Driving the Overseas Highway to Key West — Four Ways

Route113 mi US-1

Bridges42

Pure Drive3.5–4 hours

Best SeasonDecember–April

The EndKey West · MM 0

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One of America's great drives runs out of land and keeps going, island by island, mile marker by mile marker, all the way to Key West. Give it three or four days and take it in four budgets — the free version, the drive itself, is the main event.

Florida Four Ways — The Drive

Free Tier #

The drive itself costs only gas.

✓ Seven Mile Bridge# — Seven miles skimming the water beside the old railroad bridge.
✓ Mallory Square Sunset# — Key West's free nightly sunset celebration at the harbor.
✓ Southernmost Point# — The free photo everyone wants at the big painted buoy.
✓ Public Beach Access# — Roadside pull-offs where the water glows blue-green.

Budget Tier #

The best cheap stops anywhere.

✓ John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park # — The first underwater park — kayaks and glass-bottom boats.
✓ Robbie's of Islamorada # — Hand-feed the giant tarpon under the docks for a few dollars.
✓ The Turtle Hospital # — Guided tour of a real working sea-turtle rescue in Marathon.
✓ Bahia Honda State Park # — Camp right on one of the most beautiful beaches in Florida.

Mid-Range Tier #

Get out on the water.

✓ Coral Reef Snorkel Trip# — Drift over the only living barrier reef in the continental US.
✓ History of Diving Museum # — A quirky, low-cost hour of antique helmets in Islamorada.
✓ Ernest Hemingway Home & Museum # — The famous house and its six-toed cats in Key West.
✓ Truman Little White House # — Florida's only presidential site, in Old Town Key West.

Luxury Tier #

Key West knows how to do it right.

✓ Historic Old Town Inns# — Restored mansions with porches and private palm-garden pools.
✓ Private Charter Boat Day# — Your group, a captain, the reef and the sandbars.
✓ Sunset Champagne Sail# — A quiet catamaran as the sun drops over the Gulf.