Advice and tips for exploring Fort Lauderdale, Everglades, Key West and Miami in South Florida. You have probably heard of Miami, and maybe Key West, but you certainly need to consider visiting Fort Lauderdale and the Everglades too!
Fort Lauderdale
Fort Lauderdale is the land of boats, superyachts and a tonne of yachties (people that work on boats). The area is interwoven with water inlets, causing most properties to be on the water with their own private boat mooring.
To do in Fort Lauderdale
- Las Olas Blvd: There is a free water taxi that runs from near The Cheesecake Factory and up the Tarpon River, or there is a great path called The Riverwalk that I recommend walking/ cycling, plus make sure you stop by Briny Riverfront Irish Pub because the nautical decorations are amazing!
- Lauderdale-by-the-sea: it has a neat jetty and restaurant area
- Shopping! If you love a bargain (including Louis Vuitton brands etc), check out TJ Maxx and Ross on 17th Street.
- I recommend keeping an eye out for concerts. To make up for all the missed Christmas’s and birthday’s, I recently took my parents to Billy Idol at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino and we had a great time!
Getting around Fort Lauderdale
- Uber is very popular
- Buses are fairly frequent and there is a touristy one called the Sun Trolley which usually costs about $1 per ride
- Train called the Tri-rail to get from Fort Lauderdale and travel longer distances between Miami and West Palm Beach. Some of the stations have free shuttles which link the stations to the main town centres.
Everglades
The Everglades are massive and cover a large area of Florida. I recommend visiting them on your way to Key West. We stayed one night in Homestead, which was our cheapest accommodation the entire trip (but certainly balanced out with the price of accommodation in Key West the following night!). Homestead was the perfect location to wake up and only have a 15 minute drive to an airboat tour ride!
Airboat ride: Everglades Alligator Farm
Alligator and babies at Everglades Alligator Farm
Key West
It takes 2 ½ hours to drive from Homestead to Key West. But there is no way you will want to do the drive without stopping! Plus, if you can justify the cost, highly recommend staying in Key West. We attempted to stay in Islamorada for two nights, and it was exhausting with the amount of driving.
To do on the drive to Key West
- The Rain Barrel Artisan Village (just keep an eye out for the giant crayfish)
- Robbie’s – A restaurant and some shops on the water. It was very entertaining to watch tourists feeding the massive Tarpon!
- You will drive on the Seven Mile Bridge (Arnold Schwarzenegger fans will know if from the movie True Lies)
- Bahia Honda State Park is located at mile marker 37. It costs to enter and had a great view of the bridges. It has a less touristy area to the north, but overall it was disappointed – as I was mainly looking for a snorkelling spot.
To do in Key West
- Mile 0 – There is a shop across the road if you want a souvenir, or most of the shops sell Mile 0 items too.
- Southernmost Point – There is always a queue for photos, so either be patient, or just don’t bother posing and take one quick photo when people are swapping turns.
- I recommend having a meal and wandering the shops, plus if the weather is in your favour, make sure you watch the sunset from the water’s edge.
- If you enjoy maritime history, including finding treasure, then you will enjoy the Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Museum as much as Moss and I did.
Key West Sunset
Key Largo
I still have not had the chance, but if you cannot visit the Bahamas during your holiday, then you might as well see the closest thing to it and pay to go on a snorkelling tour at the John Pennekamp State Park. One of the tours goes to an underwater sculpture park similar to Grenada’s Underwater Sculpture Park.
South Beach, Miami
South Beach, Miami is known as the Art Deco District. Once you are there, you will not need a car. Parking buildings cost about $20 per day.
To do in South Beach, Miami
- Ride bikes along the beach path and walk along the wharf at South Pointe Beach
- Take photos of the surf clubs, make sure you find the one painted like a USA flag
- Watch the people working out and flexing their muscles!
- I recommend looking up sports games, we scored last minute tickets to see the Miami Heat Basketball team at the American Airlines Arena.
- Join a pub crawl!
