Hi there!
So you want to make it an epic Southern Florida road trip with a drive from Siesta Key to Key West!
I did a drive from Siesta Key to Key West in April and May 2022.
It was a rather slow journey, as from the day I left Siesta Key to the day I first arrived in Key West was 3 weeks!
No, it doesn’t have to take you 3 weeks to drive from Siesta Key to Key West!
But if you want to take more than a few days to get to Key West, there are plenty of ways to spend your time depending on the overnight stops you might want to make!
How long is the drive from Siesta Key to Key West?
Driving directly, it might take around 7 hours of driving time from Siesta Key to Key West.
Explore the map.
So, as a 7 hour drive, for many people it would be considered doable to drive from Siesta Key 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 Siesta Key to Key West!
See below for ideas on a driving route for Siesta Key to Key West!
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What is there to see between Siesta Key and Key West?
Explore the map.
1. Siesta Key
Siesta Key has been named one of the best beaches in America.
At one end of Siesta Key is the famous #1 beach that is Siesta Beach.
This is where you’ll find an amazing white sand beach with a wide stretch of sand.
On the other end of Siesta Key is the quieter end, and it’s where you’ll find Turtle Beach… along with the Turtle Beach campground! If you want to go camping on Siesta Key, the Turtle Beach campground is it!
There is a direct path from the campground to the beach, so your campsite will just be a few minutes walk from being able to see the amazing Gulf coast.
I also saw dolphins swimming along the shoreline from Turtle Beach!
You need to get lucky in order to find camping availability, as campsites get booked up pretty much as soon as they are available months in advance. But people do cancel.
See more about planning your drive from Siesta Key to the Florida Keys:
Camping between Siesta Key and the Florida Keys:
- Turtle Beach campground (Siesta Key)
- How to make reservations for Turtle Beach campground
- Oscar Scherer State Park campground
- How to make reservations for Oscar Scherer State Park
2. Myakka River State Park
You can make it a stop at Myakka River State Park if you’re looking for a pleasant nature stop with lots of green.
It can be a scenic drive through Myakka River State Park.
Myakka River State Park is also known for the canopy walk.
You’ll walk across a bridge that’s suspended in air, and then continue climbing the stairs up the tower for views above the trees.
There is also a spot in Myakka River State Park that’s known for alligator sightings.
When you come across the bridge, make a stop to see if you can spot some alligators!
Plus you might make some bird sightings when you are in Myakka River State Park!
Camping between Siesta Key and the Florida Keys:
- Myakka River State Park campground
- How to make reservations for Florida state parks
3. Sanibel Island
Sanibel Island is known for its beaches.
But you’re going to Siesta Key for the beaches, so maybe you are thinking you don’t need to make time for another beach.
But Sanibel Island isn’t just any beach stop.
Sanibel Island is known as one of the best spots for shelling in Florida.
And even more than that, Sanibel Island beaches are known for being the best beaches for shelling in all of the United States!
You can go to any of the beaches on Sanibel Island and you will find shells.
Along the shoreline, you can find tons of small shells, and the more you look, the greater your chances are for finding different types of shells!
To get you started, you likely will not be disappointed if you make Bowmans Beach your one and only Sanibel Island shelling beach to visit!
And there is also Captiva Island for shelling.
The Sanibel Island beach parking fee is hourly. See current fees.
There is a toll for driving the bridge to Sanibel Island. See current fees under Sanibel toll plaza.
See more about planning your drive from Siesta Key to the Florida Keys:
Camping between Siesta Key and the Florida Keys:
- Cayo Costa State Park campground (ferry to get there!)
- Koreshan State Park campground
- How to make reservations for Florida state parks
4. Marco Island
If you want to add in another beach stop on your way to Key West, then there is Marco Island that you can stop off at!
You can look for shells on Marco Island.
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 Siesta Key to the Florida Keys:
Camping between Siesta Key and the Florida Keys:
- Collier-Seminole State Park campground
- How to make reservations for Collier-Seminole State Park
5. Ten Thousand Islands, 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 Siesta Key side (Gulf side) and the Miami side (Atlantic side).
On the Siesta Key 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.
6. Big Cypress National Preserve
One of the best places to see alligators in Florida is along the Tamiami Trail between Siesta Key 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 Siesta Key to the Florida Keys: Where are the alligators on Tamiami Trail?
Camping between Siesta Key and the Florida Keys:
- Midway Campground (Tamiami Trail)
- More Big Cypress National Preserve campgrounds
- How to make Big Cypress National Preserve camping reservations
7. 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 Siesta Key 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 Siesta Key to the Florida Keys:
- 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 Siesta Key and the Florida Keys:
- Flamingo campground (tent camping only in May 2022, RV camping to start in June 2022)
- Flamingo Everglades eco-tent camping
- Long Pine Key campground (tent camping, RV camping)
- How to make Everglades National Park camping reservations
8. 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 Siesta Key to the Florida Keys: How to spend 2 hours at South Pointe in Miami Beach
Camping between Siesta Key and the Florida Keys:
9. 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 Siesta Key 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 Siesta Key to Key West: Key Largo 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 Siesta Key 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 Siesta Key and Key West:
- John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park campground
- Long Key State Park campground
- Curry Hammock State Park campground
- Bahia Honda State Park campgrounds
10. 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!
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 Siesta Key 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 Siesta Key to Key West:
Camping between Siesta Key and Key West:
- Bahia Honda State Park campgrounds (tent camping, RV camping)
- How to make Bahia Honda State Park camping reservations
11. 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)
Then after you go to the southernmost point, you can leave the car behind and take the free Duval loop bus to see more of Key West without a car!
And 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 SIESTA KEY!
Here are some popular activities you need to know about to get some very-Florida experiences! Read the reviews on the partner websites listed below!
🐠 You can swim with colorful fishies in the Florida Keys!
The most popular snorkeling tours are the snorkeling tours in Key Largo and the snorkeling tours in Key West!
Read the reviews for more of the best Key West tours on viator and the best Key West tours on getyourguide.
If you're going snorkeling (or to the beach!), here are things you must consider packing for Florida!
You can find these things on Amazon. I am an Amazon Associate.
- Swimsuit or swimming shirt aka rash guard
- rash guard: swim set for women and swim shirt for men
- Water shoes
- Waterproof phone case (so you can capture pictures of fishies underwater!)
- cheapo phone case OR waterproof camera
- I also have this "camera" wrist float to attach to my cheapo waterproof phone case so my phone won't sink to the bottom of the ocean in case I somehow let go of it. (Mine does stay afloat - test this for yourself before completely trusting it!)
- Swimming goggles or snorkeling mask set
- Reef-safe(r) sunscreen
- lightweight travel towel
I also like to go snorkeling with a personal swim float buoy. Not only does it help to keep me visible, but it makes for a perfect way to rest out in deeper water! Oh, and it also serves as a dry bag so I can take stuff into the water with me.
Another way I have taken valuables into the water with me is to wear a travel money belt that I don't mind getting wet with salt water (it's not waterproof but I have several so I just use one of them) and then I put things in a ziplock freezer bag, and put that freezer bag in the money belt.
There are also designated waterproof waist pouches that you can store your valuables and take into the water with you.