We will be going to Key West in September. We are flying into Miami and I have a couple of questions you might be able to help me with. 1) How long a drive is it from Miami to Key West? 2) Should we rent a car to do it? or 3) Are there shuttles (bus, van, taxi) that you can get on to go from Miami to Key West? and 4) What would the cost of a shuttle be.

Thanks in advance for all your help.

Penny:

Depending on the traffic...the drive is about 4 hours (go to mapquest.com and you can find the exact # of miles, etc with maps)

Everytime we go, we rent a car. That way you have the freedom to sightsee along the way down or back up the keys. This last January we rented a Seabring convertible...which was awesome!

I know that greyhound has bus service back & forth, I do not know the answer to your question concerning a shuttle.

Have a great trip!

Sheli

Don't know if you are interested in doing this, but you can also change planes in Miami and fly into Key West. For sightseeing, we've rented a car and drove down to Key West and then coming back dropped the car off at the Key West airport and flew back to Miami.

I went recently and found the cheapest RT Orlando-KW airfares (I had a business engagement in Orlando and had to fly to KW from there) to range from $120-220. The drive from Miami to Key Largo is uninspiring to say the least, but the remaining drive down is quite lovely. You won't need the car in Key West but there are well regarded dining options further up that could be fun to drive to. There's also a beach at Bahia Honda that gets rave reviews. the few Key West beaches are less than appealing to most folks - if you're beach fans it would be worth a drive up there or perhaps a stop on the way down. For the sake of comparing overall costs, I'll mention that a taxi from the KW airport to Oldtown should range from $7-12 per person each way.

Penny,

2) Should we rent a car to do it? or 3) Are there shuttles (bus, van, taxi) that you can get on to go from Miami to Key West? and 4) What would the cost of a shuttle be.

2. Yes! You will enjoy the drive. The view is beautiful! The traffic is sometimes bad! Depending on when you depart Miami & the time, will tell you if you encounter traffic! The only read bad spot on U.S 1 is the draw bridge befor Key Largo.

3. Her is a website for a shuttle:

http://www.keysshuttle.com/

You can visit the website to answer all of your questions.

As far as flying out of Miami, here is a website for Cape Air, very reliable & safe:

http://www.flycapeair.com/ad.html

My recomendation for your next visit to the Keys is to fly into Fort Laderdale, it is much better & the price is right & the drive is better from FLL to the keys. All ya have to do is go to I595 West, then catch the Florida turnpike. Driving out of Miami is horrible! If you can avoide I95 South, please do, cause their are a lot of acidents & lousy car driving on that road!

Actually, I was disappointed with the drive. We only did Key West to Key Largo, but aside from about 2 miles along open water, the drive was a bit depressing.

Those flight prices are high, particularly when you considering I paid $220 to KW from Washington.

I agree with Aine that the prices seem a bit high but that's often the case with short haul flights. I suspect that part of the probolem was the time of year I traveled (early February) and the fact that I reserved just under the wire to get a 21 day advance fare. The only thing I found cheaper than $220 RT from Orlando to KW (I assume it's a bit cheaper from Miami) was RT for $120 on hotwire.com but you must buy the ticket before you know what time of day you're traveling.

Greyhound also runs service from Miami to the Keys, Toll free #800-231-2222.

Toll free # for Airport Keys Shuttle:
800-689-3304.

American Airlines "Eagle" flies to Key West, as does Gulfstream (800-992-8532)
Comair, and USAir Express.

If you are staying in Old Town, you don't really need a car. You can rent bikes or scooters. Parking is at a premium in KW. Have fun.

ttt

Early July it took us 4 ours by car from Ft. Lauderdale to Key West (one stop of 15 minutes included) The view was fantastic: little tropical beaches, lagunes,the seven miles bridge... There were enough parking places in the center to leave the car(10$ for the day).