Another Miami thread :run:
I'm traveling to Miami with my gf for the first 2 weeks of February (right before the Spring Break madness :run
.
Our plan so far looks like this:
- spend a few days in south beach
- drive the A1A (along the coast)
- drive to orlando and go to disney and maybe cape canaveral
- drive all the way to Key West and stay there a day or 2
- then back in miami we are renting a condo for the rest of the stay which is about a week
In Miami we plan to see:
- Little Havana
- Coral Gables
- Coconut Grove
- a cigar factory
- the Art Deco area
- the Everglades
- the beaches, of course
We had originally planned to take a boat to Bahamas and stay 2-3 days there. But there's only one cruise-line going to Bahamas and the reviews aren't great
All the other ferries seem to be out of business. What's up with that? :dunno:
Am I missing anything obvious?
Any suggestions for restaurants in Miami, South Beach, Key West, Ft. Lauderdale?
What areas are to avoid besides Little Haiti and Liberty City?
I've driven through most of Florida (haven't been to the northwest yet). I love Florida!
Seems that you want to do a bit of everything and I'm assuming you're flying to Miami or Ft Lauderdale (?)
This is what I'd suggest:
If you plan to rent a condo in Miami (although honestly Miami did not impress me that much...it's ok but there's better beaches elsewhere (unless you're going for the girls, but that's not your case), South Beach night life is ok I guess) in the second week I'd do the road trip in the 1st one. Depending what you plan to do in Orlando, 1 week is enough but then again, doing all Orlando attractions properly would probably take 2-3 weeks by itself.
Day 1 - From Miami/Fort Lauderdale take the A1A north. Taking the A1A instead of the 95 is really long but worth the drive IMO. Spend the night in Cocoa Beach.
Day 2 - spend at Kennedy Space Center, it's awesome if you're into this kind of stuff. If you finish early enough I also suggest the Police Museum in Titusville (next to Cape Canaveral)
http://www.aphf.org/ , it's fun. Drive to Dayton Beach and spend the night.
Day 3 - Go to the Daytona racetrack. Depends what you do here it can take from a few hours to a good half-day. Take hwy 4 to Orlando/Kissimmee. I'd stay somewhere in this area 192(Irlo Bronson)/Vineland/Word Center dr/International drive. There's a bunch of stuff to do on International drive, tons of good shopping too:
http://www.internationaldriveorlando.com/thingsToDo/index.asp.
Day 4 - You can do 1...maybe 2 Disney Parks. Be there 1st thing and you could probably do MGM and Epcot in the same day...if not, I'd choose Epcot as the 1 to do. Get Fast passes for Soarin' and Test Track as soon as you can.
Day 5 - take the 4 towards the Tampa area. Although the water may be a bit cold, the best beach in Florida, IMO, is Siesta Key beach in Sarasota which is exit 205 from hwy 75. Worth the little detour, maybe have lunch or something. From Sarasota the costal drive to Naples isn't that exciting and easy to achieve(too many detours, no clearly marked trail) as it is on the A1A, on the other side of the peninsula. There's a few cool beaches here and there but time is short so I'd just head on the 75 to Naples. The public beach here is pretty nice and a large part of it is not surrounded by high-rise condos like in Miami but house neighborhoods. I'd spend the night here or on Marco Island which is really close and pretty nice.
Day 6 - Cross the everglades to Miami going on route 90/41(Tamiami trail). It's a cool road, aligators on the left side and when you get closer to Miami you'll see many places where you can take Airboat rides in the everglades. They're probably all similar so go with whichever. In Miami head towards the 1 south that will take you to the Keys. You must do this drive during the day though so leave early from Naples/Marco Island. In the Keys we stayed in Marathon, which is about half way to Key West. The accomodations choices in the Keys are fairly limited especially if you're on a budget. In Key West it is very expensive (150+/night). We stayed at Anchor Inn in Marathon and I can recommend it.
Day 7 - Go to the beach in the Bahia Honda park. Pretty awesome beach. Then spend the late afternoon and eve in Key West.
Day 8 - Return to Miami. If your condo is already booked from the previous night you can do the Key West-Miami drive at night on day 7 although I would just wait for the next day. The road is pretty badly lit and you'll be tired from the day anyway.
The second week in Miami...well, South beach obviously, art deco distric, coral cables, little havana, maybe the zoo (?), cruise to see millionaire's row.....as I said, it's cool but I'd stay a full week here only if I'd to all the museums and other attractions, otherwise....meh
Hope this helps
Have Fun!
