Cassiopee

Hello,

I will be spending 2 - 3 weeks in Florida in December without a car (I don't drive - yes it is possible
My 2 destinations are the Everglades and the Keys. I'd be grateful for any insiders tips on local public transportation other than the Greyhound buses as all their info are on their website.
Also, I'll be looking for tours in the Glades. Apparently there are plenty but I would appreciate recommandations.
And lastly, any recommandation on budget accomodation would be fantastic. I need to try to stay under 100$ a day for lodging if I can.

Thank you for your advice.

Orlando_Vic

My 2 destinations are the Everglades and the Keys.

I suspect that you are a foreign visitor. Tell us where in Florida, will you be arriving and where do you want to go first.

Also, I'll be looking for tours in the Glades.

Try here: http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum...k_Florida.html

_____________________________________________
Vic's travels: http://my.flightmemory.com/vogilvie

Cassiopee

Yes, I am a foreign visitor. I'm a French woman living in Ireland.
I will be arriving by bus from New Orleans so I guess I have a few options.
Thanks for the link to Trip advisor's forum. I'll check it out.

Orlando_Vic

I will be arriving by bus from New Orleans...

Arriving where?

_____________________________________________
Vic's travels: http://my.flightmemory.com/vogilvie

Cassiopee

As I said, I haven't decided yet. I'm open to advice

tomfuller

Take your bus to Orlando. See whatever you want of Disney World.
Leave Orlando on the Amtrak Silver Meteor. It gets to Miami about 7PM every day. Research your options from Miami to see the Everglades. Come back to Miami to get a bus down to Key West.

Daniel_Williams

Do be aware that New Orleans to southern Florida by bus is do-able but what one might describe as... an ordeal. 10 hours+ even if you travel in the daylight from New Orleans to close-by Tallahassee in the north, with transfers and then another 10 hours+ to get from Tallahassee to Miami. I've taken the bus before long distances but New Orleans-So. FL would stretch my patience not to mention quite possibly require some unpleasant bathroom moments! Amtrak plies between Jacksonville and Miami as well--twice a day, although the Silver Star train detours over by Tampa, so if you're curious Amtrak, look into the Silver Meteor train. Most people probably would fly between New Orleans and Orlando/Miami.

Florida (and US South in general) is not the easiest place without a car... and this is coming from someone who's visited there without one on two different occasions. While one can have a pleasant vacation if planning is done carefully, you have to accept that there are just some things you can't do, or not easily, if you go without a car.

For the carless, Key West is the best place I've been in Florida, where a bike and two feet really can get you truly anywhere on the island. Greyhound arrives over by the airport in Key West. Key West does have a bus system, but I only used it to get from the bus station to downtown.

South Beach Miami I'd probably put in 2nd place for those-without-a-car. Miami I managed staying downtown; South Beach was accessible by bus with reasonable frequency, and South Beach has a lot to do within walking distance.

Fort Lauderdale I visited too, but I'd strongly recommend aiming for as close to the A1A/Las Olas intersection as you can get, which will allow you to avail yourself of the water taxi system there...the water taxi was a quite fun way to get around. Things were really spread out in Fort Lauderdale; even centrally located, I walked 1/2 an hour to find a place to eat!

Outside of these and even in parts of Fort Lauderdale and Miami, one can feel stranded with no options in parts of Florida without a car. And unfortunately, the more walkable areas of South Beach and Fort Lauderdale come with a price tag.

A commuter train, Tri-Rail, can get you between Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, however know that the Tri-Rail train stations are many miles from the popular areas for visitors.

http://www.tri-rail.com/

http://kwtransit.com/

http://www.watertaxi.com/watertaxi/f...ess-hollywood/

http://www.miamidade.gov/transit/

Have fun planning! Daniel

BlueSwimmer

Why not fly from Nola to Miami or Orlando or another city closer to southern Florida (wherever you can get a cheap flight to from New Orleans) and begin from them rather than spending your time on a long bus ride?

stumpworks73

Southwest Airline has direct and modestly priced one way flights to Orlado from NOLA.
As mentioned above, the bus trip is a trek, not a pleasure.
Southwest does not work through travel agents. Book your ticket direct on their web site.

Many Orlando hotels, including Disne's on site hotels have airport shuttle services.

There are buses and tours down the Keys. I highly recommend you find a way to see all the Keys. The road trip is one of the most beautiful inNorth America. Don't miss!

Cassiopee

Many thanks for all your replies.
There is a bus going from South Miami to Homestead / Florida City and from there the Everglades Hostel offers tours to the Glades so I guess I'll do that.

Daniel : thanks for the info about Amtrack between Jacksonville and Miami, I'm definitely checking that out. I really don't want to fly as I enjoy seeing where I'm going, and I really don't mind long bus rides (how about 30 hours non stop in Brazil?)

As for the Keys, I intend to stop at Key Largo, Islamorada, Bahia Honda and Key West. Is that a good idea or am I missing a hidden gem somewhere?
Also, any tip for reasonably priced accomodation down there?

Thanks a million.

doug_stallings

For a visitor without a car, the best destinations are Walt Disney World, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and Key West. There's a Lower Keys Shuttle from Marathon to Key West; I believe it's possible to visit all the places that interest you, but it's going to be very difficult and expensive to get around without a car except in Key West. There is definitely another shuttle that stops in Florida City and goes to Marathon.

I think this is going to be a challenging trip for you, and unless you get all your traveling done before Christmas week, you're going to be traveling during high season, the most expensive and crowded time of the year in South Florida. So I'd strongly recommend reservations everywhere. It's quite unlikely you'll be able to simply "drop in" at will and stay at the cheapest places. Buy a good guidebook and use it to help plan your time.

Daniel_Williams

Cassiopee-- While I've never taken buses in Brazil, I have taken buses in Mexico and I found bus rides leagues more traveller-friendly in Mexico relative to the USA. One difference was that seats are not assigned on Greyhound... and this has lead to near-disasters when I've had to transfer buses as I did when I travelled from New Orleans-San Antonio and Laredo-Houston in December a few years back. (You would have to transfer buses to get to Florida.) To give you a sense of what troubles one could run into, going from New Orleans-San Antonio, I had to switch buses in Baton Rouge. The Texas-bound bus was so full they had space for only 3 passengers. I was luckily enough to be the 3rd and last passenger let on; over a dozen travellers were stranded in Baton Rouge as the next bus to Texas was not for many hours and would have gotten me into San Antonio at almost 4 am the next morning rather than at 7pm that night! But with another bus full and only a few passengers let on, would I have actually gotten on the next bus??

I understand the desire not to fly as you think it'll let you at least see the landscape, what things really look like. Unfortunately, mostly one just sees highways by bus that could look like any other (with an exception of the Florida Keys Greyhound bus ride from Miami-Key West, which is beautiful). If you want to avoid getting bumped and really want to see the land by public transit, maybe it would be a safer bet to get a reserved seat on Amtrak (or Megabus, I don't have experience with them though) from New Orleans->Atlanta, catch a bus in Atlanta to Savannah and then continue by the Silver Meteor Amtrak train from Savannah south to Florida. The Atlanta-Savannah ride should not be a problem as there are no transfers and you're getting on at a terminus.

Report back however you decide to travel to let us know how it went! Best wishes, Daniel

Cassiopee

Daniel, thank you so much for your sound advice. Yes, I would much rather travel on the train if I can and I will definitely check out this Atlanta - Savannah - South Florida route.
I know from experience bus transfers can be a nightmare, but apparently you can book your ticket in advance through the Greyhoud website. So if you have a booking, surely there should be no question of being stranded... or is there?

I'll be away for a few days but will research more train options when I get back.

Thanks again.

Daniel_Williams

While I've been on all of the trains I've suggested, the one unknown for me is how much a cab would run you from Atlanta train station to Atlanta bus station, as they seem quite far apart. I suspect you'd probably have to overnight in Atlanta if you were to take the train. The MegaBus stop in Atlanta seems closer than the train station to the Greyhound depot in Atlanta, so perhaps an option?

One nice thing for your purposes about Savannah is this Southern city is historic (as well as charming and beautiful in parts!) so quite walkable with much to see in the core. The train station is about a $12 cab ride outside the city center and the bus station is within walking distance of much of Savannah's sights.

As far as booking tickets in advance on Greyhound, all you're doing by booking is saying that you will be making the journey between certain dates; Greyhound doesn't know which day their passengers actually travel. On the actual travel day, things are first-come first-serve. At a terminus like New York City, they'll add an extra bus if they see that the bus is full. At some intermediate stop like Baton Rouge, if the bus is full, you're plum out of luck.