Florida is a popular vacation destination. It’s a great place to visit year-round with warm weather, stunning beaches, large and convenient towns, and huge swaths of natural land. Basically, it has something for everyone. And with well maintained roads and lots of attractions located close to each other, it makes a great place for a road trip! In fact, we’ve taken several one-week road trips in Florida, each one a bit different from the last. In this post, we’ll share our favorite Florida road trip routes with you and give you the top highlights and best audience for each road trip.
About Our Florida Road Trips
Each time we’ve visited Florida, we’ve visited for a different reason: wedding, visiting family, Harry Potter fandom, National Parks, etc.. And we always end up extending our vacation. Because why not take full advantage of a Florida road trip, especially when we’re coming from the colder Midwest.
Florida is one of the best family vacation destinations in the USA. It has amazing wildlife destinations like Everglades National Park. It has multicultural cities like Miami. There is amazing and unique history in towns like St. Augustine. There are many of the world’s best amusement parks in Orlando. And there is the easiest island hopping you’ll ever find in the Keys.
To see everything Florida has to offer, you’ll need multiple weeks. And we get that most people don’t have a month to visit a single state. So we’ve broken up our Florida itineraries into four 1-week Florida road trips below. Why road trip? Because Florida is actually a pretty spread out state and you’ll need to drive from city to city to see the variety of things Florida has to offer.
In each Florida road trip below, we’ll give you our opinion on what type of traveler will like each itinerary best in case you only have time for one. We’ll give you a starting and stopping point with an airport and total hours on the road.
How to use this map: The map above has all of the attractions mentioned in this post. Click on each attraction to learn more about it. If you’d like to save this map, click on the square “View Larger Map” icon. This will open the map in your Google account (make sure you’re signed in). You can reference it in your account or you can create a copy to make your own edits.
Florida Keys Road Trip – Taste of the Caribbean
Starting Point: Miami
Ending Point: Miami
Hours on the road: 7 hours
Best For: Adults, Grown Families, Nature Lovers, Those looking for a party
- Day 1: Miami
- Day 2: Key Largo
- Day 3: Marathon
- Day 4: State Parks
- Day 5: Key West
- Day 6: More Key West
- Day 7: Miami
Day 1: Arrive & Miami
Arrive in the Miami airport as early as you can to maximize your time in Miami. Grab a rental car and head into Miami.
First, do a Little Havana food tour – one of our favorite activities in all of Florida. Other activities in Miami, include visiting Miami Beach and doing a Miami Bay boat tour.
Day 2: Key Largo
Next, spend a day exploring the upper keys. We loved doing a snorkel tour at John Pennekamp State Park. Other great activities for the family are visiting the Laura Quinn Bird Sanctuary and the Theater of the Sea wildlife park.
Day 3: Marathon
Next, visit exploring the middle keys, around Marathon. Robbie’s is famous for feeding jumping tarpons and Curry Hammock State Park is a great place for a kayak. However, our favorite places to visit are the Turtle Hospital and Sombrero Beach.
Day 4: State Parks
Visit a few more state parks the following day. Bahia Honda State Park is a must visit when in the Florida Keys because there is a great view of the 7 Mile Bridge. The National Key Deer Refuge is another popular stop to see the tiny deer that live in the keys. We didn’t see any in the park, but we did see tons in the neighborhoods around the park.
Day 5 & 6: Key West
Next, spend two days exploring the town of Key West. There is a huge list of things to do in Key West – so huge we made this whole post about it. Some of our favorite things to do are visiting the Hemingway Home, visiting the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum and going on a sunset sail.
Day 7: Miami and Return Home
On your final day, there are two options: you can catch a possibly pricy flight out of Key West or drive back to Miami for your flight. Check both options. While flights out of the Key West airport can be expensive, you can also find some nice deals. Either way, make your way home.
How to use this map: The map above has all of the attractions mentioned in this post. Click on each attraction to learn more about it. If you’d like to save this map, click on the square “View Larger Map” icon. This will open the map in your Google account (make sure you’re signed in). You can reference it in your account or you can create a copy to make your own edits.
East Coast Florida Road Trip – History and Culture
Starting Point: Miami
Ending Point: Jacksonville
Hours on the road: 9 hours
Best For: Families with middle-graders, history buffs, seafood lovers
- Day 1: Everglades National Park
- Day 2: Shark Valley
- Day 3: Miami
- Day 4: Miami
- Day 5: Kennedy Space Center
- Day 6: St. Augustine
- Day 7: St. Augustine
Day 1: Everglades National Park
You’ll need an early flight into Miami so that you can head straight to Everglades National Park. You’ll drive to the tip of the Florida peninsula and the “city” of Flamingo. Make plenty of stops along the way to take in short hikes and the unique ecosystem.
Day 2: Shark Valley
Start your morning in the smaller section of the Everglades National Park, known as Shark Valley. This is the more touristy section of the park as it includes airboat rides and a guided tram ride. However, the guided tram ride is our favorite activity in the park as the tour guides are fantastic.
In the afternoon, head in to Miami Beach. Explore the oceanside town and its beautiful art deco buildings. Walk along the Miami Beach’s beach to enjoy the beautiful sandy shores of the ocean.
Day 3 & 4: Miami
Next, explore all that Miami has to offer, which is a lot! Our favorite part of Miami is the neighborhood of Little Havana – and all the amazing food and drinks you can find there. And our favorite thing to do in Miami is to take a food tour in this neighborhood.
Have one more bit of fun the following morning in Miami and then head north on the A1A.
Day 5: Kennedy Space Center
Continue heading up the coast until you reach the Kennedy Space Center. This is one of the most unique things to do in Florida.
Next, head on to Melbourne or Daytona to visit the beach. Don’t forget to have a seafood dinner near the beach.
Day 6 & 7: St. Augustine
Drive north a bit more until reaching Mort Matanzas National Monument and learn about the history of Florida, which is much different from the history of the rest of the US.
Finally, continue on to St. Augustine and spend the next 24 hours there. We really enjoyed our time in St. Augustine, especially the historic tours.
Fly home from Jacksonville, which is just a bit north of St. Augustine.
How to use this map: The map above has all of the attractions mentioned in this post. Click on each attraction to learn more about it. If you’d like to save this map, click on the square “View Larger Map” icon. This will open the map in your Google account (make sure you’re signed in). You can reference it in your account or you can create a copy to make your own edits.
Florida Gulf Road Trip – Lazy Beach Vacation
Starting Point: Fort Myers
Ending Point: Tampa or St. Petersburg
Hours on the road: 6 hours
Best For: Families with littles, people in search of a relaxing beach
- Day 1: Fort Myers
- Day 2 &3: Sanibel Island
- Day 4: Tampa
- Day 5 & 6: Clearwater
- Day 7: Weeki Wachee
Day 1: Fort Myers
Fly in to Fort Myers and enjoy some sights in town before making your way to Sanibel Island.
Day 2 &3: Sanibel Island
First stop, spend two days on Sanibel Island. The beaches of Sanibel Island are world renowned for the many shells that wash up there. This makes them one of the best places for lazy strolls along the beach, for families or adults. The beaches here are often calm and great for swimming too.
Day 4: Tampa
Next, drive to Tampa for some family fun at Bush Gardens. This has been my favorite Florida amusement park for decades. It’s a great amusement park for all ages because it has a good mix of fun rides and educational animal programs.
Day 5 & 6: Clearwater
Clearwater is just north of Tampa and has some of the best beaches in Florida. Spend two days relaxing on these white sand beaches.
Day 7: Weeki Wachee
Finally, one of our personal favorite stops is an early morning kayak on the Weeki Wachee River. These pristine clear waters are a great spot to search for manatees. Take a morning kayak here before departing from Tampa or St. Pete’s airport.
How to use this map: The map above has all of the attractions mentioned in this post. Click on each attraction to learn more about it. If you’d like to save this map, click on the square “View Larger Map” icon. This will open the map in your Google account (make sure you’re signed in). You can reference it in your account or you can create a copy to make your own edits.
Orlando & Tampa – Amusement Parks For Everyone
Starting Point: Orlando
Ending Point: Tampa
Hours on the road: 5.5 hours
Best For: Families with middle-graders, Fandom adults, People with a high activities budget
- Day 1, 2 & 3: Orlando
- Day 4: Weeki Wachee State Park
- Day 5: Clearwater Beach
- Day 6 & 7: Tampa
Day 1, 2 & 3: Orlando
Fly in to Orlando.
Orlando is a play place for all ages – but you’ll need a hefty budget. First, plan on spending three days exploring theme parks in Orlando. There are plenty of parks for all different types of experiences and plenty of blogs out there telling you how to get the most out of them. We’ll keep it short and just tell you our favorite three are Animal Kingdom, Universal Studios (which includes Harry Potter!), and the classic must-do Magic Kingdom.
Day 4: Weeki Wachee State Park
Next, head west to Weeki Wachee State Park. Spend the morning kayaking in the river and the afternoon exploring the theme park like activities in the area, including some pretty spectacular mermaid shows.
Day 5: Clearwater Beach
Next, head south to spend a day relaxing on the beach in Clearwater.
Day 6 & 7: Tampa
Finally, spend two days in Tampa. One of those days should include a visit to Bush Gardens, our favorite amusement park in Florida! Fly out of Tampa.
While this Florida road trip has about as much driving time as the others, one of the great advantages of this one is that you probably only need two different accommodations destinations: Orlando and Tampa area.
Two Week Florida Road Trip
- Day 1& 2: Key West
- Day 3: Marathon
- Day 4: Upper Keys
- Day 5: Everglades National Park
- Day 6 & 7: Miami
- Day 8 & 9: Sanibel Island
- Day 10: Siesta Key
- Day 11: Tampa
- Day 12: Kennedy Space Center
- Day 13 & 14: Orlando
With An Even More Time
With more time:
- Add on a visit to St. Augustine
- Add a few days in Clearwater, relaxing on the beaches
- Add another day to explore Everglades National Park
- Add a day in Key West to visit Dry Tortugas National Park
We hope this has helped you to get a good idea of a few different Florida road trips that you could take. If you’d like to explore more of our Florida road trips or destinations, check out our full Florida archives here.
