Visit Key West

Whitewashed wooden houses with shutters, chickens roaming the streets, docks where people applaud the setting sun and turquoise water on both sides of the road: Key West is best enjoyed by bike, at an easy pace. Three nights are enough, one more for the Dry Tortugas.

Why visit Key West?

Key West is the southernmost inhabited island of continental Florida reachable by road, at the end of the Overseas Highway. Its Old Town preserves a large ensemble of 19th-century wooden houses, and the island is the base for Dry Tortugas National Park and the coral reefs of the Keys.

Key West's must-sees

Writers' homes, forts and reefs, nearly all within cycling distance of Duval Street.

Ernest Hemingway Home

A Spanish colonial house where the writer lived in the 1930s, visited with a guide. Dozens of cats still live there, many descended from a six-toed cat.

Mallory Square sunset

Every evening the harbour square fills with street performers, jugglers and vendors. Arrive an hour before sunset to find a spot at the edge of the dock.

Southernmost Point

A red, black and yellow striped concrete buoy marking the southernmost publicly accessible point of the continental United States, with its sign recalling Cuba 90 miles away.

Dry Tortugas National Park

An archipelago about 110 km west, reached by ferry or seaplane, around the huge brick Fort Jefferson. Snorkelling on pristine reefs, with limited places each day.

Fort Zachary Taylor

A 19th-century fort in the south-west of the island, inside a state park with Key West's most pleasant beach, shaded by pines and good for snorkelling.

Truman Little White House

A former naval station officer's residence where President Harry Truman stayed many times. Guided tour of the original furniture and of the room where he worked.

Key West Lighthouse

An 1848 lighthouse facing the Hemingway house. Its 88 steps lead to a gallery with views over the Old Town rooftops and the Gulf of Mexico.

Seven Mile Bridge

A bridge about eleven kilometres long at Marathon, an hour's drive from Key West. The old parallel bridge, reopened to walkers and cyclists, leads to tiny Pigeon Key.

What to see in Key West, area by area?

Old Town and Duval Street

Duval Street crosses the island from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic over about two kilometres, lined with bars, galleries and terraces. The parallel streets, Whitehead, Simonton or Eaton, are much quieter: this is where you see the porch-fronted conch houses, built of wood by ship carpenters in the 19th century. Old Town can be covered on foot in half a day, but cycling remains the best way to get around, as the island is only about six kilometres long. At night Duval gets noisy until late: sleep on a side street.

The waterfront and the Historic Seaport

North-west of Old Town, the Historic Seaport occupies the former shrimping and wrecking harbour, now turned into a boardwalk about two kilometres long. This is where dive boats, sport-fishing charters and sunset catamarans leave from, as does the Dry Tortugas ferry, around 8 am. Seafood restaurants serve snapper and local spiny lobster, caught from August to March. Allow an hour for a stroll, then walk over to Mallory Square for the end of the day.

Bahama Village and the south of the island

Just west of Duval, Bahama Village keeps the memory of families who came from the Bahamas in the 19th century: narrow streets, free-roaming hens and roosters, small Caribbean restaurants. Further south, the end of Whitehead Street leads to the Southernmost Point buoy, where the queue for a photo often exceeds thirty minutes at midday: come before 9 am. The Atlantic shore then lines up the island's busiest beaches, from Higgs Beach to Smathers Beach, ten minutes by bike from the centre.

The Keys road, from Miami to Key West

The Overseas Highway strings together islands and bridges for about 180 km from the mainland; allow three and a half to four hours by car from Miami and its beaches, longer on Fridays. Mile markers, from 0 in Key West to 113 at the entrance to the Keys, serve as addresses all the way. Stop in Islamorada for fishing, Marathon for the Seven Mile Bridge and Bahia Honda for one of the few fine-sand beaches in the Keys. The drive deserves a full day, or a night on the way back.

When to go: dry season, hurricanes and Fantasy Fest

From December to April, the dry season brings 24 to 27 °C and calm seas, but it is also when accommodation is most expensive and booked months ahead. Hurricane season officially runs from 1 June to 30 November, peaking in September and October: in 2017, Hurricane Irma hit the Lower Keys hard. In late October, Fantasy Fest draws huge crowds for about ten days. May and early June remain a good compromise for a first trip to the Florida side of the United States.

Frequently asked questions about Key West

How long does it take to drive from Miami to Key West?
Allow three and a half to four hours non-stop for about 260 km, 180 of them on the Overseas Highway, which narrows to a single lane each way in places. On Friday afternoons and public holidays, traffic can add one to two hours: leave early in the morning.
Ferry or seaplane to the Dry Tortugas?
The ferry takes about two and a quarter hours each way, breakfast and lunch included, and leaves four hours on the island. The seaplane flies for around forty minutes with superb views, but costs considerably more. Either way, book several weeks ahead in high season.
Can you watch the sunset without the Mallory Square crowds?
Yes. Fort Zachary Taylor, open until sunset, offers a clear and calmer view, as do the terraces on the west of the island. Catamarans from the Historic Seaport also run dusk trips of about two hours, best booked the day before.
Do the Hemingway House cats really have six toes?
Many of them do: they are polydactyl cats, some said to descend from a cat given to the writer by a ship's captain. They roam freely through the house and garden, and the guides know each of them by name.
Where can you snorkel the reef from Key West?
The coral reef lies about ten kilometres offshore: you need a half-day boat trip from the Historic Seaport, with Sand Key as the classic destination. From the shore, Fort Zachary Taylor offers modest snorkelling over rocks, enough for children.
Do you need a car once in Key West?
No. Old Town is compact and parking there is expensive and scarce. Return the rental car on arrival or leave it at the hotel, then get around by bike, on foot or with the Duval Loop, a free shuttle serving the centre.
Is Key West suitable for a family trip?
Yes by day: forts, the lighthouse, the aquarium, butterflies and boat trips appeal to children. In the evening Duval Street turns into a party, and in late October some Fantasy Fest events are adults only. With children, choose accommodation away from Duval.

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