If you’re heading out to Orlando for a holiday and you want to see some more of Florida we thought we’d give you some other options of places to go and visit – like we have done previously but this time heading south – towards Miami.
There are loads of options available for you to explore the south of Florida – you can drive to Miami, fly to Miami, drive or fly to the Keys, take a cruise ship out of Miami around the Bahamas, fly to Key West and stay there a few days. These are all things we’ve done and can definitely recommend, so if you fancy investigating a few other options have a read and see if anything floats your boat and inspires you.
If you are keen to get a bit further south in Florida down to Miami go for it. The drive down is easy – pretty much one straight road and will take around 3 and half hours. So a good plan would be to head out late afternoon one day and stay a couple of nights in Miami so you can fully appreciate it. We’d recommend staying around around the South Beach area or Ocean Drive. If you venture too far out of these areas you’ll find an altogether less touristy vibe, which ought to be seen as a complete juxtaposition of the wealth and glamour of the tourist areas, but nonetheless can be a little scary. We’ve stayed at the Shore Club on Collins Avenue for a few nights – very minimal and beautiful and expensive for drinks etc. Beautiful pool area and its own private beach on South Beach. Absolutely beautiful – the service is outstanding and you can sit under your wide-brimmed glamorous hat and sunglasses and celebrity watch! The sea is turquoise blue and the sand is white, and also white hot so don’t forget your flip flops.
Ocean Drive is a lovely area to walk around, lots of interesting buildings and cars to see, and lots of restaurants, clubs and a general party atmosphere. You’ll find the famous Versace mansion there, which is now the five star boutique hotel Villa Casa Casuarina, you’ll recognise it if you ever Google the steps where Gianni Versace was murdered, and also there’s generally loads of tourists standing about getting their photos taken. It’s pretty pricey so we’ve never stayed there, but it looks impressive.
You could also look at flying down to Miami if you don’t fancy the drive. There are internal flights from Orlando International to Miami and although they are not as cheap as they used to be they can still be pretty reasonable.
You can also drive from Miami out to the Florida Keys, stopping off as you go. It’s an interesting and fabulous drive. The scenery is amazing and driving over the road bridges which link some of the Keys is such fun and so beautiful. We’d highly recommend it. It takes a good four hours to drive to Miami from Key West – the Southernmost Key, but its a drive worth taking. You can stop off on the way of course. The seven mile bridge is unbelievable. It links the Middle Keys to the Lower Keys and it is out of this world.
Key West is the the Southernmost Key and is only 90 miles from Cuba. It’s only 2 x 4 mile Island and it is unbelievably beautiful and relaxed and has a unique vibe. There are hotels and bars and restaurants, museums and galleries, wild dolphin encounters, fishing expeditions, diving, snorkelling and boating. Or you can just head to Duval Street and grab yourself a cocktail and enjoy the chilled out atmosphere. The big cruise liners also dock in Key West so there’s a regular influx of new people, and there are street performers and little markets regularly cropping up to stop and enjoy. You can take the Old Town Trolley Tour to get a good look around the Island. You can rent bicycles, motorbikes or golf carts too to investigate for yourself. There’s also a lighthouse to visit, the Little White House museum (which was actually President Harry S Truman’s winter residence) and Ernest Hemingway’s house, which we would highly recommend a trip to.
Ernest Hemingway (for those who may not know) is an American Author who wrote novels including For Whom the Bell Tolls and The Old Man and the Sea, for which he won a Pulitzer price in 1953. He sadly committed suicide in 1961. His house in Key West is a beautiful Spanish Colonial style house which is now protected as a Historic Landmark and museum. He lived and wrote there for around 10 years and you can see the room he wrote in along with his original typewriter. The house is beautiful and is pretty much as he left it, just with the addition of glass cases containing artefacts and personal possessions. Whether you will be able to see in the cases is another thing – Ernest Hemingway had a cat when he lived there, and the cat had a slightly rogue gene which means it had six toes. There are now between 50-60 polydactyl (six-toed) cats now living at the house and in the grounds and they are all descendants from that original cat he owned. The cats lie on his bed, lie on the glass cases and wander around the grounds. Mrs Oh! Was in her element – at one point even sitting on the floor surrounded by about seven kittens all having a little fuss. They cats are cared for by the employees of the museum and roam freely around the house, garden and grounds. We could go on forever about Key West – love everything about it! But let’s move on with another option for you.
Cruises – cruising out of Miami port is fantastic! Such a view of the Miami city high rises, the beaches and the most glorious blue blue sea. Three and four day cruises out of Miami to The Bahamas and various other Caribbean islands can be really reasonable – between $250-$300 if you book them through the American websites or when you get there. An absolute bargain, and a brilliant way to see the Bahamas whilst experiencing a huge luxury cruise liner. A lot of the cruise liners also go to Key West (which is how we first fell in love with it) so you get to see quite a lot for not too much money.
So hopefully that’s given you some food for thought – maybe you’ll give Southern Florida a look on your next visit – you can easily add these trips onto your Orlando holiday. Happy travels!
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