No doubt about it: Key West is expensive. But despite its small size, Key West is packed with things to do and see — and some are even free. Here are 10 places to go where you’ll soak up Key West culture without opening your wallet.
Florida Keys Getaways
This channel features more than 70 articles about things to do in the Florida Keys, including state and county parks, kayak trails, boating and beaches.
Epic drive through Florida’s Keys: Our Overseas Highway guide, milepost by milepost
Our Florida Keys Overseas Highway Mile-Marker Guide is your travel companion across these islands with notes on things to do, historic points of interest, tiki bars, restaurants and places to launch a kayak or take a hike.
Islamorada is a stunning base for enjoying the Keys
You don’t have to go all the way to Key West for a Florida Keys experience. Islamorada, two hours from Miami, is worth the trip on its own. You can kayak to historic islands, feed the tarpon at Robbie’s Marina, visit two craft breweries, take a snorkeling boat tour, even visit a top-notch museum.
Diners & Dive Bars: Favorite pit stops along the Overseas Highway
The best road food along the Overseas Highway is served out of a handful of iconic kitchens, legendary Florida Keys diners and dive bars.
Florida Keys wildlife: How to see dolphins, sea turtles, Key deer & more
Your drive down the Overseas Highway can be your own personal Florida Keys Road Trip for Animal Lovers. From endangered Key deer to colorful Key West chickens, here are eight places to delight in the animals and wildlife of the Florida Keys.
Marathon Seafood Festival: Mid-March 2027
The Marathon Seafood Festival calls itself the Original Marathon Seafood Festival to emphasize it’s the real deal – indigenous and authentic. Marathon is a fishing town, and you don’t get fish any fresher than here, unless you catch it yourself.
Legend of Black Caesar haunts the Florida Keys
Black Caesar was a pirate of some renown who plundered ships off the Florida Keys, or so goes a legend worthy of mention during Black History Month.
Four Florida Keys restaurants that are hard to find but worth it
Four of my favorite stops in the Keys are a little hard to find, and that’s part of their charm. They’re off the Overseas Highway in neighborhoods — and they’re worth discovering.
Long Key State Park: Natural, uncrowded Florida Keys
Once the site of a luxury resort for the rich and famous, Long Key State Park is a lovely place to spend a few hours hiking, beachcombing, swimming, snorkeling and kayaking. There are even three primitive tent camping sites.
Bike the Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Trail on safe & scenic sections
The bike trail down the Florida Keys — the Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Trail — is not complete, but here are four sections that offer scenic and safe rides.