Museum of Art & History at the Custom House
Key West
This excellent museum, set in a grand 1891 red-brick building that once served as the Customs House, covers Key West's history. Highlights are the…
Must-see attractions in Florida Keys
Key West
Take all those energies, subcultures and oddities of Keys life and focus them into one torchlit, family-friendly (but playfully edgy), sunset-enriched…
Florida Keys
This park, with its long, white-sand (and at times seaweed-strewn) beach, named Sandspur Beach by locals, is the big attraction in these parts. As Keys…
Florida Keys History of Diving Museum
Upper Keys
You can’t miss the diving museum – it’s the building with the enormous mural of whale sharks on the side. The journey into the undersea covers 4000 years,…
Nancy Forrester’s Secret Garden
Key West
Nancy, an environmental artist and fixture of the Keys community, invites you into her backyard oasis where chatty rescued parrots and macaws await…
Upper Keys
Named after local environmentalist Anne Eaton, this tiny beach is one of the finest seascapes in these parts. The small ribbon of sand opens upon a sky…
Florida Keys
Dry Tortugas National Park is America's most inaccessible national park. Reachable only by boat or seaplane, it rewards you for your effort in getting…
John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park
Upper Keys
John Pennekamp has the singular distinction of being the first underwater park in the USA. There’s 170 acres of dry parkland here and over 48,000 acres …
Key West
Key West’s biggest darling, Ernest Hemingway, lived in this gorgeous Spanish Colonial house from 1931 to 1940. Papa moved here in his early 1930s with his…
Key West
This nonprofit showcases about a dozen artists’ studios in a three-story space, and hosts some of the best art openings in Key West on the first Thursday…
Key West
Key West locals have a love-hate relationship with the most famous road in Key West (if not the Keys). Duval, Old Town Key West’s main strip, is a miracle…
Florida Keys Aquarium Encounters
Florida Keys
A visit to this small, interactive aquarium starts with a free 20-minute guided tour of some fascinating marine ecosystems. There are also more immersive…
Long Key State Recreation Area
Upper Keys
The 965-acre Long Key State Recreation Area takes up much of Long Key. It’s about 30 minutes south of Islamorada, and comprises a tropical clump of gumbo…
Windley Key Fossil Reef Geological State Site
Upper Keys
To get his railroad built across the islands, Henry Flagler had to quarry out some sizable chunks of the Keys. The best evidence of those efforts can be…
Upper Keys
Here’s one for the movie fans, particularly Bogie buffs: the lively Caribbean Club Bar is, in fact, the only place in Key Largo where Key Largo, starring…
Laura Quinn Wild Bird Sanctuary
Upper Keys
This 7-acre sanctuary serves as a protected refuge for a wide variety of injured birds. A boardwalk leads through various enclosures where you can learn a…
Florida Keys
This is one of the nicest spots on the island to stop and smell the roses. And the pinelands. And the palm hammock – a sort of palm jungle (imagine…
Florida Keys Eco-Discovery Center
Key West
This 6000-sq-ft center is one of the best places in the Keys to learn about the extraordinary marine environments of South Florida. Start off with the 20…
Florida Keys
Perhaps the best-named island in the Keys, No Name gets few visitors, as it’s basically a residential island. It’s one of the most reliable spots for Key…
Fort Zachary Taylor State Park
Key West
‘America’s Southernmost State Park’ is home to an impressive fort, built in the mid-1800s that played roles in the American Civil War and in the Spanish…
Key West
A darkly alluring Gothic labyrinth beckons at the center of this pastel town. Built in 1847, the cemetery crowns Solares Hill, the highest point on the…
Fort East Martello Museum & Gardens
Key West
This old fortress was built to resemble an old Italian Martello-style coastal watchtower (hence the name), a design that quickly became obsolete with the…
Key West
This former hotel (known as the Trev-Mor), built in 1919, was where Hemingway and Pauline first stayed after returning from Paris in 1928.
Key West
This is where President Harry S Truman used to vacation when he wasn’t molding post-WWII geopolitics. It's beautifully preserved and open only for guided…
Key West Butterfly & Nature Conservatory
Key West
This vast domed conservatory lets you stroll through a lush, enchanting garden of flowering plants, tiny waterfalls, colorful birds and up to 1800…
Key West
One of Key West's largest public beaches, Smathers is a pretty stretch of sand with a few palm trees providing shade. It's east of the Old Town, and best…
Key West
This artificial beach, located at the southern end of Reynolds St, has barbecue grills, picnic tables and a long pier, where you can go out and watch the…
Indian Key Historic State Park
Upper Keys
This quiet island was once a thriving city, complete with a warehouse, docks, streets, a hotel and about 40 to 50 permanent residents. There’s not much…
Looe Key National Marine Sanctuary
Florida Keys
Looe (pronounced ‘loo’) Key, located 5 nautical miles off Big Pine, isn’t a key at all but a reef, and is part of the Florida Keys National Marine…
Lignumvitae Key Botanical State Park
Upper Keys
This key, only accessible by boat, encompasses a 280-acre island of virgin tropical forest and is home to roughly a zillion jillion mosquitoes. The…
National Key Deer Refuge Headquarters
Florida Keys
What would make Bambi cuter? Mini Bambi. Introducing the Key deer, an endangered subspecies of white-tailed deer that prance about primarily on Big Pine…
Key West
Founded in 1871 by Cuban exiles, the San Carlos is a gorgeous building constructed in classical Spanish mission style. The current structure dates from…
Florida Keys
This little pond (and former quarry) is now the largest freshwater body in the Keys. That’s not saying much, but the hole is a pretty little dollop of…
Pigeon Key National Historic District
Florida Keys
For years tiny Pigeon Key, located 2 miles west of Marathon (basically below the Old Seven Mile Bridge), housed the rail workers and maintenance men who…
Florida Keys
Be it a victim of disease, boat propeller strike, flipper entanglement with fishing lines or any other danger, an injured sea turtle in the Keys will…
Florida Keys
This park is small but sweet and the rangers are just lovely. Like most parks in the Keys, it’s a good spot for preserved tropical hardwood and mangrove…
Florida Keys
Just before you hit Key West, you may be tempted to stop at this farm, located near the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office and Detention Center (seriously)…
Florida Keys
This market, which attracts folks from across the Keys, rivals local churches for weekly attendance. This is an extravaganza of locally made crafts,…
Key West
For a fascinating glimpse into Key West's complicated history, pay a visit to this popular museum near the waterfront. It's best known for its collection…
Upper Keys
Once you see the giant lobster, you know you've arrived. Welcome to the Rain Barrel, Islamorada’s local artists’ village, which is packed with souvenir-y…
