meis

My husband and I are trying to plan a 4-6 day trip to Florida for the second week in March. (We are from Nebraska and are desperate to escape the cold and snow!) We would like a warm, beachy destination without a ton of spring break activity. We are entertaining the idea of the Keys, but don't know much about the area. We would enjoy relaxing beachtime, as well as some sightseeing on a moderate budget. Which beach/island/town would be good for this type of trip? Also, any suggestions for hotels and 'must see' activities would be appreciated. Thank you!

SAnParis2

The Keys will be your best bet for good weather but the beaches are few & far between. I'd try Key West & plan a trip to Bahai Honda State Park or the Dry Tortugas. Lots of Key West info on here.

Orlando_Vic

Exactly right. Key West does not have a lot of beaches.

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Ackislander

That is spring break for a lot of colleges, so I would not go to the east coast. Keys or southwest Florida from Ft Myers down should be great, from Anna Maria down could be great.

tomfuller

Anything in the Panhandle from Panama City west is at least a days drive closer to Nebraska. An extra day at the beach would be nice. BP has got all the Gulf beaches very clean now.

travelerusa

There are virtually NO beaches in Key West unless you consider sun bathing next to the boat launch at the "furthest most US point" in Key West.

The West Coast is a 50/50 proposition that time of year, and it is a total bore.

Your best bet outside of travelling to the Bahamas is take a chance in Miami and stay in South Beach where you have a 80/20 chance of warm weather in March. Worse case scenerio...fly to Freeport for a few days....30 min flight from Miami. At least there are tons of things to do in MIA.

Ackislander

Actually, travelerusa, the Bahamas have almost the same weather as Florida. If you want guaranteed great weather, you have to go to the Caribbean.

Tons of things to do in MIA? I actually love Miami and Miami Beach, but unless you are interested in the bar/club scene, there is really relatively little to do, and the beaches on the West Coast are less crowded.

I like Miami/South Beach because it is like being in a foreign country where at least some of the people speak English.

AAFrequentFlyer

West coast is your best bet. Panhandle will have a very active springbreaker activity and so will the east coast. Sarasota and/or Sanibel/Captiva areas should be exactly what you want.

Gretchen

Ft. Myers also has a lot of spring breakers. Marco Island/Naples is a pretty area. It is still high season so be ready for sticker shock.

meis

Thank you so much for the info! We are leaning toward Sanibel Island, Marco Island or the Sarasota area (open to other suggestions!). Any suggestions for nice resorts (or hotels) on a nice area of beach that are still relatively close to restaurants/shops/sites? We would like to do a little relaxing on the beach, but also be able to walk to local attractions, as well. We were thinking Sanibel Island, but it sounds like we'd need to rent a car to do many of the activities-is this true?

travelerusa

Pardon me Ackislander....I beg to differ, I often would take the 30 minute plane ride to Nassau to get some warm weather when things werer cold in Miami (relative cold). There is a considerable difference in temperature in January and February. Though not too far off the coast of Florida, it is influenced in the Gulf stream which influence the weather patterns. The bottom line is that your "chances" are better in Nassau or Freeport than in Miami for warm weather in Dec - Feb.

As for the West Coast...that is very risky that time of the year. You can easily have a 20 degree variance between Miami and Sarasota. Been caught many times getting on a plane in Miami in only a business suit without a jacket, to land in Tampa or Sarasota and freeze, We tend to forget about winter in Miami!

And finally "relatively nothing to do" ...huh? You've got to be kidding me. Perhaps you have never left the beach when you come here. And no one speaks english? Are you sure your not mixing up Miami with Havana?

There are tons of things in Miami and South Beach to do besides the Club Scene. There are art galleries, there is some of the best shopping in the nation at Bal Harbour, Aventura and Ft. Lauderdale. You have Lincoln Rd pedestrian Mall to cruise around, you have Seaquarium, Parrot Jungle, Viscaya...you have wine shows, art shows, you have all sorts of things playing at Jackie Gleason and the Opera center...there is great jazz music nightly at a number of venues....and yes there are some great dance clubs for those young at heart. You can rent a boat for the day, you can go sport fishing, you can even experience Indy car driving if you are so inclined. Yes you hear Spanish spoken, but it is predominently english unless you go into the heart of Little Havana, which is another great destination to experience Cuban cuisine.

Miami is a lot like L.A. it is spread out and you need to plan.....it is not New York but there are plenty of things to do when you do not want to sit on the beach. The trafic is some of the worst in the nation, so plan!

Just do a little research and you will see that Miami is not the old Miami.

Miami is not the same Miami it was 10 years ago

travelerusa

Just a note on Sanibel. There are relatively few good restaurants nearby, and at some of the resorts you will need a car to get around to anything outside of their mundane cuisine.

So long as you are looking for a QUIET vacation. I can't think of anything more boring than Sanibel but if that is what you are looking for, than it could be exactly what the doctor ordered, though I am not a big fan of their beaches which are the typical west coast beach that goes way way out and is flat and calm, not like the east coast where it has crashing waves and lots of character....just personal opinion. If your looking for quiet I'd suggest Freeport....lots of nice quiet beaches of there.

AAFrequentFlyer

Try to book something on Siesta Key (Sarasota) near the village and you can walk to many shops, restaurants, bars. The beaches are fabulous and don't believe what somebody tells you about the temperature difference. It's usually hot and sunny and maybe/possibly about 5 degrees colder than southern Florida (AT WORST!), but the beautiful beaches make up for that difference.

I know, I lived in Florida for ~16 years now.

jubilada

I like Anna Maria island, beautiful, low key old florida feel but near enough to Sarasota for more to do and more "cultcha". Much more beautiful than Sanibel to my mind.