Jeff

My family and I will be staying in Ft Lauderdale in Oct. I am debating whether or not to drive down to the keys for a night or two. We will be bringing our daughter (23mos) and the grandparents (one set). Would you recommend the trip or just stay in Ft Lauderdale. I hear the drive is nice, but what is there to do in Key West, or should we just go to Key Largo. Recommendations would be great!

Postal

Depending on traffic, it will take you more than an hour to even reach Key Largo and then you will have 110 miles more of the Keys before you reach Key West - and it's usually a pretty slow drive.

Key Largo is nothing like Key West. While Key West is an island you can walk and shop, Key Largo is more of a highway with places to stop along the way. It would be an awfully long drive for just a night or two in Key West. But by the same token, I don't think you'd get much Keys flavor by going to Key Largo and then turning around a day or two later.

The main activity in Key Largo would be going snorkeling off a boat - not the greatest of activities for a toddler and grandparents. If you don't want to go all the way to Key West, you might want to go to Islamorada to at least cross some water and keys.

Martine

Go certainly to Key West. Last summer we also were in Ft Lauderdale and did the trip.It tooks us app.4 hours to get there with not to much traffic.There is a lot to see in Key West: the southernmost point, Hemingway house, Sloppy Joe's bar in Duval street, the shipwreck museum (not so super), the shops and restaurants in Duval street. We liked Harry S Truman little white house and Fort Zacharia Taylor beach. We spend two days in Key West and it was not enough.It was our first time in the US and for what we saw in Florida, it was the most beautiful we visited (the Everglades are very interesting too). Some people say it is hard to find parking in the center, but at many places there are little private parkings where you can leave the car a whole day for 10 dollars.

pam

Jeff, I am sure you will get different thoughts and opinions. Try doing a search on Key West and you can see all the varying opinions. Personally with a toddler and grandparents I think I would opt for staying in Ft. Lauderdale. Key West is more for the party crowd as I saw it. I left Ft. Lauerdale to go there and wish I would have stayed put.

CF

To Postal...my hubby and I are grandparents and we are avid snorkelers. Just cause you pass 50 doesn't mean you quit doing fun things.

Gramma

Postal-That was a pretty stupid comment about grandparents not snorkeling. My husband and I are grandparents and not only do we snorkel, we scuba, snowboard and ski and surf. Not all senior citizens sit in their rocking chairs when they retire. Most of us are active, avid and can and do a lot of diverse activities.

doc

Ease up on postal. key west is not on top of my list to bring my 23 mos. old daughter, especially if your driving down. Wait a few years until you can go by yourself or the whole family and really enjoy key west