1st Trip to Florida
 

My wife and I are attending a wedding in Orlando in September. We would like to take a few days to explore the Florida Keys. We would welcome any advise as to which of the Keys has the most to offer, where to stay, etc. My wife does not swim, so snorkeling and diving is not much of an issue. <BR>Thank You !

Key West has the most to offer but not necessarily what you might be looking for. Use Floridaykeys.com to help in your research.

Are you driving or flying to the Keys from Orlando? It's a long, long drive.

The best things we did in Key West were visiting the Hemingway House, sunsets at Mallory Square (a must), partying on Duval Street, visiting the Little Truman White House, strolling the beautiful streets with enchanting Victorian and gingerbread style homes, listening to great music at "Sloppy Joes" and taking a trolley tour (definately worth it). Try the conch fritters! Enjoy!

There are so many other places to explore in Florida, why not consider some of the beach communities closer to Orlando?

SEE THE KEYS! SKIP MICKEY MOUSE WORLD!

Jim:<BR><BR>Why not consider Cocoa Beach which is not very far away from Orlando, like 1 1/2 hrs. from what I remember. Also, if you want to go south, stop at Miami and go to South Beach for a nice walking experience. If your wife doesn't like snorkeling or swimming I'd save time and just go to Fort Lauderdale and/or Miami. What would be really nice if your wife isn't crazy about snorkeling, is to go as far south as Key Largo and go to John Pennekamp State Park and go on the glass bottom boat and see the coral reef and sealife. I thought it would be boring but it was really exciting to see all kinds of fish, shark, barracuda from a big glass view without getting wet. It only costs around $20 and there are a few trips out daily. It is a 3 hr trip and the water is turquoise blue. Great scenes of bird life out on mango trees also while charter boat travels through Largo Sound and out 7 miles into the ocean.

Boy you sure are getting a variety of opinions!! Mine is : Why not see the Gulf Keys?? They stretch south from Tampa on down - Anna Maria Island, Longboat Key, and Siesta Key. They are truly beautiful beach with the whitest, softest sand. There are some nice restaurants around there, the Mote Marine aquarium is fantastic and there's a lot to see in the area. Plus it's only about two hours south of Orlando whereas you'd spend about 10-12 hours driving down to Key West. The Gulf beach have virtually no surf (or huge waves) to speak of, just lots of shells, sand, and great walks. You can do a search around Sarasota.com and probably find a lot of hotel/motels that can accommodate you. Chiao!!

Jim, I did that drive with my parents and that is a long ride for just a few days. I love going to the Keys myself and will be doing it again in Feb. If you can take 5-7 days to do it go for it. It was about 4 hours to Fort Lauderdale and good 3 hours down the Keys. My husband is in Miami on business this week and he went down to Key West Yesterday leaving at 7am and got back to his hotel at about 7pm. That was stopping and checking out the hotels we are going to stay at in Key West and Key Largo plus doing the tourist thing and having lunch in Key West. Most of the time he was driving. Hope this helps. It is a great drive.