Hi there!
Key West is the last stop of your Florida Keys road trip!
Welcome to the southernmost area of the continental United States!
You have reached the end of the continental United States… also known as Key West!
Can you do a day trip to Key West from Miami?
Driving from Miami to Key West is a 3.5 hour drive. That is without any stops and with minimal traffic.
Being a 3.5 hour drive one way, a day trip to Key West would mean 7 hours of driving from Miami to Key West to Miami… at least!
Even if google maps tells you it will take you 3.5 hours of driving time to get from Miami to Key West, it will probably take longer.
And so, for most people, it is not reasonable to do a day trip to Key West from Miami.
Of course, if Key West is a Florida bucket list item for you and it’s the only chance you have to go to Key West, then you might want to do it anyway.
If you leave Miami at 7am, you will hopefully arrive in Key West by 11am. Then, you can have 5 hours in Key West to explore. If you start the drive from Key West to Miami around 4pm or 5pm, then you can hopefully be back to Miami by 9pm.
So if you do a day trip to Key West from Miami, it will probably be a 12+ hour day.
But otherwise, giving yourself at least 2 days for a Miami to Key West to Miami drive becomes more reasonable, although of course it would still be better if you had more time!
You can stay overnight in Key West, or you can find another place to stay along the way.
There are Florida state park campgrounds along the way. These campgrounds do get booked up early, but cancellations do happen.
You make camping reservations through the official Florida state park camping reservations website.
Florida state park campgrounds in the Florida Keys:
- Bahia Honda State Park (1 hour from Key West)
- Curry Hammock State Park (1 hour 15 minutes from Key West)
- Long Key State Park (1.5 hours from Key West)
- John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park (2 hours 15 minutes from Key West)
See more about a drive to Key West:
More below about the best things to do in Key West!
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- Key West snorkeling tour to North America's only living coral reef
- Key West dolphin watching tour + reef snorkeling
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Things to do in Key West in one day
There are many different ways to see Key West.
Here are some iconic things to do in Key West to get you started!
This one day in Key West doesn’t include snorkeling. If you want to make time for that, also see the best snorkeling spots in Key West! The Florida Keys are one of the best snorkeling destinations in the United States, and yes you can go snorkeling in Key West!
1. Smathers Beach
Driving down the Florida Overseas Highway and finally getting to 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!
Walk out onto the rocks and look down between the rocks to see if you can see any cute little fish!
If you’re driving from the south, you’ll also pass by mile marker 1 with a drive along the coast on your way!
For Smathers Beach parking, 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!
I did not see any parking payment stations along the Florida A1A waterfront so I took this to mean it’s free parking in Key West!
See more for planning your Key West itinerary:
2. Mile marker 0
Next, you can continue the drive to mile marker 0!
3. Southernmost Point of the Continental USA, Key West Historic District
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 in the direction that’s further away from the southernmost point, beyond Simonton Street. (google map)
Around the southernmost point is also a walkable area, so you can continue to have a walk around to see more “southernmost” things after you’ve visited the famous icon.
👆 It’s a 5 minute walk from the Southernmost Point to South Beach in Key West.
See more for planning your Key West itinerary:
4. Conch Tour Train or Old Town Trolley Tour
Then, to now further explore the main tourist area of Key West (aka Old Town and which the southernmost point is a part of), you can do the Conch Tour Train or Old Town Trolley!
The Conch Tour Train is basically a 1 hour 15 minute “train” ride through Key West. (It’s not a real train.) There is one stop where you have the chance to get off and get back on a later train ride to loop back around.
The Key West Old Town Trolley is a hop-on hop-off trolley with a lot more stops throughout Key West. You can take all day to explore different parts of Key West and get back on the trolley when you’re ready to go to another area of Key West.
If you really want to explore Key West, then it’s likely that you will like the flexibility of the Old Town Trolley!
You can even make it a perfect one day in Key West by spending all day getting on and off the Old Town Trolley. The trolley route goes by a lot of tourist attractions to give you plenty of ways to spend your day in Key West. See the Old Town Trolley stops.
There is also the free Duval Loop bus. This is basically a free public bus. The Duval Loop bus is the free hop-on hop-off bus in Key West. See the map.
On the Conch Tour Train and the Key West Old Town Trolley, your guides will tell you about the history of Key West.
Similar to a public bus, the Duval Loop bus has no narration. The bus driver is simply there to get you to your next destination!
See more for planning your Key West itinerary:
Or, if you don’t want to get on a train, trolley, or bus, you can simply explore Key West on your own!
There are parking garages and paid street parking in Key West.
If you don’t mind a little extra walking, there is free street parking towards the residential neighborhoods, some streets which aren’t too far from the tourist streets.
5. Key West Historic Seaport
Another walkable area in Key West is the Historic Seaport along the harbor.
You can get to this area by taking the Old Town Trolley or Duval Loop bus.
To get you started, you can get off at bus stop #1, 2, or 3 on the Duval Loop bus route, and then walk to the Harbor Walk that you see on the Duval Loop bus map. You can simply go for a walk along the harbor, or you can eat with a view at one of the many waterfront restaurants there. (google map)
And when you’re in the area, stop by Kermit’s Key Lime Pie to eat one of the most iconic foods of the Florida Keys! (google map)
If you’d like to see the famous Mallory Square of Key West, then you can get off at Duval Loop bus stop #4.
From there, walk through the famous Mallory Square. Then, walk 10 minutes or less to the Harbor Walk.
If you want to get on the Duval Loop bus from the southernmost point to go to the harbor, you can do that too. There are bus stops within a few minutes walk from the Southernmost Point. Look for bus stops #10 and #11.
To see how long you might have to wait for a bus, you can track the Duval Loop bus in real time at Key West Transit. The official line is that buses come every 20-30 minutes.
And that’s a bit about how to spend time in Key West!
More for your Florida Keys road trip:
- Best beach snorkeling in Key West
- Bahia Honda State Park (1 hour from Key West)
- Looe Key in Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (best snorkeling in the Florida Keys)
- Key Largo to Key West
- Miami to Key West
- Naples to Key West
- Marco Island to Key West
- One day in Everglades National Park
HAPPY ONE DAY IN KEY WEST!
👇 Explore the Florida Keys map on google maps!
There are affiliate links on this page.