that thousands of tourists visit today.

Kino Sandals was our next stop! What lady doesn’t like shopping for sandals?!

Kino Sandals offers over 17 different styles of leather sandals. They are all hand cut, assembled, and glued in their traditional sandal factory since 1966. It is Located in Kino Plaza at the corner of Greene and Fitzpatrick Streets in Key West Florida.

One of the best things about these sandals is that they are budget friendly at under $30 a pair!!! That’s almost unheard of for leather sandals! We all love our sandals!

We couldn’t end our girls day without one more piece of Key Lime Pie and on the drive home, we decided to visit Sunset Park, for the sunset!

Day Six: Complete Rainy Day Wash Out

On our 6th day here-it was a complete rain out! We found a few thrift shops to get us through our day, then came back to our HE property and played cards.

It finally stopped raining this evening and we decided to head to Sparky’s Landing. This was literally walking distance from our HE home. We tried their coconut shrimp, conch fritters and their fish platter. It was all absolutely delicious!! We ordered their pizza, for take out, a couple nights before this and we loved it too!

Day Seven: Travel to Everglades & destination Orlando 

It is time for our next adventure to the Everglades!!! We decided to leave early for the Everglades, stopping at a Cuban place that was open at 4am for the best Cuban breakfast sandwiches we’d ever eaten!!

We arrived in the Everglades at sunrise and it was a sight to be seen!

Everglades National Park protects a landscape that provides important habitat for numerous rare and endangered species like the manatee, American crocodile, and the Florida panther.

A World Heritage Site, International Biosphere Reserve, a Wetland of International Importance, and a specially protected area under the Cartagena Treaty.

We saw lots of alligators and crocodiles, right out the gate! We were surprised! Very enjoyable experience and we would definitely recommend the Everglades as part of your vacation!

After spending a couple hours in the Everglades, we had a surprise planned for our youngest two daughters-a trip to Legoland!

I decided that surprising them with a trip to Legoland and staying a night in the resort would be the perfect way to end our trip and an early Christmas gift for our girls!

We spent the remainder of the day at the park, then headed to the resort for our dinner reservation and bedtime!

The resort also has an awesome pool (pretty sure they had more than one pool), complete with floating legos and a slide!

Day Eight: Travel Home & Final Thoughts 

On our eighth day, it was time to head home! We had a wonderful time but ready to be back to our own home and fur babies! 

The Florida Keys might just be the most gorgeous part of Florida-this tropical vacation destination in the USA is popular for a reason! There is so much to do and see in The Florida Keys! Don’t forget that we want to help be protecting the coral reefs with reef-friendly sunscreen.

This is a bucket-list trip in the USA that I think everyone should explore and I hope we’ve inspired your travels to The Keys!

If you have any questions about traveling to the Florida Keys, please feel free to reach out! Definitely a place to visit in your lifetime! 

P.S. Don’t forget!! Sign up for a Home Exchange account-You can use my code and add me as your sponsor, then you will receive 250 additional guest points, which means 1-2 nights for free!! My code: C3A81