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Travel guide
Key West
4 days · 8 things to do
Best time to go: November to May
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Welcome
Key West, in a few days
At the end of a 180 km road laid across 42 bridges over the sea, Key West is the last island of the Keys, closer to Havana than to Miami. Wooden houses with verandas, free-roaming roosters, bars open to the street and a sunset applauded every evening on the quay: Hemingway's town lives to a Caribbean rhythm, with the reefs and the Dry Tortugas fort on the horizon.
- Day by day
- D1 Day 1 3 things
- D2 Day 2 2 things
- D3 Day 3 2 things
- D4 Day 4 1 thing
- Worth sorting before you go
- Words that help
- The practical page
- Packing checklist
The trip
Day by day
Map of the sights (numbers follow the suggested order). It prints with the base map.
D1
Day 1
3 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Duval Street free · 2 to 3 hKey West's main street, crossing the island for 2 km from the Gulf to the Atlantic, past Victorian wooden houses, galleries and open-fronted bars such as Sloppy Joe's.
- Afternoon · Mallory Square free · about 1 h 30The quay where crowds have gathered every evening since the 1960s to applaud the sunset over the Gulf, among jugglers, fire-eaters, musicians and conch fritter stands.
- Late afternoon · Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum · about 1 hThe 1851 limestone house where Hemingway lived from 1931 to 1939, with his writing studio, a tropical garden and some sixty cats, many of them six-toed.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Eden House ↗ · All places to stay by budget →€270 a night
D2
Day 2
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Fort Zachary Taylor · half a dayA brick fort held by the Union throughout the Civil War, with the country's largest collection of cannons of the period and the best beach in Key West.
- Late afternoon · National Key Deer Refuge free · about 1 h 30A refuge on Big Pine Key protecting the tiny Key deer, found only on these islands, with the Blue Hole, a freshwater quarry where alligators, turtles and herons gather.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Eden House ↗€270 a night
D3
Day 3
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Bahia Honda State Park · half a dayA state park at mile 37 whose white sand beaches and shallow turquoise water rank among the finest in the Keys, overlooked by a broken section of Flagler's old railway bridge.
- Late afternoon · Seven Mile Bridge free · about 2 hThe Keys road's most famous bridge, 11 km over turquoise water, beside Flagler's old 1912 railway bridge, reopened in 2022 to walkers and cyclists as far as Pigeon Key.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Eden House ↗€270 a night
D4
Day 4
1 thing to do · at your own pace
- All day · Dry Tortugas · a full dayA remote national park of seven islets 113 km west of Key West, reached by ferry or seaplane, with the vast brick Fort Jefferson and reefs to snorkel along its moat.
Before you go
Worth sorting before you go
📶 eSIM data
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
🛡️ Travel insurance
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
💳 Fee-free card
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
🚐 Airport transfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
Some links are partner links: we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.
Good to know
Flavours & local habits
🍽️ Worth tasting
- Burgers and barbecue: brisket and ribs cooked low and slow, done differently in every state.
- Clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl: the classic lunch on the San Francisco waterfront.
- Mexican food: tacos from a truck in Los Angeles, a Mission burrito in San Francisco.
- Pancakes and weekend brunch: a national habit, generous to the point of excess.
- Craft beer, and California wine from Napa and Sonoma.
⚠️ Best avoided
- Tipping is not optional: add 15 to 20% in restaurants and bars.
- Prices on menus and in shops exclude sales tax, which is added at the till.
- Do not plan more than four or five hours of driving a day: the distances are larger than they look on the map.
- Never travel without health insurance. A night in hospital can cost thousands of dollars.
- In summer, do not hike down into the Grand Canyon in the heat of the day: the climb back out is where people get into trouble.
Getting by
Words that help
🗣️ English is the main language here, so there is nothing to learn by heart.
The essentials
The practical page
CurrencyUS dollar (USD, $)
BudgetAbout €240 a day, mid-range
Best seasonNovember to May
PlugA/B · 120V
Tap waterSafe to drink
Tipping15 to 20%, expected
Emergency911
EntryUK, Australian and most EU passports need an ESTA, applied for online before departure, for stays of up to 90 days; a few EU countries sit outside the Visa Waiver Program and need a full visa. Canadians need neither, only a passport. Anyone who has been to Cuba since January 2021 cannot use an ESTA and must apply for a visa.
HealthNo vaccination required. Keep tetanus, diphtheria and polio up to date; hepatitis A is worth considering if you eat well off the tourist trail. In the desert parks, the heat is the real risk.
Scan to open this guide online, always up to date.
https://offwegooo.com/en/guides/key-west
Don't forget
Packing checklist
Have a good trip.
Guide made on offwegooo.com · Photos via Pexels · Details are indicative, check before you leave.