Hi there!
So you want to make it an epic Southern Florida road trip with a drive from Naples to Key West!
How long is the drive from Naples to Key West?
Driving directly, it might take around 5 hours of driving time from Naples to Key West.
Explore the map.
So, as a 5 hour drive, it’s doable to drive from Naples to Key West in one day if you’re looking to just go straight there.
But you can also just as easily take a few days to get to Key West too!
Below will show some ideas of stops you can make as you make the drive from Naples to Key West!
See below for ideas on a driving route for Naples to Key West!
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Epic Key West activities you need to consider:
- Key West snorkeling tour to North America's only living coral reef
- Jet ski tour of Key West's backcountry
- Key West dolphin watching tour + reef snorkeling
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What is there to see between Naples and Key West?
1. Marco Island
If you want to add in a beach stop before you start driving to Key West, then there is Marco Island that you can stop off at!
The 2 main public beaches on Marco Island are South Beach and Tigertail Beach.
You will probably have an easier time with parking at Tigertail Beach.
Tigertail Beach is known as the best shelling beach on Marco Island, although you can look for shells along any Marco Island beach.
It’s also known for the lagoon water crossing to get to the beach, although there is also an alternative walking route that is not so bad.
If you want to walk normally to the beach, you’ll want to park at the far end of the parking lot as far as you can drive, and then start walking from there.
Then, after a few minutes of walking, you see a wide expansive white sand beach of Marco Island!
It’s possible you might walk around 10 minutes from your parking spot to where you want to set up camp on the beach.
And if you will be staying an overnight on Marco Island, be sure to catch a Marco Island sunset!
See more about planning your drive from Naples to Key West:
Camping between Naples and Key West:
- Collier-Seminole State Park campground
- How to make reservations for Collier-Seminole State Park
2. Ten Thousand Islands in Everglades National Park
The best way to experience the Ten Thousand Islands can be through a boat tour!
You can consider Everglades National Park to have the Naples side (Gulf side) and the Miami side (Atlantic side).
On the Naples side is where you will find the Everglades National Park Gulf Coast Visitor Center.
You will not actually be within the Everglades National Park boundary by going to this visitor center.
Instead, the way to experience this gulf coast side of Everglades National Park is by water.
You can do the Ten Thousand Islands boat tour that starts from the Gulf Coast Visitor Center.
You have a chance to see dolphins and manatees on an Everglades National Park boat tour in the Ten Thousand Islands.
You’ll want to book ahead as these boat tours can sell out. You can book through Everglades Florida Adventures.
3. Big Cypress National Preserve
One of the best places to see alligators in Florida is along the Tamiami Trail between Naples and Miami!
And the Tamiami Trail is where you’ll find the Big Cypress National Preserve.
There are several stops along the Tamiami Trail that you can make for a chance to see alligators. (Alligators are wild and there’s never any guarantee to see them, though!)
If you are looking to make just ONE stop with the best chance to see alligators, you will want to stop at the Oasis Visitor Center in Big Cypress National Preserve!
The Oasis Visitor Center is one of the best places that I’ve seen tons of alligators in Florida.
The alligators are so close to the Tamiami Trail that you can actually see the cars driving along the Tamiami Trail as you are looking at the alligators!
So the alligators are pretty much laying right along the Tamiami Trail.
See more about planning your drive from Naples to Key West: Where are the alligators on Tamiami Trail?
Camping between Naples and Key West:
- Midway Campground (Tamiami Trail)
- More Big Cypress National Preserve campgrounds
- How to make Big Cypress National Preserve camping reservations
4. Everglades National Park
Now for the Miami side of the Everglades.
All land-based activities in Everglades National Park that you can drive to are on the Miami side. (aka the best things to do in Everglades National Park are on the Miami side!)
One of the best places to see alligators in Florida is in Everglades National Park.
Everglades National Park is known for alligators, wetlands, and airboats.
You can experience all 3 with just one day in Everglades National Park!
You might even be able to experience all 3 with just a few hours.
But again, there’s no guarantee to see alligators!
As you continue your drive from Naples to Key West along Tamiami Trail, you will come across a turn-off for Shark Valley.
Shark Valley is one of the best places to see alligators in Everglades National Park by tram, by bike, or even by foot!
Then if you continue driving along Tamiami Trail, you will pass several spots where you can do an Everglades airboat tour.
One of the best places to see crocodiles in Florida is also Everglades National Park!
That will require quite a bit of a detour from going directly to Key West, as the spot to (maybe!) see crocodiles in an area called Flamingo in the Everglades that’s located pretty far out of the way.
See more about planning your drive from Naples to Key West:
- Things to do in Everglades National Park
- How to spend one day in Everglades National Park
- Where to see alligators in the Everglades
- Where to see crocodiles in the Everglades
Camping between Naples and Key West:
- Flamingo campground (tent camping, RV camping)
- Flamingo Everglades eco-tent camping
- Long Pine Key campground (tent camping, RV camping)
- How to make Everglades National Park camping reservations
5. Miami
After Everglades National Park, you can be on your way to the Florida Keys, with Key Largo being the first major key!
Or, you can make a detour to Miami.
Depending on where you’re going after the Florida Keys, you may save Miami for your return back up north.
If you do decide to stop by Miami, then you likely won’t be disappointed by South Pointe!
See more about planning your drive from Naples to Key West:
Camping between Naples and Key West:
6. Florida Overseas Highway
And now you have made it to the Florida Keys!!!
The Florida Overseas Highway is the road that goes through the Florida Keys!
So by driving to Key West, you will be driving along the Florida Overseas Highway!
And yes, parts of the Overseas Highway are “overseas”!
You will be driving over many bridges that connect a bunch of the little islands (“keys”) in the Florida Keys!
The Overseas Highway in the Florida Keys is a Florida Scenic Highway and an All-American road as one of America’s byways!
So by driving in the Florida Keys, you will be driving a Florida Scenic Highway and All-American road!
Once you starting driving in the Florida Keys, it will basically be a drive from Key Largo to Key West.
Driving from Key Largo to Key West might take you around 2.5 hours.
One of the major icons along the way is the Seven Mile Bridge.
This isn’t necessarily a stop to make on your drive from Naples to Key West, but it’s an icon of a Florida Keys drive!
If you are still not sure about driving all the way to Key West and you’re wondering how far south you should drive otherwise… your answer is a drive across the Seven Mile Bridge!
If you’ll be getting to the Seven Mile Bridge around sunset time, then Seven Mile Bridge can make for an epic Florida Keys sunset too!
You can find parking areas on either side of the bridge.
See more about planning your drive from Naples to Key West:
Camping near the Florida Overseas Highway
There are state parks in the Florida Keys that are located right off the Florida Overseas Highway that offer camping.
This includes tent camping and RV camping… and car camping, van camping, etc!
Finding open campsite availability at state park campgrounds in the Florida Keys is known to be (very) difficult.
State park campgrounds in the Florida Keys are often fully booked 11 months in advance when campsites open up for booking!
But don’t worry, not all hope is lost if you aren’t capable of planning that far in advance. (And even if you were, it’s also known to be difficult. Reports indicate campsites can get snatched up within the first 5 minutes… or less!)
If your Naples to Key West road trip is just a few months, weeks, or even days away, cancellations do happen. You just have to get lucky and search for campgrounds immediately after someone cancels.
Your “luck” will increase the more you search, and the closer you are to your travel date.
Searching over and over (and over 😜) does really work. I spent 2 weeks camping in the Florida Keys in Florida state parks!
In case you are not able to find availability and/or you just want to get something booked, a good back-up campground near the Florida Keys can be Long Pine Key campground in Everglades National Park. This is just outside Homestead FL. I camped there for one night and the campground was practically empty when campgrounds in the Florida Keys were full.
I have found camping availability open up weeks away, days away, and even the day before. There was one day that I was looking for a campsite for the next night and ALL state park campgrounds in the Florida Keys had availability!!! (Decisions! Which to stay at?!)
So, while it’s not something to depend on, it’s something you can look for.
1 night stays will generally be easier to find than multi-night stays.
You will find the greatest difficulty in finding open campgrounds for Saturday nights.
Camping between Naples and Key West:
- Camping in the Florida Keys
- John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park campground
- Long Key State Park campground
- Curry Hammock State Park campground
- Bahia Honda State Park campgrounds (best!)
7. Bahia Honda State Park
Bahia Honda State Park is also along the way from Key Largo to Key West off of the Overseas Highway, but it gets a special mention!
So you now know that you need to drive as far as Seven Mile Bridge.
And since you have made it to Seven Mile Bridge, you can make Bahia Honda State Park your turnaround point if you decide you don’t want to go all the way to Key West!
It will be just a few minutes further.
Bahia Honda State Park is one of the most popular state parks in the Florida Keys.
This is where you will find another icon of the Florida Keys, the Old Bahia Honda railway bridge.
You can actually see the old bridge if you do continue your drive without stopping at Bahia Honda State Park.
You’ll see it as you continue your drive to Key West.
But if you do stop at Bahia Honda State Park, you can get a classic view of the old bridge.
And you can also get amazing views of the Atlantic Ocean!
There are also beaches in Bahia Honda State Park for swimming.
You can also try snorkeling in Bahia Honda State Park for a chance to see some underwater life.
Emphasis on CHANCE!
The fish are wild and they do what they want when they want!
That said, I did have some fun snorkeling experiences in Bahia Honda State Park!
It’s considered one of the best beach snorkeling spots in the Florida Keys.
Bahia Honda State Park also has picnic tables so it can make for perfect stop for a picnic with views!
There are kayak rentals at Bahia Honda State Park.
If you will be at Bahia Honda State Park for sunset, then this can also make for a sunset spot in the Florida Keys.
Bahia Honda State Park has a state park entry fee. This is around $8 per car. See current fees.
Bahia Honda State Park has 3 campgrounds.
Buttonwood Campground and the newly opened back up Sandspur Campground (previously closed due to hurricane damage) are for tent camping and RV camping.
Bayside Campground is for tent camping only.
All campgrounds have waterfront campsites… although not all campsites are waterfront!
👆 Camping between Naples and Key West: Buttonwood Campground in Bahia Honda State Park.
There are also waterfront cabins in Bahia Honda State Park. (Again, good luck getting a reservation!)
See more about planning your drive from Naples to Key West:
Camping between Naples and Key West:
- Bahia Honda State Park campgrounds (tent camping, RV camping)
- How to make Bahia Honda State Park camping reservations
8. Key West
And you’ve made it to Key West!!!
There are many different ways to see Key West.
To get you started, you can make Smathers Beach your first destination in Key West.
Smathers Beach is one of the best beaches in Key West, and it will give you the tropical vibes you’ve imagined!
You’ll also pass by mile marker 1 with a drive along the coast on your way!
Right in front of Smathers Beach is paid parking for $5 per hour. ($2.50 if you think you’ll be in and out in 30 minutes!)
Or if you don’t mind walking an extra 5 to 10 minutes, then further east (or “north”) you can find free parking. This is in the area of the mile marker 1.
Just be mindful of the parking signs!
If you don’t see any “no parking” or “paid parking” signs, you can probably feel safe about parking there!
And then, you can continue the drive to mile marker 0!
You will also probably want to at least drive by the southernmost point of the continental United States.
If you want to park and take pictures here, then expect to wait in a line to take a picture with one of Key West’s most famous icons.
The Southernmost Point is a very touristy spot so you can expect crowds here in Key West.
Once again, there’s paid parking directly around the southernmost point. And once again, the paid parking near the southernmost point is $5 per hour.
Or if you don’t mind walking an extra 10 minutes, you might be able to find free parking if you’re lucky and/or it’s not too busy of a day!
To get you started on where you look for free parking, you can look on South Street beyond Duval Street in the direction that’s further away from the southernmost point.
For the visual on a map, look for the Southernmost Point Key West, and then locate South Street and Duval Street. (map)
And then if you want to park and leave your car behind, you can get on the free Duval Loop bus to further explore Key West!
Or, you can get back in the car to drive to one of the best snorkeling spots in Key West!
Then, once you’ve spent all the time that you want in Key West, you can start making your way back up north!
If you’re headed up further north, you can make a stop north of Orlando at one of the Ocala National Forest springs in Central Florida!
HAPPY DRIVING TO THE FLORIDA KEYS FROM NAPLES!