Our 5-Day Florida Keys Itinerary
Looking for a Florida Keys itinerary, especially one that is suitable for all ages? Then you’re in exactly the right place.
We spent 5 days travelling in the Florida Keys (including travel time) with our two kids, 12 and 3 years old.
The itinerary includes all the classic Florida Keys experience -Key Lime pie, coastal views, driving on the Overseas Highway, Key West, dolphins, sea turtles and lots of other wildlife.
Here’s what else you should know about this 5-day itinerary for the Florida Keys:
- Its suitable for all ages, especially families with school-age kids. (I’ll make note of other options you have in case something isn’t suitable for a certain age)
- It includes travel time. So, if you set aside 5 days, then you’ll be able to do it all easily
- It involves driving to the Keys from mainland Florida. Many people choose to fly into Key West International Airport (KEYW), but we decided to drive from the Miami area which only took a few hours.
So, let’s jump in – our amazing 5-day Florida Keys adventure
First – Was 5 Days Enough Time in the Florida Keys?
Five days was enough for a good first-timer’s taster of the Florida Keys.
When we first booked it, I thought it would be more than enough – but once we were down there, I realized how many things there were to do. So five days is basically the bare minimum for the Keys. I wouldn’t do any less.
Rather than hopping around staying in different places, we set our home base as Marathon, and then drove to different places for the activities and sights. (Marathon is right in the middle of the keys, so it’s the most accessible to other places.)
All in all, five days is enough – but there were a few things I would’ve added to our itinerary if there’d been more time.
How We Spent 5 Days in the Florida Keys
Day 1: Flying into Florida + Driving to Our Accommodation
We flew into Fort Lauderdale because it’s cheaper to fly there than the Miami airport. From there, we picked up our rental car.
From the rental car place, we drove to Marathon in the Florida Keys. (Marathon is about a 3-hour drive from the Fort Lauderdale/Miami airports.)
Alternatively, we could have flown from Fort Lauderdale right to Key West, as I mentioned.
However, we wanted access to a rental car that we could drive back to mainland Florida.
In addition, renting a car gave us the option of driving over the famous overseas highway. (It was dark unfortunately, by the time we got out there from the airport, as our flight landed in the evening.) But, we saw it on the way out.
Pro Tip: Places to Eat near the Fort Lauderdale/Miami Airport: Pura Vida Miami (13 min drive from airport) and Hard Rock Cafe (15 min drive from airport)
We didn’t end up stopping for dinner, as our flight got in a bit later than we expected, but the above were places near the airport that I saw were good to stop for a meal.
We ended up just stopping at a Subway once we were in the Keys.
We rented a cabin from Bonefish Bay in Marathon, which we loved. Suitable for all ages, and rignt in its own cove with water and sunset views. You can see our YouTube video of it here.
Day 2: Fun in Marathon
In the morning, we stopped for coffee and then headed straight to the Dolphin Discovery Center, which is just up the road from it.
We were at the Dolphin Research Center for a couple hours. There’s actually a lot to do there.
There’s trails, a landscaped garden with a little waterfall, lots of wildlife everywhere, dolphins of course, ocean views, a little museum – its a nice place. See our guide of things to do at the Dolphin Research Center here.
If you’re like me and have concerns about dolphins in captivity, I normally don’t support any dolphins in captivity but they are semi-free here and still in the ocean. They have a lot of freedom, many of them are rescues, and they seem very happy. So if you want to see dolphins, I think this is the place to go.
Afterwards, we picked up groceries and headed back to the accommodation for the hottest part of the day, had lunch and relaxed.
We drove back to the Dolphin Research Center after lunch because my oldest daughter wanted to swim with the dolphins, so we booked it for the afternoon.
After her swimming with the dolphins experience, we drove to the Florida Keys Aquarium Encounters and spent the rest of the day there.
Aquarium Encounters is great for kids. I did see some young adult couples there on their own. It’s a museum as well, so you can learn a lot there and see a lot of animals.
I probably wouldn’t go there if it were just me and my husband though.
We ate dinner at Burdines Waterfront, which is right across the highway from the Aquarium Encounters. The food there was excellent, and it has really nice views – they also have (what they call) the best Key Lime Pie in the keys!
Either way, Burdine’s is a good place to feel like you’re getting the ‘keys’ experience. See the menu here.
Day 3: Second Day in Marathon
We got up early for our snorkel tour, which started at 8:30 am.
If you do any snorkelling or diving in the Florida Keys, be prepared for either an early start or an afternoon start.
I’d recommend an early start, seeing the sunset that morning was very worth it.
There are literally hundreds of places to book snorkel tours with in the Keys (and dozens just in Marathon alone), but we went with Captain Hook’s because it was just a 4-minute drive from our accommodation.
The snorkel tour was 4 hours, although we ended up getting back early. We went back to our accommodation and relaxed.
Then later in the afternoon, we went to the Sea Turtle Hospital in the afternoon. We had booked a guided tour there in advance. Guided tours are the only way to visit the hospital.
It’s a real hospital where they heal injured sea turtles, so you have to keep that in mind. You can read our guide on visiting the Turtle Hospital here.
Day 4: A Day in Key West
On day 4, we drove out to Key West (about 1 hour, 17 min drive from Marathon.)
We stopped in Big Pine Key, because we wanted to see if we could catch a glimpse of the wild deer that live there – and we did!
We got to Key West around lunch time, and had lunch at the Hard rock Café. Just walking around Key West was an experience, as I’d never been there before. They were also in the middle of their Fantasy Festiva, which isn’t exactly appropriate for kids.
There are a ton of things to do in Key West with kids, but these were the ones we ended up doing on this trip:
- Visited the Books and Books bookstore, which is owned by Judy Blume
- Visited the Butterfly Conservatory
- Took a family photo at the US southernmost tip, just a 3-minute walk from the butterfly conservatory
- Simply walked around!
Key West was a nice place, very walkable, lots of food options. Personally, we are glad that we stayed in Marathon.
Marathon isn’t as pedestrian-friendly, but it had a lower-key vibe and was quieter.
We were in Key West for a good full day, and then headed back to Marathon by evening and had a late dinner. There’s actually a lot of good places to eat near Marathon.
Day 5: Drove towards Mainland Florida, Making Stops Along the Way
On the 5th day, we started heading back east towards mainland Florida, making a whole day of it so we could make stops along the way.
Our first stop was the Florida Keys Wild Bird Center. Myself and daughter both love birds and this place is a healing place for birds that have been injured or are sick.
We spent about an hour walking throughout the bird centre, it’s an amazing place and you’re supporting a great cause by going.
They rehabilitate injured birds and release them back into the wild. Birds that can’t be rehabilitated are the ones that are kept in the center.
Visiting the Wild Bird Center is by donation, so we were able to pay with our phones when we arrived.
The center is just down the street from it, has a gift shop, small museum explaining the work they do.
The Wild Bird Sanctuary deserves your time and business so much. They bought up land just to keep it from being developed, so it could be a haven for threatened wildlife in the Keys.
I highly recommend adding them to your itinerary. No need to book ahead; simply show up and bring either change, your phone or credit card for payment.
Bonus: Days 6-7 (Mainland Florida)
We decided to spend another couple days on mainland Florida. We had a Disney Cruise planned, so we drove to Merritt Island and stayed there for a couple nights before our cruise.
The main draw to Merritt Island is visiting the Kennedy Space Center, but it also worked out perfectly that the Disney Cruise boarding area is close by.
Final Thoughts on This Itinerary
I hope that this itinerary has created a good structure for you to base your own trip to the Florida Keys off of. It’s a beautiful, unique and amazing place – one that I recommend to everyone, but especially to families. It’s great for all ages, and the people are very king. There are many efforts to care for the environment and to gain an appreciation for aquatic life.
I recommend avoiding places in the Keys that exploit animals for money, and instead, focus on places that have a purpose of caring for, rehabilitating and rescuing animals, and education (which is the majority of the places we visited above.)