Ft Lauderdale to Key West
 

Still trying to decide what to do post cruise first of April. We were considering driving across state on Sunday, exploring the Ft Myers/Tampa/Naples (never been) areas and flying home from Tampa. Nothing is clicking, it is such a big area and everywhere looks great. So now we are considering driving from FLL to Key West on Sunday staying until Wednesday and driving back to FLL to fly home if we cannot fly out of Key West. We have only been to Key West twice and both were day stops on cruises. Any opinions? What is the drive like? I am not a big fan of tall tall bridges so it is a tiny concern. Any recommendations for resorts?

There are no tall bridges to Key West. Beautiful drive. You should be able to get a flight out of Key West in April. I think Air Tran/Southwest fly till June.

To really properly do Key West, it is important to stay in Old Town... the real feel of KW is in the Small Inns and Hotels rather than the Chain resorts... if you stay outside of Old Town, you might as well be at your local mall motel.

... the best examples of Key West are places like The Gardens Hotel and the Marquesa House...

also check out www.historickeywestinns.com they offer prices in all ranges as well as great Key West vibe...

Your other choices could be along Vanderbilt Beach in Naples or Sanibel/Captiva near Ft Myers... there is also an airport there... all can be amazing in early April... have fun

Here's a link for air services and destinations out of EYW:

http://www.keywestinternationalairpo...inal_info.html

There are no tall bridges between FT Lauderdale and Key West but there is at least one very long one.

Tall bridges won't be an issue. You may want to take your time driving through the Keys. A stop at John Pennekamp State park in Key Largo might be interesting.

I can't give you any info, Maggie, but I am going to hijack your thread as I am in the beginning stages of planning a similar trip! Thanks for the link, Dukey!

We just stayed at the Ocean Key Resort and loved it; we had a beautiful view, and their food and service were fantastic. Have also stayed at The Marquesa and liked it. Ocean Key is really convenient to walking everywhere. We drove down from Miami. Had fun feeding the tarpon at Robbie's, snorkeling with Sebago, doing a Wind and Wine Cruise with Danger, touring the Hemingway House, and just exploring in general. Also did a plane trip to the Dry Tortugas - that was really fun. Ate at several great restaurants. We loved it. The drive down from Miami wasn't as picturesque as I had imagined, but it was still fun. I thought there would be more water views, and a lot of it doesn't have much in the way of a view of scenery. We wanted to stop and see the Key Deer, but it was raining when we went.