Hi, I%26#39;m considering a trip to the keys with my husband, 4 yr old and 7 month old. We are traveling from Illinois. Any suggestions on which airport is the most economical to fly into? We don%26#39;t mind driving to the island. Also, is it better to go to key west or key largo, we want to be able to do non water activities with the kids and some shopping?
General advice on family trip to the key?
Most use Fort Lauderdale or Miami to fly into. Just keep checking fares. I personally like Fort Lauderdale because its not as large as Miami and I seem to get going a lot quicker out of it. I would also come to KW if thats what you are looking to do with the kids. Theres a lot more to do and although the Keys are not known for shopping, KW does have the best.
General advice on family trip to the key?
A trip to the Keys is a great idea - but the how and where depend on what time of year are you coming and how long will you be here.
Most people fly into Miami or Ft. L. Miami is closer so I would pick that unless FtL is much cheaper. If you arrive at dinner or after, stay in your arrival city that night. You want to do the drive to the Keys in the day time-that%26#39;s half the fun.
You drive to the Keys going down the Turnpike, which ends in Florida City, on the mainland. From there, you could go to Everglades National Park for a few hours and view lots of alligators, birds, etc. A great choice for the 4 yo. There is a boardwalk trail so the baby can stay in the stroller. However, summer is mosquito season so if you are coming in June/July/August, I would skip this (or at least check on mosquito levels before you go). The drive to Florida City will be about 1 hour (30 min more from Ft. L)
At Florida City, you are on US 1 and on the way to the Keys. You%26#39;ll drive through the Everglades (either on US 1 or Card Sound Road - post on that closer to time). About 30 min of driving gets you to Key Largo. Pick a hotel in either Key Largo or Islamorada. With the kids, you may want to have a condo set up. There%26#39;s choices like Key Largo Suites, Ocean Pointe, or rentals through VRBO,com. Just look for something between Mile Marker 104 and 80.
Activities - Theatre of the Sea, Wild Bird Sanctuary, Jacobs Aquatic Center (big pirate ship playground in zero grade entry pool), feed the tarpon at Robbies (mm 77), World Wide Sportsman (shopping plus a replica boat). There%26#39;s a nice park at Islamorada%26#39;s Founders Park.
The 4 yo may be okay on a glass bottom boat ride. Each parent should have a chance to snorkel from Pennekamp. (2 hour trip). The other parent can babysit and see the aquarium, sit in the sand at a little beach, etc.
Take a day trip to Key West or if you have a week, consider moving to have a couple of days in Key West. More shopping. You can stop at Bahia Honda - a beautiful state park.
keymom smacked a HR with her response. Follow her advice and you will not go wrong.
That being said, I always look at the airfares and flight times for FLL and MIA. I pick whichever is cheaper and fits better into MY schedule. IMHO it does not matter TIME wise which airport you choose.
At MIA you have to get your luggage, get into a shuttle to the rental car place, navagate the traffic around MIA to get to the toll road.
In FLL the rental car palces are right at the airport, and the traffic isn%26#39;t as bad BUT you are another 20 - 25 minutes further away from the keys.
The time you save getting your rental car and driving in better traffic is used up by the fact that you are further away.
Bottom line - as I said IMHO it doesn%26#39;t matter time wise.
How do you get to the Dry Tortugas National Park from Key Largo? or is best from Key West
Hi, thanks for the replies, for additional info we will be there last week of June. We want to stay somewhere economical and right on the beach, and suggestions? Also key west, largo, etc?
We will only be there 4 nites.
Lady, are you looking to split the trip up between the 2 keys?
I鈥檓 currently planning a trip to Key Largo and there are lots of very well reviewed budget hotels right here on Trip Advisor. I found so many in my price range (under $100) that I%26#39;m even able to get really picky about specific amenities I鈥檓 looking for in order to narrow it down.
It鈥檚 also a good idea to search within the forum for key words like 鈥榗hildren鈥?and 鈥榖each%26#39; so you can get advice from past posters as well folks who are currently posting.
I will say that beaches are the most rare of all amenities. The Keys just aren鈥檛 a beach sort of place 鈥?it鈥檚 just not that kind of landscape. If you find a place that has a small beach on the property, or that is adjacent to one of the Key鈥檚 few beaches (probably the best idea), you鈥檝e found something special. Just don鈥檛 expect too much 鈥?many of the complaints I read on the reviews are people complaining about the poor quality of beaches and it makes me wonder if they did any sort of research before coming down.
With 4 days in June, I would stay in Key Largo or Islamorada. you could do a day trip to Key West if you like but with little ones, I think you%26#39;ll find the Upper Keys more relaxing.
Take a look at the tripadvisor hotel reviews for Key Largo and Islamorda - lots of good info there. I prefer to stay in places with two rooms so the kids can go to bed but DH and I can stay up (well, now that my kids are older, I%26#39;m the one that wants to go to bed early but that%26#39;s a whole other post). I also like a kitchen so that breakfast and snacks are easy. That%26#39;s why I suggest the Key Largo Suites or Ocean Pointe. The Suites are on a canal - but OP is on a sandy area. The earlier poster was correct that there aren%26#39;t big sandy beaches in the Keys. There is park near Ocean Pointe that has a sandy playground.
So, fly to MIA or FTL, drive to your hotel and relax! My favorite clock in the Keys has all the numbers jumbled down at the bottom. Across the dial, it reads ';Who Cares?';
PS to the other poster - You need to go to Key West to get to Dry Tortugas.
PPS - Thanks Buffetguy!
Thanks for all the advice. I guess I was confused, I thought the Keys had beaches, I looked at pictures and thought this was a beach destination. So this is not the place to come if we want to just hang out on the beach?
There are some nice beaches here. Most are small, but pretty.
Sombrero Beach in Marathon
Anne%26#39;s Beach in Islamorada
Coco Plum in Marathon
Bahia Honda State Park
Long Key State Park
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