Road Trip Florida Keys, Miami inc Alligator Alley

[fairytale]

Me again, cant you tell I booked my flights today woo hoo !!

Ok, so we looking to do 5 days driving in and around the southern tip of Florida. We would love to see the Keys, Alligator Alley and are flying out of Miami so need to have that as our final destination.

Has anyone done anything similar?

Looking at the road planner its saying around 6 hours from Orlando to the Keys, any suggestions of a stop over point on the way to break the journey up for a day?

Many thanks

Annette

 

[wayneg]

Last Easter we flew into Miami, drove down to the Keys up to the Everglades then up the West coast to Orlando. Live report here http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3088794

 

[fairytale]

Last Easter we flew into Miami, drove down to the Keys up to the Everglades then up the West coast to Orlando. Live report here http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3088794

I was hoping you would see my post Wayne as I've been looking for your trip report.

Many, many thanks

Annette

 

[wayneg]

Its something we would like to do again we enjoyed it so much.

Not this year, already planned 2 trips for this year but maybe next year.

 

[Kath2003]

Have done Orlando-Keys drive - it's a LONG day - and then back from the Keys to Sarasota which is more doable. Personally I'd travel from Orlando down the west/Gulf coast and stay for a number of days somewhere between Sarasota/Naples. The coastline around this area beats the (largely man-made) beaches of the Keys by a mile in my book. The Keys are nice for but short of drinking in Key West, there's not really much to head down there for IMO. I would also avoid spending time in Miami itself - it's the only place in Florida that I really have no desire to return to...

 

[wreckdiva]

Been to the Keys countless times. LOVE Key Largo but me and DH are scuba divers. We drove from NC to Crystal River, then to Key Largo one year..ONE YEAR! lol. whew! I din't think we would ever get out of the car! Fort Meyers was close enough to the Interstate to just hop back on before alligator alley. Not really much to see there at all(alligator alley)! IMO. But, it was cool to say we did it. We did the Manatee swim in Crystal River, awesome experience!!! Then headed down to KL for scuba diving. Key West is interesting to see, but 1 night is enough for me!!(Not a big party-er). I think from CR it took us about 6+- hrs. including being stuck in traffic in tampa/ ft meyers. Key west to MIA is around 3 1/2 4 hr drive. Key Largo under 2hr back to MIA.

 

[Woodview]

You have 5 days

( 1 ) Drive to Miami & find a Hotel.

Do " The Duck Tour "

( Day 2 ) Drive to Alligator Alley ..... AND .. Turn into " Shark Valley "

Then go to The Everglades & Stay in Everglades City

( Day 3 ) Do the Boat Trip & Proper Air Boat Ride in Everglade City.

Stay overnight.

( Day 4 ) Drive to Naples

( Day 5 ) Drive back to Miami Via Hwy 75.


As pointed out It is A Long way to Drive to visit Key West and then to return the same road back.

 

[wilma-bride]

We did a similar thing in 2012 but started in Miami. We flew into Miami, spent 3 days in the Keys, drove out to the West Coast and up to Sarasota, across to the East Coast to St Augustine and then back to Orlando, returning to Miami for our flight home.

My trip report is in my signature (Keys to the World).

Although we drove along Alligator Alley, the only alligators we saw were the ones on the air boat tour we took in the Everglades.

We absolutely loved that holiday, though, one of the best we've had so far. With so many trips to WDW under our belts now, it is nice to do something different and see more of Florida.

 

[fairytale]

Thank you for sharing your experiences.

Wilma-Bride, looking forward to reading another trip report tonight, thank you

Annette x

 

[bex7583]

the drive to key west does feel very long , i was insistent we did it on our trip but at times i did feel abit guilty about how much driving dh did

we stayed in sunny isles in north miami the hotel was lovely and right on the beach had a huge 2 bedroom hotel room which after our cramped disney room felt huge it was newport beach resort and before we left i had read some dodgy reviews so wasnt expecting much however it was the best price we could find for our family of 5 so had no option , it turned out to be great we were begging them to get a extra nights but it was fully booked when we were checking out we had planned to go chekc out south beach but after a rum incident and me falling in a hole that my kids had spent all day digging on the beach we didnt get there

from there we drove towards the keys stopping to feed the tarpon at robbies marina , our original plan had been to stay in the islamorada area but on the morning we set off there wasnt many affordable options so we just booked the holiday inn express in marathon again based only it been the cheapest in the search , once again we were surprised the room was lovely spotless free breakfast most helpfull staff and location perfect with own marina also wild iguanas just strolling round pool area that kids loved.

despite all my planning our actual visit to key west didnt go to plan the sun set we drove 90 mins to see was blocked by a huge storm cloud we left a bit late and the atmosphere was rowdy already when we arrived it was also womensfest which we hadnt been aware of and there was lots of erm gay action and groping going on in the street the kids didnt notice as they were getting hassled by the glorified beggars trying to get them to hold cute puppies for photos etc

i think we stayed in marathon 2 or 3 nights before leaving for our next stop we didnt do alligator alley as after a few people on here said its just a motorway we went by tamimi trail ( i think) it took us through the everglades we stopped and had a airboat ride , we was going to stop again for a few nights but dh was fed up of driving by now and wanted a longer stay in 1 place so decided to continue to clearwater which was our final destintion this took 8 hour !! again we dropped on great with our hotel quality inn clearwater right on the beach cut a coupon out from a a magazine we picked up on the drive and had 4 nights here. it was nice to come home from the holiday feeling relaxed if we had continued on the bed hoping road trip right up untill our flight home i think we would have risked feeling frazzled and in need of a holiday

 

[brer_rabbit]

We went to Key West a couple of years ago. The drive from Miami was about 3 - 4 hours I think. The speed limit is only 40mph in some sections and lots of sheriffs on patrol so you have to take it easy.

One the way back from Key West we drove back to my parents in Bradenton - a 7 hour drive. We went through alligator alley and saw a couple of gators on the side of the road but apart from that it was a pretty boring drive! I agree with what other said and stop in Naples - it's a lovely town and I think the Gulf coast is a lot nicer than the Atlantic coast!