I am thinking about going to Florida for 3-4 days over our MLK weekend in January. Are there any fun places to go where we won't need a car?

Thanks in advance for your replies,
Sandy (in Denton)

I think you need to be more specific about what you are looking for. Beaches, nature, museums, etc. What is the hotel budget?

At first glance, I would put Miami at the top of the list but again, we need to know more about your tastes.

I highly recommend Lauderdale By The Sea. It's a small beach town north of Fort Lauderdale. No car needed. Everything is walkable. There is a small "downtown" with 5-6 restaurants and bars and a few small stores. Grocery store, drug store, liquor store all walkable as well. It's like a small hamlet between the ocean and the A1A.

All hotels are former mom and pop old school properties but most of them have been bought out and totally updated. I highly recommend the High Noon Resort. I suggest a pool room. Rooms are all modern with nice kitchens (they have hotel rooms, too). The place is spotless!!! The beach is wide and beautiful and there's a pier to walk out on. I've stayed at a few other properties but this is our favorite.

I'm heading there in December for 4 days. They have direct flights from my home airport (Buffalo). We pack carry-on bags, go outside to the cab line, and we're at the hotel before lunch. If the room isn't ready, they hold our bags and we have lunch and a drink at Aruba's.

Anyhow, my husband doesn't get a lot of time off so we usually head there when we only have a few days.

http://www.lbts.com/

http://www.highnoonresort.com/

I hope this helps!

The Miami area can be visited on public transortation.

Here's what we saw without a car: https://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca...846065187/show

South Beach Miami is totally self contained with lodging, beach, food, shopping aND fun...

My favorite Florida town is Key West. Lots and lots to do and it is perfectly walkable.

Key West.

Thanks for all the great suggestions. I will go check them out.

Sandy (in Denton)

We were in Fort Lauderdale without a car last January, and Uber was easy and not expensive.

..and Fort Lauderdale also has the water taxi

I live in Fort Lauderdale and I think you need to define "fun" before I would recommend either Lauderdale-By-The-Sea OR the city itself over Miami or Key West.

Hi sandy_b,

Funny, I still remember your queries about visiting Monterrey Mexico a number of years ago as you're one of the very few posters who have expressed interest in visiting the underrated Nuevo Leon capital. I visited for the fourth time last year and is one of my favorite North American cities.

I have also visited Key West, Miami and Fort Lauderdale without a car and while I managed in all, to my eyes, Key West is the most natural fit for a pedestrian visitor of these three and Fort Lauderdale the least. For Fort Lauderdale (mind you, my advice may be dated (2011)), even though I was maybe a half hour walk from the central A1A/Las Olas hub, I found I sometimes was walking nearly that half hour for the simple task of finding a location with supper options. In the north, Saint Augustine, being the oldest city that it is, was quite easy without a car once there. If however you wish to combine Saint Augustine with some Jacksonville sights as I did, it's tricky but possible. For a St Augustine & Jacksonville combo, I recommend perusing carefully bus schedules (and for Fort Lauderdale, water taxi schedules)!

Best wishes, Daniel

I also wondered what fun meant. You could spend a couple days in Tampa without a car easily. I agree about St Augustine, also, except you can't get there without a car from the airport. Tampa you can just take a taxi to a hotel in an area with stuff to do, like the aquarium, the old Cuban quarter, etc.

You could spend a couple days in Sarasota without a car easily. I think I'd prefer Sarasota to Tampa.

Christina & others,

You write that you can't get to St. Augustine without a car from the airport. I thought I remembered a shuttle so typed in St. Augustine-Jacksonville airport shuttle out of curiosity and options show up. For future reference: does anyone know if these services are reliable? Just curious, as I didn't use the airport so never attempted to use one of these shuttles. Note that when I went to Saint Augustine without a car, I arrived via Amtrak at their Jacksonville station, cabbed to downtown Jacksonville and caught a Greyhound bus to St. Augustine. To return to downtown Jacksonville, I took two city buses, one with the St. Augustine system to Avenues Mall in the Jacksonville suburbs and the second from Avenues Mall to downtown via the Jacksonville system.

Best wishes, Daniel

There is a water taxi that runs between Hollywood and Ft. Lauderdale stopping at points in between.

I forgot to mention that Lauderdale By The Sea has a street party on Friday nights on El Mar Drive. The street is closed to what little traffic there is, a stage is set up, a band plays. The restaurants put tables and bars in the street. Several of the restos are open air style. There is a dance area. People of all ages. Nothing rowdy. You can walk outside with a drink in your hand and people watch. It's a great time.

I'm probably the only person on planet earth who couldn't possibly care less if she ever returned to Key West.

Somewhere in The Keys.

Key West