Miami to Key West

Flying into Miami on the VS 5 at the end of November, then looking at driving out to Key West. Wondering if anyone has ever done this on the same day of arrival ?. With the early nights setting in I am thinking we would miss the views as we drive down apart from the tiredness aspect.
Anyone done it in the winter.?

Its a very long way after a long flight - 3.5 hours plus.

Most would recommend staying a night in Miami and getting up early and driving down. Plus you will save a bit on car hire. Staying downtown or near the airport is particularly cheap compared to the Beach.

Hi there - I've flown and driven, flown and been chauffeured, flown and connected on to American Eagle, and the best of the three has been the chauffeured option but now that is outside of the VS CDC range it's expensive.

For me, the drive is somewhat over rated, for a large part of the journey it's actually quite dull (apart from the seven mile bridge and some other stretches), and it's slow and as Ryan says can easily be 3 to 4 hours. Plus if you're actually in Key West for a while you really don't need a car.

I'd give yourself plenty of time for connections and investigate flying down, or if not to exorbitant, fly down and drive back?

I seem to remember this being at least a three hour drive due to low speed limits. I would overnight in Miami and enjoy the trip the next day

I second Slinky's experience, save for some of the final keys you cross in and out of on bridges, not worth worrying about the views so much. A same day is a pretty bad idea IMO as well, though, done my share of 3+ hour drives after a TATL and it's never been fun anyway. It'll likely be well past 6pm by the time you take off in your car, not ideal.

Define "end of November". End of November = thanksgiving, so if you are at all interested in a connecting flight, it may be more expensive than the norm as it is, and it would be advisable to book that short hop ASAP, as prices will not be getting lower. AA has an 8:30pm ish IIRC, which will give you the right amount of time you need to get through immigration at MIA, and make the connection. You will end up in EYW about the same time you would if driving, I would imagine, but it will be a much healthier journey. No car is really needed in Key West anyway, as Slinky says, and this would be my preferred option for the trip these days.

Bizarrely, I am reading this chain from a guesthouse in Key West.
We flew down this time - the vacation started in Chicago and we flew via MIA. The American Eagles plans are pretty old props that look reminiscent of WWII bombers.
The flying option can be pretty expensive. In fact tickets for two were more expensive than hiring a car, driving down, and then leaving it parked up for the stay.
I would certainly recommend the drive if you've not been to Key West before, but definitely spend a night in Miami and drive down the following morning.
One thing to note about the AA service from MIA to EYW is that they can cancel flights at short notice and those that do go can suffer big delays. Our scheduled flight down was cancelled about an hour before takeoff. Then the next flight (3 hours later) was delayed by a further 2 hours.

Thanks for all advice given.If I booked the AA flight down at 2030 hrs on the same day as arriving on the VS5 would VA be responsable if the flight was late and we missed the connection.
Any ideas?

Nope - unless it is all booked on the same "ticket" VS won't help in the event of any delays. Their contract ends when they get you to MIA and you are off the plane (not even through immigration..)

Maybe another reason to stay at MIA overnight? Then you could book an early flight down, or pick up a hire car and drive - I usually find I am awake very early after arriving in the US...

It's true that technically AA aren't obligated to help, although I find US airlines a good deal easier to deal with on these sorts of things, and you should be able to change your flight for fairly reasonable prices, if not for free. I agree that there is little difference between being in Key West at 10pm, and getting there at 9am in the morning or something. Might just be worth spending the first night at the airport.

Sorry to hijack this thread but seemed kinda logical... MrBear and I are flying into Miami mid Feb next year and driving down to Key West. That is where the plans falter - need help on deciding on which part of town to stay in. We would prefer a quieter location (preferably ocean front) but within 15 mins walk or so of nice restaurants. A 2 bed villa would be ideal. Any suggestions welcome.

Mrs B

Sorry to hijack this thread but seemed kinda logical... MrBear and I are flying into Miami mid Feb next year and driving down to Key West. That is where the plans falter - need help on deciding on which part of town to stay in. We would prefer a quieter location (preferably ocean front) but within 15 mins walk or so of nice restaurants. A 2 bed villa would be ideal. Any suggestions welcome.

Mrs B

Lucky you, three recommendations:

- The Reach or Casa Marina are in a quieter place of town (Waldorf resorts both and you could try for a two bed suite) and both are convenient for Louie's Backyard, a very nice restaurant but perhaps 10-15 mins walk to many others.
- The Marquesa Hotel is lovely and Fleming Street is generally quiet, it's much better in terms of walking to lots of restaurants. Note though the Marquesa does not allow young children.
- The Westin Sunset Key has two bedroom cottages but you're on a small island and you'll need to take the courtesy boat to Key West itself, it does have a lovely restaurant called Lattitudes there, where it is very nice to watch the sunset.

Key West is pretty built up so the resorts tend not to have villas, space is limited. Failing these Trip Adviser is a good place to start and you can search for hotels or rental places.

I concur with Slinky about Louie's backyard - great restaurant with beautiful views. Book for dinner and ask to sit outside.

I also enjoyed Blue Heaven for breakfast or brunch.

Duval St is the main drag, lots of places to eat or drink there. Stay somewhere around the south coast and you should be no more than 15-20 minutes from anywhere. Downtown Key West is compact and very walkable.

I concur with Slinky about Louie's backyard - great restaurant with beautiful views. Book for dinner and ask to sit outside.

I also enjoyed Blue Heaven for breakfast or brunch.

Duval St is the main drag, lots of places to eat or drink there. Stay somewhere around the south coast and you should be no more than 15-20 minutes from anywhere. Downtown Key West is compact and very walkable.

Blue Heaven is a great place for, for brunch lunch, however for dinner check out Seven Fish on Olivia St in KW - fabulous place, if you like fish, very much a locals place as I recall, bookings essential.

A

OK I'll add restaurants too:

- Michael's for steak, really really good
- Blue Heaven for Sunday brunch (I also like it for dinner)
- Cafe Marquesa for fine dining
- Kelly's Bar is good for cocktails and a lovely building
- Lattitudes on Sunset Key for sunset dining
- Half Shell Raw Bar on the harbour for lunch any day if you love oysters (a very simple place but very good)
- Seven Fish is still my favourite and I went there the week it opened and know the owners)
- A&B Lobster House (also called the S&M Lobster House in my circle) if you like the eponymous in season
- Mangia Mangia for pasta (low key and lower priced but good fun on the terrace)
- La Trattoria on Duval has great lamb shanks

Most good places do need to be booked.

And one more - sunset is so much better on the rooftop bar of La Concha hotel with a drink in hand!

^^^ a frequent haunt of yours slinky?

^^^ a frequent haunt of yours slinky?

:w

Not driven but had towncar trips down from MIA, pitch black and boring first time, second time stayed a night at the Mandarin Oriental and then a day transfer to KW, well worth the hotel stay for being able to see the bridges and the big lizards holding up traffic.

Thanks Slinky, Phantomtwin and easygoinggeezer, great tips! Booked flights last night - great deal on PE into MIA and out of MCO. UC is still too pricey at £2,500 each but there might be an upgrade opp between now and then. Fingers crossed.

Cheers
MrsB

Thinking about chillin in the Keys for my 50th in 2014, love KW.

Highly recommend getting a good spot to watch the sun setting. Worth the trip in itself.

Have a great time x

I would have to agree with others, it's a long drive to do straight off the plane, especially with a max speed of 55 (most at 45 or less). Last time we were in FL, two years ago, we actually did a day trip to Key West, that was a mistake. It really is easy to forget how far apart things are in the US.

This time round, we are flying LHR to MIA and driving about 90 minutes north before stopping in Juniper Beach overnight. Then driving up to Orlando for 2 weeks before heading back to Miami for four nights then down to Key West for four nights before heading back to Miami for the flight home (upgraded to PE, something to finish the holiday nicely )

If you've never driven on the Keys, it's definately worth it at least once, especially if you have a nice car to do it in. Make sure you are driving down in daylight though.

I've thrown a couple of pictures and a time lapse video of the sunset we took last time on Flikr if you want to take a look. Forgive the quality, they were all taken with an elderly camera and some taken by my wife out of the back of the car. It was a beautiful sunset though, this time round, I'm looking forward to watching it from a bar (looking through the suggestions in this thread) instead of from the side of the road.

5 days and counting!!!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/56768692@N ... 569255900/

Beautiful sunset

We have now booked the trip, LHR to MIA then AA flight straight down to Key West (fingers crossed that it is not cancelled). It will be a lot of travel in one day but it gets us to where we want to be. Will have 5 nights in Key West then pick up a car and drive up to Key Largo for another 3 nights before heading up to Orlando for 6 nights. Found really nice (according to Tripadvisor!) boutique hotels in both KW and KL. Really looking forward to it

Thanks all
MrsB