one week itinerary in Florida National Parks
 

I am on a trek to visit all 63 national parks in the United States and am in the process of planning a trip to Florida this February (our school winter vacation) to see the Everglades, Dry Tortugas, and Biscayne National Parks. We will be flying either from New Hampshire or more likely Boston to either Fort Lauderdale or Miami based on cost and times of flights. We will have 7 or 8 days. My husband and I are in our 70's and my husband is not in great health so we won't be doing anything hikes more than easy flat walking, and no snorkeling or paddling adventures, and will be staying in hotels or other lodging, but not camping. I am looking for itineraries from those who have done the three parks in a week - in what order to save backtracking, any tips on best things to do, ideas for lodging and meals, mostly just how to get the most out of our time there. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

We didn't end up taking this trip in February 2023 but I am hoping to be able to do the trip February 2026 - and I still have all the same questions. Please reply!

I haven’t done all three but several years ago took a park service boat trip from Everglades City through the mangroves on the gulf and another time went to the Shark river area and road on an open cart through a very different area. As I recall the two areas were quite a distance apart from each other both were interesting.

Biscayne National Park is entirely under water except for a Visitors Center so it should not be hard to fit in.

You can fly into Key West and go to Dry Tortugas form there.

You coudl stay in Miami and justt drive for a day trip to each of two locations in the Everglades. One to Shark Valley and then into the heart of the park.

Make sure to stop at Robert is Here and get their wonderful avocado honey.

Thank you, oldemalloy - Shark Valley looks like a good spot for us to visit.

Thanks, Shelemm, for the tip on Robert is Here - sounds interesting!

I now have some things in place for our Florida national park trip February 2026. We are flying from Boston to Miami on 2/19 and back home to New Hampshire on 2/25. As others have mentioned, there were a lot of sold out dates for the ferry to Dry Tortugas so I had to get tickets on the weekend, which will make staying anywhere in Key West much more expensive. I rented a car from the airport from 2/19-2/24. Here is my tentative plan:
2/19 Fly to Miami,on an early morning flight, pick up the rental car, drive to the Shark Valley area, take the tram tour, stay somewhere in Homestead
2/20 Drive to Key West stopping at attractions along the way, and try to find a hotel close to the ferry that isn't ridiculously expensive
2/21 Day trip to Dry Tortugas and try to drive back to Homestead if I'm not too tired - at least out of Key West for budget reasons
2/22 Low key day - open to suggestions, stay in Homestead
2/23 Visit Bay Biscayne visitor center and take boat tour out to national park, stay in Homestead
2/24 Spend the day in the flamingo area of Everglades national park, return rental car and stay in airport hotel
2/25 Fly home
I would love to have your suggestions and thoughts about places to stay in the budget category and also things and places not to miss. My husband has health issues and can't go much walking. We are not party people and don't care about nightlife. My main motivation is to visit the three national parks. Any thoughts would be much appreciated.
Barbara

Key Deer are something to see. They will come out in early evening to check out the surrounding neighborhood of Key Deer National Wildlife Refuge so you don't have to go looking for them.

Prices are indeed scary. I've stayed at Parmers Resort and Looe Key Reef Resort. The former is very nice, lovely grounds. The latter is mostly for divers, so you can imagine.

Thank you for that idea. I stopped looking at the $500-600 a night places in Key West and booked at the Kingsail Resort in Marathon for less than half the price. We'll have to get going early to get to the ferry by 7 AM but I'm an early riser anyway - and we didn't really care about staying in Key West anyway. The key deer sound good as well as the turtle spot.

Homestead is typical Florida, neither attractive nor particularly safe.

I’d try to stay on Key Largo or near the MIA airport instead.

Pay attention to all the tolls in the Miami area with the rental car. Some can’t be paid for while driving.

Thanks, Tom_mn. What do you mean about the tolls?

When you rent a car in Florida, you can pay extra to have all your tolls covered electronically in a system that goes by license plate number. No transponder needed. It allows you to use the express lanes. If you won't be using a toll road, then you don't have to worry about it..

The toll roads can get jammed up in horrific traffic snarls that are the stuff of nightmares. In that case, you will definitely want to pay for that service when you rent.

I am not sure you will be on a toll road, but you should check.

Here's a link to a map of the toll roads in S Florida

https://floridasturnpike.com/wp-cont...orida_Area.pdf

I can't remember what I did to get to Everglades NP (main entrance). I don't remember paying tolls but if not I would have had to have driven US 1 from the end of freeway 826 which is free to Homestead. Honestly a very underwhelming experience, one of my least favorite national parks, the entry is via flat brown (in winter) farm fields devoid of vegetation. Not the usual anticipatory drive to a national park entry!

babaralois, I have no suggestion as I haven't been to any of these parks, but I would love it if you can type a Trip Report after your return. I would love to visit these FL NPs at some point in the future!

A couple of thoughts:

The drive back from Dry Tortugas to Homestead in a single day can be more exhausting than expected, spending another night in Marathon might make the day more enjoyable. For Everglades, Shark Valley and Flamingo are both great low-walking options, and the Anhinga Trail near Royal Palm is short, flat, and fantastic for wildlife. The boat tour is really the best way to experience Biscayne, so that's a smart choice. If budget allows, Key Largo is actually a lovely base, convenient to both Biscayne and Everglades.

February is ideal timing, comfortable weather and minimal bugs. Sounds like a wonderful trip ahead!

Thank you, SophieG. I did book the place in Marathon for two nights and am happy with that decision. Thanks for the affirmation on Biscayne and the time of year - and the tips on the walking. I did already book the Homestead hotel so can't change to Key Largo at this point,. We leave early tomorrow morning for our trip!

SophieG, thanks for the suggestion on Anhinga Trail - I loved it!
I am working on figuring out how to post a trip report - fingers crossed!

Okay after several tries I managed to get it on as a trip report - much condensed with just one picture to fit the required amount of space. I have a much longer version with lot of photos I'd be happy to email anyone who would like to hear more details about the trip. And as always - thank you for all your suggestions!