Hello. After checking into destinations ranging from Hawaii to New Orleans, we are seriously leaning toward Key West for our 10th anniversary trip. I'd like to get some feedback and suggestions on a few parts of the trip. We will be going either the last week of May or the first week of June, probably a total of four or five nights. It will be our first trip without children since our honeymoon!

Transportation-wise, I'd like to take Southwest from St Louis to Fort Lauderdale. They'll release their summer rates next week, but current rates for early May are in the $200 range. Does anyone know if the rates are usually higher/lower/similar during the summer months? I've found a shuttle van that will take us from FLL to Key West with a four hour trip time. I think this might be a nice option, at least one way, to see the scenery. Cost of this is $80 per person each way. Is this reasonable, cost and time wise?

As far as accommodation, I think a small B&B might be nice. With a quick look, $100-$150 seems a reasonable range for a small B&B this time of year. I'm looking for suggestions of somewhere that is close to Duval St, but not too crazy, with a fun environment and nice hosts. We like to go out, but we're generally in by 11:00 kind of people...

There doesn't seem to be any shortage of activities, so I can research those a little more later. The main things we'll want to do are beach and eat/drink. I've had trouble finding too much info on beaches in KW. Any info on those would be good, as well as hotels that would be fairly close.

There is also the possibility of staying a night in Ft Lauderdale. We usually take our family winter holiday there, so it might be nice for just my husband and I to enjoy it together, alone. I'll have to check the typical temperature that time of year, though. Looks like KW is usually in the mid-80s in May/June.

The one thing to remember is that there are no good beaches in Key west. It is not a beach town. Great place to visit, do not get me wrong but if you just want a beach, it may be the wrong location. Agree with the eat / drink part but not the beach

Hi Katharine,

If Southwest is the competitive airline is your locality, grab those tickets when they first release them. You probably won't do better. We use SW all the time. We also prefer FLL to MIA.

I'm familiar with the shuttle that you've discovered. It will get you there but I would prefer a rental car which will enable you to explore the entire southwestern part of the Keys - basically the islands from Marathon on down. For a week or less you should be able to rent the car for not much more than the RT cost of the shuttle for two people. You will also be more comfortable in a car. Another option is two one way car rentals if you are sure you don't want the car while in Key West. Check Enterprise - our kids have done this. I would still check out the rental for the entire visit. National and Hertz are handy to use in FLL.

B&Bs are great. Another option that gets very good reviews by posters here is the Gardens Hotel. You can check reports of many places to stay on tripadvisor.com.

Happy 10th Anniversary.

Thanks for your responses. GBC-I'm a little embarrassed to say that we've never rented a car before! We've never needed to, always been able to take public transportation/taxi/shuttle everywhere we've gone. I'll look into that, though. That would allow us to take our time driving down, and also make it easier to plug in the time on the beach in FLL. tchoiniere-I was worried that might be the answer to my beach question, since I hadn't found any information on them. I've seen two mentioned. We really just want some sand, so we can lay in the sun a bit. Will they do for that?

Thanks!

I haven't been to Key West in several years, but I do know there are a few places where manmade beaches were created in KW. I knew going down there that it wasn't really a "beach" town in the traditional sense, but I didn't really understand until I saw it for myself. The water around the island is gorgeous, but it's not that easy to get to. That being said, KW is fun and interesting and I think you'll have a good time. Consider a snorkeling excursion while you're there--really fun!

Several posters have suggested renting a car and I agree. We rented one in Miami and were glad to be able to drive ourselves down to KW (and back). Parking is difficult, so you might often end up parking the car and walking but at least you'll have it if you want to drive to other islands or even around KW. We stayed in a townhouse and they did have street parking. It was a block off of Duvall, so we had easy access to the main drag but also had a more quiet area to sleep in. We were there at the end of July, beginning of August, so we were glad to have a place with A/C to go and cool off at during the day and night as well!

Thanks Lee4. I've been doing a little more research since the earlier posts, and I think the trip to Dry Tortugas might be a good day trip. Also, if we rent a car, we can stop at the Bahia Honda beach either on our way up or down. If we know we'll be bringing a car, we can look for an inn that has some parking available.

That should cover us pretty well for beach time. Maybe we could explore one of the beaches on KW if we feel the need. Otherwise, pool time in the sun sounds great, too (although in January, any time in the sun sounds good!).

I found an earlier post on Dry Tortugas. It seems like the plane is the way to go, but we would probably take the boat due to cost. Also, looks like only 2 hours is allowed on the island if we take the plane trip. Sounds like there is plenty to do there to fill the 5 hours allowed on the boat trip.

Hello (again)

Regarding beaches. It is true that there are no beaches in the Keys that compare to many of those in the Caribbean. That said, there are beaches. Key West proper has a fairly long beach where you can surely get some sun and possibly a little swimming. There is also a nice beach at Fort Zachary Taylor State Park. We often stop there for a picnic.

Also, you may enjoy a trip to Dry Tortuga National Park, either on a catamaran or by small plane, where you will find a very nice beach and some fine snorkeling for those who are good swimmers(the good snorkeling is a little way off from shore.) These trips usually include a very nice lunch so it makes a nice excursion.

Finally, if you have a car you will discover some beaches en-route to Key West. Sombrero Beach in Marathon is nice - mostly for sunning. Further along is Bahia Honda State Park with a similar beach.

Renting a car at FLL is easy. Reserve in advance. The rental company desks are in the terminal while the cars are located in a high rise parking garage accessed by a free shuttle. The shuttle ride is only five minutes. We fly walk on so that we're usually off the plane and on the Florida Turnpike South in no more than twenty minutes.

Enjoy.

May/June is off season at FLL. You should be able to find a rate on a rental for less than the shuttle. There are many stops between FLL and KW that make the drive one of the best in the country. If you check other KW threads on this site, you'll find abundant advise on good stops in Islamorada, Marathon, and Bahia Honda. I am sure you will enjoy your trip.

My wife and I flew into FLL last September and rented a car for the drive to KW. One advantage to renting a car in Florida is that most car rental companies do not have a drop off charge for one way rentals. This means that you could rent a car for the arrival day and drop it off at KW airport, then take a taxi to the hotel and on your departure day , take a cab to the airport and pick up a car for the drive back to FLL.
The beach at Fort Zachary Taylor is probably the nicest one on KW.

Katharine, You will love having the option on renting a car, even one way. We frequent Key West, and love the drive down. We usually drop the car off and then enjoy the key on foot, bike scooter, whatever. The great thing about keeping the car is that you have the option of seeing the lower keys, they are really beautiful. As much as we love Key West, after 3 or 4 nights.....
Think about it, the rates in Fl on rentals are very good.
Have fun, Happy 10th!

Having just been to Dry Tortugas via Yankee Clipper in Dec., IMO it is worth the day trip. Fort Jefferson was amazing, snorkeling was good, the beach wonderfully quiet, and just walking the grounds was interesting. The boat trip also includes a guided tour of the fort, but there is National Park Service information too if you prefer going on your own. We had 5 hours at the island so there was plenty of time to snorkel and enjoy the area and beaches. Lunch was included on the boat as part of the package. If you are at all subject to motion sickness take this larger boat since even though the ocean was quite calm, there were some who were sick. Also on KW there is Smathers Beach across from the Sheraton Hotel which offers a sandy beach with rental chairs etc. There were not many people in the water, but the view of the water looked wonderful. Parking can be a problem in KW, but it is easy to walk in the major areas and taxis are plentiful. The fresh seafood was excellent, weather perfect in Dec., and it was a great place for a relaxing visit. It is a fun town.

Thanks everyone! I've done a quick check on rental cars and priced a convertible (seems like a good choice for the drive?). About $400 to have the car for the entire trip, only $75 per day for one way. mersingary and marleyzoemom-sounds like your idea will work well. I assume cab would be $10-20 to most places from the airport? Looks like this would save us a little, while giving us some flexibility while traveling to and from. The company with the best rates seems to be Dollar Rent A Car. Is that a decent company? I know that's not a "Florida" question, but you all know a lot about all this!

Thanks! Also, thanks for the congrats on the anniversary. Thanks to this forum, my husband and I have gotten tons of great travel advice that has helped him develop an appreciation for travel, which has made our marriage that much better!

Hi Katharine,

My husband and I just went to Key West last month for a wedding and really enjoyed it. We, too, flew into Fort Lauderdale and did the drive ourselves. It wasn't bad, but it can be kind of slow, so just be prepared for a good 4 four drive.

We stayed at the Mermaid and the Alligator Bed & Breakfast. I would highly recommend this place. The grounds are amazing - one of the owners, Dean, is a horticulturist and needless to say has a green thumb! We stayed in the Papaya Room, which was a little small but still very nice. But, we did have the opportunity to tour a few other rooms in the main house which were much larger and stunning. The B&B has also has small dipping pool. They were very accomodating and helped us rent bicycles (which were great) and organize a snuba diving trip. We had friends who stayed at the Galleon Resort, the Hyatt Resort, and another B&B, The Heron House. We heard good things from them about all 3 of these locations.

As far as beaches, there are two main beaches - Smathers Beach and Fort Zachary Taylor Beach. We only went to Fort Zachary and thought it was lovely. But, it is small and very rocky, so water shoes would be a good idea. Yes, these beaches do not rival the BAhamas or Jamaica, but the water is a beautiful acqua blue and the temperature was pretty warm.

Duval street was a lot of fun - tons of shops and fabulous restaurants. There is certainly a lot to do. We were only there 4 days and 3 nighs, and would have liked one more day to do a few more things. We had friends who stayed in Marathon, another Key, and they really enjoyed that as well.

We did eat at a great restaurant Blue Heaven. I would absolutely recommend it. We also ate at Hot Tin Roof in the Ocean Keys Resort (which is also beautiful) and Mango's on Duval Street. Everything was very good.

Have a wonderful trip to Key West or where ever you chose to go. Happy Anniversay too!

Tresura

You should be able to get a car rental for much less....I just rented a mid-sized car (not a convertable though) for 5 days in Miami through Priceline and paid $24 a day. Just make sure you use a credit card that includes your CDW insurance and you'll save a lot of $.

Margy

Hi Katharine,
You need to shop rentals- there is a tremendous variance in prices.
If you plan on staying in Key West, then dump the car. You do not need it in this town- you can re-rent or even look into flying back. We usually drive down, fly back to FLL or whatever airport you are connecting out of.
I think you should look at the drive down as part of the adventure, not simply getting there. Let the road unwind, enjoy the transformation from key to key. It is long, but often lovely.There is a little detour that you can make and stop at a great place for lunch...I will look it up and post again.
As an aside many hotels/B and B's will pick you up if you drop the car at the airport. Otherwise figure 20-25 for a cab, they are really expensive.

Blue heaven is a must, great breakfast, lots of local color. Pepes is our favorite dinner spot- try it, you will not be sorry!

Hi again,
Ft. Zachary Taylor is the beach I was thinking of and, as another poster mentioned, it is rocky. Be sure to wear shoes, even into the water if you go there.

We did not go out to the Dry Tortugas but instead did a snorkeling trip with a local company in KW. I believe we just used the phone book to call around to a few different operations for times, prices, etc. We showed up to the appointed dock, paid our money at the office and off we went. There were probably 10-12 other people on this boat too, plus the captain and first mate. The captain took us out to the reef and we snorkled there. It was gorgeous!

As others have suggested, keep looking around for better car rental prices. My husband and I often use hotwire or priceline for great rates, but we sometimes also get good rates directly from the car rental companies themselves. Your prices may be high b/c you are looking at a convertible. If you want to save some $, consider a mid-size car instead.

I had heard about Bahia Honda beach but we didn't get around to going there. The first 1/2 of our week in KW was beautiful and sunny. The rest of the week was incredibly rainy--a tropical storm moved in--so that limited some of the things we wanted to do. We still enjoyed our trip, though, and are glad we went. It certainly wasn't a "beach" trip in the traditional sense but I'm glad we went. With all the rain, it was good that we were in KW. If we had planned to sit on a beach the whole week, we would have been out of luck.

Oh, we had our anniversary dinner at Blue Heaven and it was delicious! I had a little chicken attack my purse while we ate, but it just seemed to be part of the atomsphere and was quite funny. I really don't think we ever had a bad meal in KW. The food is great.

I was just looking at some things for another person...

Snorkeling / sailing/ kayakng trips...

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g3...ing.Trips.html

Breakfast...

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g3....Key.West.html

Happy hours...

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g3...ppy.Hours.html

Pjk

Thanks so much for all those links. I may have just been talked out of a B&B, and may look for a regular inn, so we can enjoy all those breakfasts! I'm starting to get a little worried about food in general, though, as I'm allergic to all seafood and fish. I'm sure I can find some other good things to eat, though, and at least my hubby will be in seventh heaven with all the seafood!

Try B.O.'s Fishwagon for both of you...

B.O.'s
on the corner
CAROLINE & William
Key West, Florida

FRIED GROUPER
Grilled FISH SHRIMP
Scallops BBQ PORK
conch fritters chicken
Black beans and rice
BURGERS french fries
steak and cheese CHILLI

Pretty Girls!

And across the street is Pepe's which serves seafood as well as turkey dinner every Thursday.

Pjk

Blue Heaven is great for breakfast. We ate there several times on our trip. For dinner, make reservations at Michael's. The filet al forno is amazing and the chocolate volcano cake is to die for. You have to order the cake with your meal, since it takes a while to make it. Michael's is probably our favorite restaurant ever.

http://www.michaelskeywest.com/