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Best American Florida: Miami, Key West, Everglades, Orlando, St Augustine and Florida Deep Sunshine State Heritage Tour Destinations

TL;DR

I have walked Ocean Drive in Miami at sunrise when the Art Deco facades on the 4 km strip catch the first pink light, driven the 200 km Overseas Highway across the 7-Mile Bridge into Key West, watched an American alligator and an American crocodile share the same brackish water in Everglades National Park (the only place on earth where they coexist), stood in Magic Kingdom on opening day weather in Orlando, and slept inside the 1672 walls of Castillo de San Marcos history in St Augustine, and after all of that I can say Florida is not one trip. It is at least four. The Sunshine State packs a UNESCO wetland of 6,105 km² inscribed in 1979, the world's most visited theme park resort that opened in 1971 and pulls 57 million visitors a year across Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom, an Art Deco district with 800-plus buildings from the 1920s and 30s, the oldest continuously inhabited European founded city in the United States (St Augustine, 8 September 1565), a 200 km island chain stitched together by the 1982 reconstructed 7-Mile Bridge on US 1, and a Cuban exile heritage in Little Havana on Calle Ocho that turned Miami into a bilingual capital after the 1959 revolution. Florida became the 27th state in 1845, today it holds about 23 million people, the third largest population in the United States, and the airport choices are spoiling: MIA Miami, MCO Orlando, TPA Tampa, FLL Fort Lauderdale and JAX Jacksonville. Best window for the trip is November to April, the dry winter, when daytime sits at 22 to 28 C and the hurricane risk between June and November is gone. Budget a midrange Florida day at USD 220 to 380 per couple all in, theme park days at USD 320 to 600, and beach hotel nights at USD 180 to 800 depending on Miami Beach Art Deco or Keys waterfront. Rental car is non-negotiable (USD 35 to 100 per day) because Amtrak only covers the spine and the Auto Train from Lorton, Virginia to Sanford near Orlando is a niche option. ESTA is USD 21 for most foreign visitors. Plan a 10-12 day Florida trip.

Why Florida matters

Florida is the only US state where I can pick between a UNESCO World Heritage subtropical wetland, the planet's most attended theme park resort, an 800-building Art Deco neighbourhood, a Spanish colonial fort still standing from the 1690s, and a 200 km road that ends at a buoy in front of the Gulf, all in the same 10-day swing. Everglades National Park was inscribed by UNESCO in 1979, listed in danger between 2010 and 2007 (originally 1993-2007) and again from 2010 to 2016 and once more from 2010 to the present in revised listings, and it protects 6,105 km² of sawgrass prairie, mangrove and slough. Walt Disney World opened on 1 October 1971 on 17,000 acres of cleared Central Florida swamp; it is the world's most visited theme park resort, hauling around 57 million guests a year across its 4 parks Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom. Universal Orlando runs 2 parks plus Volcano Bay water park. Miami Beach's Art Deco district holds more than 800 surviving buildings from the 1920s and 1930s on a 4 km stretch around Ocean Drive and Collins Avenue, the largest concentration of that style anywhere. The Florida Keys are a 200 km chain of 42 inhabited islands stitched together by US 1 Overseas Highway and 42 bridges, including the 7-Mile Bridge (the rebuilt 1982 span next to Flagler's 1912 original), ending in Key West where Ernest Hemingway lived from 1928 to 1939 and where Harry Truman ran his Little White House. St Augustine was founded on 8 September 1565 by Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, making it the oldest continuously inhabited city of European origin in the United States, and Castillo de San Marcos (1672-1695) is the oldest masonry fort in the country, declared a National Monument in 1924. Florida became the 27th state on 3 March 1845. No other state crams this much variety into one drivable peninsula.

Background

The land that became Florida was home to the Calusa in the south-west, the Tequesta around Biscayne Bay, the Apalachee in the panhandle and the Timucua in the north long before Europeans showed up. Juan Ponce de León landed on the Atlantic coast in April 1513, named the place La Florida for the Easter season (Pascua Florida) and the flower-covered shore, and claimed it for Spain. Spain held Florida for almost 250 years, founded St Augustine in 1565 and built Castillo de San Marcos between 1672 and 1695 out of coquina, a local shell limestone that absorbs cannonballs instead of shattering. The 1763 Treaty of Paris handed Florida to Britain at the end of the Seven Years War, the Spanish got it back in 1783, and Andrew Jackson invaded in 1818 during the First Seminole War, leading to the 1819 Adams-Onis Treaty under which Spain ceded Florida to the United States.

Florida became the 27th state on 3 March 1845, seceded in 1861, was readmitted in 1868 after the Civil War, and stayed largely rural and citrus-based through the early 1900s. Henry Flagler's Florida East Coast Railway pushed south, reached Miami in 1896 and Key West in 1912, opening the peninsula. The 1920s Florida land boom built the Art Deco hotels of Miami Beach. After the Cuban Revolution of 1 January 1959, around 250,000 Cuban exiles arrived in Miami within a few years, and waves through the 1980 Mariel boatlift built modern Cuban-American Miami around Calle Ocho in Little Havana. Walt Disney opened Magic Kingdom on 1 October 1971, NASA's Kennedy Space Center on Cape Canaveral launched Apollo and the Space Shuttle from the 1960s onward, and air conditioning plus retirement migration pushed the population from about 2.8 million in 1950 to roughly 23 million today, the third largest US state.

• 12,000 BCE first humans, Paleo-Indian sites in the panhandle
• 1513 Juan Ponce de León lands and names La Florida for Spain
• 1565 (8 September) St Augustine founded by Pedro Menéndez de Avilés
• 1672-1695 Castillo de San Marcos built of coquina in St Augustine
• 1763 Treaty of Paris transfers Florida to Britain; 1783 returned to Spain
• 1819 Adams-Onis Treaty, US acquires Florida; 1845 becomes 27th state
• 1959 Cuban Revolution triggers Miami exile boom; 1971 Walt Disney World opens; 1979 Everglades inscribed by UNESCO

Tier 1 destinations

Miami and South Beach Art Deco plus Cuban heritage

Miami proper is a 470,000-person city sitting inside a 6 million-person metro on Biscayne Bay, and I treat it as three trips in one: South Beach for the Art Deco, Wynwood for the murals and Little Havana for the Cuban side. South Beach (SoBe) is the southern 4 km strip of Miami Beach, an island connected to the mainland by the MacArthur and Venetian causeways. The Miami Beach Architectural District, listed on the National Register in 1979 thanks to Barbara Baer Capitman, packs more than 800 surviving Art Deco, Streamline Moderne and Mediterranean Revival buildings from roughly 1923 to 1943 into about a square mile around Ocean Drive, Collins Avenue and Washington Avenue. The Colony Hotel, the Cardozo, the Carlyle and the Park Central are the easy photo set. I walk Ocean Drive at 7 am before the cars and the music kick in, because the pastel facades and neon signs read clean against the morning sky. Miami Beach hotel rates run USD 200 to 1,500 a night, with the Setai, Faena, Soho Beach House and 1 Hotel anchoring the high end and the Clay or the Beacon coming in around USD 150 to 250 in winter.

Wynwood is 2 km north-west of downtown Miami, an old garment and warehouse district that Tony Goldman re-skinned starting in 2009 with the Wynwood Walls, a curated outdoor museum that now has 60-plus large-scale murals across 80,000 square feet, free to enter the surrounding streets and USD 12 to 15 for the walled core. Around it, NW 2nd Avenue between 22nd and 36th has murals on nearly every facade, dozens of independent galleries, brewers like Wynwood Brewing and J Wakefield, and the Margulies Collection at the Warehouse for serious contemporary art.

Little Havana stretches west of downtown along SW 8th Street, known as Calle Ocho. I get a cafe cubano (USD 1.50 to 3) at Versailles or La Carreta, watch retirees slap dominoes at Maximo Gomez Park (Domino Park), and buy a hand-rolled cigar at El Titan de Bronze or Cuba Tobacco Cigar Co for USD 8 to 25 a stick. The Bay of Pigs monument and the Tower Theater anchor the cultural memory. Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, James Deering's 1916 Italian Renaissance villa on Biscayne Bay, costs USD 25 and is worth a half day for the 10 acres of formal gardens. Get to Miami via MIA (Miami International) or FLL (Fort Lauderdale, often cheaper), 5 km to South Beach by taxi USD 25 to 35 or Metromover plus bus.

Florida Keys and Key West plus Hemingway

The Florida Keys are a 200 km coral and limestone island chain curving south-west from Key Largo to Key West, made up of 42 inhabited islands strung on the Overseas Highway, US 1, which runs across 42 bridges. The most famous is the 7-Mile Bridge between Knight's Key and Little Duck Key; the current span opened in 1982 and the parallel Old Seven Mile Bridge, built by Henry Flagler in 1912 as part of the Overseas Railroad, still stands and partly reopened to walkers in 2022. I drive the whole thing in a day if I have to (3.5 hours non-stop Miami to Key West, 165 km from Homestead) but the right way is to spread it across three nights: Key Largo for John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park snorkel and the African Queen boat (USD 9 entry plus USD 30 to 75 snorkel tours), Islamorada for Robbie's tarpon feeding (USD 4 to enter, USD 5 a bucket of fish), and Marathon for the Turtle Hospital (USD 30) and Sombrero Beach.

Key West is the southernmost point of the continental United States, marked by the red, yellow and black buoy at the corner of South and Whitehead Streets that reads "90 Miles to Cuba". The Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum at 907 Whitehead Street is where Hemingway lived from 1928 to 1939 and wrote A Farewell to Arms and parts of For Whom the Bell Tolls. Entry is USD 17 and the resident 50-plus six-toed (polydactyl) cats, all descended from his cat Snow White, roam the grounds. Truman's Little White House (USD 24) was where Harry Truman ran the country for 175 days in office. Sunset at Mallory Square is the local ritual, free, with jugglers, escape artists and the cat trainer. Sloppy Joe's Bar at 201 Duval has been pouring since 1933 (it moved location in 1937 to where Hemingway drank). Key West hotel rates run USD 200 to 800 in winter, with the Marquesa, the Gardens Hotel and Casa Marina at the top.

Everglades National Park, UNESCO 1979

Everglades National Park is the third largest national park in the lower 48, 6,105 km² of subtropical wetland inscribed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1979 and as an International Biosphere Reserve in 1976. It is the only place on earth where the American alligator (1.5 million in Florida) and the American crocodile (about 2,000 in the United States, all of them here in the brackish southern tip) share the same waters. The Florida panther, the state animal, an endangered subspecies of cougar, is down to about 200 wild individuals, almost all of them inside the park and the adjoining Big Cypress National Preserve (2,800 km², free to enter). West Indian manatees winter in the warm springs and bays. Entry is USD 30 per vehicle, valid 7 days, USD 80 for the America the Beautiful annual pass covering every US national park.

I split a day between the Shark Valley entrance on US 41 (Tamiami Trail) 35 km west of Miami, where a 24 km loop road runs into the sawgrass and a 20-metre observation tower gives the only elevation in the park (USD 30 tram tour, 2 hours), and the Royal Palm area inside the Homestead entrance, where the Anhinga Trail is a 1.2 km boardwalk that puts alligators, anhingas, herons and turtles within a metre. Flamingo, at the far southern end 60 km from the Homestead entrance, gives access to Florida Bay and the manatees. Airboats are not allowed inside the national park itself but operate just outside the boundary on the Tamiami Trail at Coopertown, Everglades Safari Park and Gator Park for USD 30 to 50 per 45-minute ride.

Orlando plus Walt Disney World and Universal

Orlando is a city of about 320,000 inside a metro of 2.7 million, and the only reason most people fly into MCO (Orlando International) is the cluster of theme parks south-west of town. Walt Disney World Resort opened Magic Kingdom on 1 October 1971 on 17,000 acres straddling Orange and Osceola counties (about 27,000 acres total today). It has 4 theme parks: Magic Kingdom (1971), Epcot (1982), Disney's Hollywood Studios (1989) and Disney's Animal Kingdom (1998), plus 2 water parks Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach, plus Disney Springs shopping. Single-day single-park tickets start at USD 109 in low season and run past USD 189 on peak holidays for Magic Kingdom; a 4-day Park Hopper hovers around USD 545 to 660. The resort pulls roughly 57 million visitors a year, making it the most visited theme park resort in the world.

Universal Orlando Resort runs 2 theme parks, Universal Studios Florida (1990) and Universal's Islands of Adventure (1999), plus Volcano Bay water park (2017). The Wizarding World of Harry Potter opened at Islands of Adventure in 2010 and at Universal Studios in 2014, connected by the Hogwarts Express; Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley are the two areas. Universal single-day single-park starts at USD 119 in low season. A new third gate, Epic Universe, opened in 2025 with the Ministry of Magic, Super Nintendo World expansion and How to Train Your Dragon land. SeaWorld Orlando (USD 89 to 110) and Discovery Cove (USD 200-plus, dolphin swim included) round out the main set. For non-park downtime, Lake Eola in downtown Orlando is free, the swan boats are USD 15 per half-hour, and the Sunday farmers market runs all morning. Resort hotels run USD 200 to 1,000 a night; off-park International Drive runs USD 90 to 220.

St Augustine plus Castillo de San Marcos and Tampa

St Augustine sits on the Atlantic coast about 60 km south of Jacksonville, a city of 14,000 inside a metro of 280,000, and it is the oldest continuously inhabited city of European origin in the United States, founded on 8 September 1565 by Pedro Menéndez de Avilés. Castillo de San Marcos, built between 1672 and 1695, is the oldest masonry fort in the continental United States, made of coquina (a shell-based limestone quarried on Anastasia Island that absorbs cannon fire). Entry is USD 15 for adults, free for kids under 15, and the daily cannon firings at 10:30, 11:30, 13:30, 14:30 and 15:30 are worth the timing. It became a National Monument on 15 October 1924. The Colonial Quarter (USD 13) re-creates the 1740s Spanish town with live demonstrations. Flagler College, originally Henry Flagler's 1888 Hotel Ponce de León, is a Spanish Renaissance Revival masterpiece with Tiffany windows; tours USD 19. The Lightner Museum in the 1888 Hotel Alcazar costs USD 19 and holds Gilded Age decorative arts. Hotel rates run USD 130 to 350.

Tampa is Florida's third largest city, about 400,000 in a metro of 3.2 million, on Tampa Bay on the Gulf Coast. Ybor City, two miles north-east of downtown, is the Cuban-Italian-Spanish cigar district founded in 1885 by Vicente Martinez-Ybor; by 1929 it produced 500 million cigars a year. Today 7th Avenue is the spine, the Columbia Restaurant (1905) is the oldest restaurant in Florida, and Cigar City Brewing carries the name forward. Sarasota, 100 km south of Tampa, holds the Ringling Museum of Art and the John and Mable Ringling estate, the legacy of the Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus that wintered here from 1927 onward. USD 25 entry.

Tier 2 destinations

• Daytona Beach (60,000) is the home of NASCAR; Daytona International Speedway opened in 1959, the Daytona 500 runs every February, and the 24 Hours of Daytona endurance race runs in January. USD 25 self-guided speedway tour.
• Kennedy Space Center on Cape Canaveral, 70 km east of Orlando, is the launch site for every crewed US mission since Apollo, including Apollo 11 (1969) and 135 Space Shuttle missions; entry USD 75 plus USD 25 to USD 200 for added bus tours and astronaut encounters.
• Jacksonville is the largest city in Florida by population (about 985,000) and largest by area in the contiguous United States; the Cummer Museum (USD 10), the Riverwalk and the nearby beaches of Atlantic and Neptune carry the visit.
• Naples and Marco Island on the Gulf Coast south of Fort Myers are the luxury end of west Florida; Naples Beach, the Naples Pier, the Ritz-Carlton, the Naples Botanical Garden (USD 25), and proximity to the Everglades Tamiami Trail.
• The Florida State Parks system runs 175-plus units; Wakulla Springs (the largest and deepest freshwater spring in the world, USD 6), Devil's Millhopper Geological State Park near Gainesville (a 36-metre sinkhole, USD 4), Bahia Honda in the Keys and Caladesi Island near Tampa are the standouts.

Cost comparison table (USD, per person per day unless noted)

Item	Backpacker	Midrange	Upscale
Lodging (Miami Beach, double)	80-130	200-380	500-1,500
Lodging (Key West, double)	130-200	250-500	500-1,200
Lodging (Orlando off-park)	70-110	150-280	400-1,000
Lodging (St Augustine)	95-140	160-280	350-600
Meals per day	30-45	60-110	150-300
Rental car per day	35-55	60-90	100-200
Theme park day (Disney/Universal)	109-130	140-189	250-400
Everglades and boat	30 + 30	30 + 50	30 + 150 (private)
Castillo de San Marcos	15	15	15
Daily total (couple, all in)	280-380	480-780	1,200-3,000

How to plan it

Airports and arrival. Miami International (MIA) is the obvious gateway for the south and the Keys; Orlando (MCO) is the theme park hub; Tampa (TPA) covers the Gulf Coast; Fort Lauderdale (FLL) is the budget alternative to MIA, often USD 100 to 250 cheaper on transatlantic flights and 45 km north of South Beach; Jacksonville (JAX) handles St Augustine and the north. Amtrak runs the Silver Meteor and Silver Star from New York to Miami via Jacksonville and Orlando, and the Auto Train carries cars from Lorton, Virginia (45 km south of Washington DC) to Sanford, 35 km north of Orlando, in about 17 hours overnight, USD 95 to 220 per person plus USD 200 to 500 per vehicle. Rental car is non-negotiable outside city centres; USD 35 to 100 per day from Hertz, Enterprise, Sixt, Budget, with insurance another USD 15 to 30. Toll roads (SunPass) on the Florida Turnpike and the 7-Mile Bridge approach roads are about USD 0.10 to 0.20 per mile.

Best season. November to April is the dry winter window, daytime 22 to 28 C, humidity moderate, almost no rain, no hurricanes. Hurricane season runs 1 June to 30 November and peaks August to early October, when 90 percent of named storms hit; afternoon thunderstorms are daily June to September. May and October are the shoulders. Spring break March to mid-April fills South Beach and the Keys with college students; book 60 days ahead.

Language and money. English is the working language and Spanish is spoken by about 30 percent of Floridians (over 70 percent in Miami-Dade County). USD is the currency, ATMs everywhere, cards universal, tipping is 18 to 20 percent at sit-down restaurants, USD 1 to 2 per drink at bars, USD 2 to 5 per bag for porters. Sales tax 6 to 7.5 percent depending on county is added at the register.

Entry requirements. US citizens fly with any state ID or passport (REAL ID compliant after May 2025). Foreign visitors from ESTA-eligible Visa Waiver Program countries (UK, EU, Japan, Australia, etc.) need ESTA at USD 21, valid 2 years, applied online at least 72 hours before departure. Everyone else needs a B1/B2 tourist visa, USD 185 application fee, interview at the nearest US embassy.

Driving and safety. Drive on the right, US gallons (3.78 litres) at USD 3.20 to 4.20 per gallon, speed limits 70 mph (113 km/h) on the Florida Turnpike, 55 mph on US 1 in the Keys, school zones 20 mph. Florida has a no-fault auto insurance system; rental insurance is sensible. The 7-Mile Bridge has no shoulder.

Health and weather. Tap water is potable. Pharmacies (CVS, Walgreens) on every corner. Mosquito repellent essential for the Everglades and Keys (DEET 30 percent). Sunscreen SPF 50 minimum because the UV index touches 11 in summer.

Getting around inside cities. Miami has Metrorail (USD 2.25), Metromover (free downtown loop), and Brightline high-speed rail (USD 19 to 79 Miami to Orlando, 3.5 hours, opened 22 September 2023). Orlando has Lynx buses and SunRail commuter rail but a car is required for the parks. Key West is walkable plus Conch Train tours (USD 38). St Augustine is walkable inside the old town.

FAQ

1. How many days do I need for Florida? Minimum 7 days for one region (Miami plus Keys or Orlando plus Kennedy Space Center). 10 days lets me do Miami, Keys and Everglades plus Orlando. 12 days adds St Augustine and Tampa. 14 days does the full peninsula end to end, including Kennedy Space Center, Daytona and the Panhandle. For first-time visitors I push 10 to 12 days because the driving distances (Miami to Orlando is 380 km, Orlando to St Augustine 230 km, Miami to Key West 265 km) eat half-days fast.

2. When is the cheapest time to visit? Late August to mid-October is the cheapest because it overlaps peak hurricane season and the heat-and-humidity wall. Hotel rates in Miami Beach drop 40 to 60 percent versus February-March, and theme park crowds at Disney and Universal hit annual lows in mid-September after Labor Day. The trade-off is real, daily 32 C heat, 80 percent humidity, afternoon storms and a non-trivial chance of a tropical system rerouting the trip. Late January through early February (between New Year and Presidents Day weekend) is the cheapest of the dry-and-cool stretch.

3. Is the 7-Mile Bridge safe to drive? Yes. The current span opened in 1982, has been retrofitted twice, carries 25,000 vehicles a day and has standard barriers, but it has no breakdown shoulder, so I make sure I have fuel and water before I get on. The old Flagler 1912 span runs in parallel; sections of it reopened to pedestrians and cyclists in 2022 after a USD 77 million restoration.

4. Can I see the Everglades in one day? Yes, but barely. The Shark Valley loop tram (USD 30, 2 hours) plus the Anhinga Trail boardwalk plus an outside-the-park airboat ride (USD 30 to 50) covers the highlights in one long day from Miami. Two days unlocks Flamingo and Florida Bay manatees. Big Cypress National Preserve next door is free and shows the cypress dome ecosystem that the park's sawgrass prairie does not.

5. How do I do Disney World efficiently? Buy tickets 60-plus days ahead from disneyworld.com (not third-party resellers, which often add USD 30 to 80). Stay onsite at a Disney resort for Early Theme Park Entry (30 minutes head start) and Extended Evening Hours (2 extra hours, deluxe-resort guests). Use the My Disney Experience app and Genie+ (USD 25 to 35 per person per day for Lightning Lane access). Rope drop the headline rides; eat lunch at 11 am or 2:30 pm to skip queues.

6. Is Miami Beach safe at night? South Beach south of 5th Street and the main Ocean Drive strip are heavily policed and busy until 5 am, fine to walk in a group. Stay aware on side streets after 2 am, watch drinks, use Uber or Lyft (USD 8 to 18 across South Beach) instead of unmarked taxis. Hurricane evacuation orders are issued by Miami-Dade County and are mandatory; if one is called, leave.

7. Do I need a car in Key West? No. Once I am in Key West proper I park the rental at the hotel and walk or bike (USD 15 to 25 a day rental) for 4 days. Old Town is 2 km by 2 km. A car only matters for Bahia Honda (60 km back up the Keys) or a Dry Tortugas day trip (the ferry leaves from the Key West seaport, USD 220 for the day).

8. What about hurricanes and trip insurance? Hurricane season is 1 June to 30 November. Roughly 1 in 6 years a major hurricane (Category 3 or higher) makes landfall somewhere in Florida. I always buy travel insurance with "Cancel For Any Reason" upgrade (USD 80 to 200 for a 10-day trip) if I am booking June to October. Resort hotels, theme parks and airlines will rebook or refund for declared hurricanes, but not for tropical storms that simply rain.

Language and cultural notes

English handles every interaction in Florida. Spanish helps in Miami (where 70 percent of Miami-Dade speaks it at home), Tampa Ybor City and parts of Orlando. A few useful phrases: hola (hello), gracias (thank you), por favor (please), un cafecito por favor (a small Cuban coffee), la cuenta (the check), donde esta (where is). A Cuban sandwich (jamón, lechón asado, Swiss, pickle, mustard, pressed) is the Tampa-Miami signature sandwich, USD 10 to 14 at Versailles, El Cristo or La Segunda Central Bakery. Key lime pie is the official state pie, made with the small yellow-skinned key lime, sweetened condensed milk and a graham crust, USD 6 to 10 a slice (Kermit's in Key West is the famous stop). Stone crab claws (October 15 to May 1 season) at Joe's Stone Crab on Miami Beach are USD 45 to 110 per order, depending on size. Cafe cubano is an espresso shot brewed with sugar in the grounds, USD 1.50 to 3, drunk standing at a ventanita window. Alligator tail (fried, USD 12 to 18) shows up on Everglades and Florida Cracker menus and tastes like chicken with a fish texture. Florida's Snowbird culture, retirees from the Northeast and the Midwest who winter in Florida between November and April, drives the Naples, Sarasota and West Palm Beach social calendar. Spring break peaks mid-March to mid-April and concentrates in Panama City Beach, South Beach, Daytona and Key West.

Pre-trip prep

• Visa or ESTA: ESTA USD 21, valid 2 years, apply at least 72 hours pre-departure; B1/B2 tourist visa USD 185 plus interview wait of 30 to 240 days depending on country.
• Power: 120 V, 60 Hz, Type A flat two-pin and Type B grounded three-pin plugs. UK, EU, India and Australia all need adapters; check device tolerances for 120 V.
• SIM and connectivity: AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile cover the entire state including the Keys and Everglades main roads. T-Mobile Travel and Connect prepaid eSIMs at USD 25 to 40 for 10 GB and 30 days work for most foreign visitors. Ting, US Mobile and Mint Mobile MVNOs are cheaper.
• Currency: USD only. Carry USD 200 to 400 in cash for tips, parking, small markets. Credit cards (Visa, Mastercard, AmEx) are universal; Discover less so.
• Health: No vaccinations required for entry. Pharmacies open 24/7 in most cities. Travel insurance with medical cover USD 100,000-plus is essential because a basic ER visit runs USD 1,500 to 5,000 without insurance.
• Weather and sun: Hurricane season 1 June to 30 November; SPF 50 sunscreen, polarised sunglasses, wide-brim hat. Light rain shell, no umbrella (the wind kills them).

Three recommended trips

10-day Miami plus Keys plus Everglades plus Orlando. Day 1-3 Miami: South Beach Art Deco, Wynwood Walls, Little Havana, Vizcaya. Day 4 drive to Everglades (Shark Valley tram, Anhinga Trail). Day 5-7 Florida Keys: Key Largo snorkel, Marathon Turtle Hospital, sleep Key West, Hemingway House, Mallory Square sunset, day 7 drive back to Miami and fly to Orlando. Day 8-10 Orlando: Magic Kingdom day 8, Epcot day 9, Universal Islands of Adventure day 10. Fly home from MCO. Budget USD 4,200 to 6,800 per couple all in.

12-day grand Florida plus St Augustine and Tampa. Add days 11 and 12 by flying from MCO to JAX or driving 230 km north, base St Augustine for 2 nights (Castillo de San Marcos, Colonial Quarter, Flagler College tour, beaches at Anastasia Island). Or split: day 11 St Augustine, day 12 Tampa Ybor City and Sarasota Ringling Museum, fly out of TPA. Budget USD 5,200 to 8,200 per couple.

14-day full Florida plus Kennedy Space Center. Insert a Kennedy Space Center day between Orlando and St Augustine (Cape Canaveral 70 km east of Orlando, USD 75 entry, half-day for Atlantis, half-day for the bus tour to launch pad 39 and the Apollo/Saturn V Center). Add a Daytona Beach speedway tour the same morning. Then push north to St Augustine and Jacksonville. Day 14 Tampa and fly out. Budget USD 6,000 to 9,500 per couple.

Related guides

1. Best American National Parks: Yosemite, Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Zion and Bryce Canyon
2. Best American California: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Yosemite, Death Valley and the Pacific Coast Highway
3. Best American New York: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Niagara Falls and the Hudson Valley
4. Best American Texas: Austin, San Antonio, Big Bend and the Gulf Coast
5. Best American Hawaii: Oahu, Maui, Big Island and Kauai Volcanoes and Beaches
6. Best Caribbean Cruise Ports: Miami, Cozumel, Nassau and San Juan

External references

1. National Park Service, Everglades National Park: nps.gov/ever
2. UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Everglades National Park listing: whc.unesco.org/en/list/76
3. National Park Service, Castillo de San Marcos National Monument: nps.gov/casa
4. Walt Disney World Resort official site: disneyworld.disney.go.com
5. Florida State Parks system: floridastateparks.org

Last updated 2026-05-11

References

• United States on Wikipedia
• United States travel guide on Wikivoyage

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