Soldato
I will give you my 2p having done 4 US Road trips now including Florida.
Road wise Florida is probably the most boring out of any I have done, they are very direct and not very scenic due to the State being very flat. Some of the interstates border on mesmerising due to them being tree lined for miles upon miles. There are the odd exceptions some that run beside the everglades are nice and Highway 1 to Key West is very unique. The Florida turnpike system works well even if it does just seem to be for milking daft amounts of money from tourists, most tolls are $0.25 to $0.75 barely seems worth it. I have never encounted queues at the tolls but I guess if you go in peak season it may happen. If you understand the US road systems the tourists who have never driven in the US before (and possibly locals that can't drive) are everywhere causing mayhem. On the whole Florida cannot compare to California in scenery or diversity in such a small space, it does however still have it's charms.
We decided the following for our route:
Fly to Miami, we had a couple of nights here went to Miami Beach and Fort Lauderdale.
Miami - Key West we did this in one stint. Key West is an amazing place, we had only 1 night I wish we had done 2, but it's very expensive.
Key West - Key Largo we left Key West late and got as far as Key Largo to set us up for the next day.
Key Largo - Fort Meyers Beach via Everglades NP and an Airboat ride (great fun) and Naples beach (for Sunset). We stayed in a $1M apartment you will find loads of them rented out for not a huge amount. There were 4 of us to split the cost however.
Fort Meyers Beach - Orlando via Fort Meyers Spent the day around Sanibel, Fort Meyers then went to the Villa in Davenport.
We then spent the 2nd week in Orlando and Went out from there, mainly to save accomodation costs. Everywhere is within 2-2:30hrs anyway. St Augustine (well worth a visit) Daytona Beach (we actually went to a Nascar race as it was Daytona weekend) Kennedy Space Centre, unmissable really we were hoping to see a Shuttle launch but it got cancelled. Universal Studios and some more shooting guns. Clearwater/St Petes and Tampa as well.
We flew back out of Orlando as the Car Hire was a free one way between MIA and ORD.
Where are you staying in Jacksonville? I heard there was nothing there so on our last trip when we came back into Florida from Savannah we stayed at the Palms Retro in Atlantic beach, it's a very nice place about 15 mins from Jacksonville and it was very cheap.
Photo's if you are interested. http://www.doufos.co.uk/lightroom/florida/
Road wise Florida is probably the most boring out of any I have done, they are very direct and not very scenic due to the State being very flat. Some of the interstates border on mesmerising due to them being tree lined for miles upon miles. There are the odd exceptions some that run beside the everglades are nice and Highway 1 to Key West is very unique. The Florida turnpike system works well even if it does just seem to be for milking daft amounts of money from tourists, most tolls are $0.25 to $0.75 barely seems worth it. I have never encounted queues at the tolls but I guess if you go in peak season it may happen. If you understand the US road systems the tourists who have never driven in the US before (and possibly locals that can't drive) are everywhere causing mayhem. On the whole Florida cannot compare to California in scenery or diversity in such a small space, it does however still have it's charms.
We decided the following for our route:
Fly to Miami, we had a couple of nights here went to Miami Beach and Fort Lauderdale.
Miami - Key West we did this in one stint. Key West is an amazing place, we had only 1 night I wish we had done 2, but it's very expensive.
Key West - Key Largo we left Key West late and got as far as Key Largo to set us up for the next day.
Key Largo - Fort Meyers Beach via Everglades NP and an Airboat ride (great fun) and Naples beach (for Sunset). We stayed in a $1M apartment you will find loads of them rented out for not a huge amount. There were 4 of us to split the cost however.
Fort Meyers Beach - Orlando via Fort Meyers Spent the day around Sanibel, Fort Meyers then went to the Villa in Davenport.
We then spent the 2nd week in Orlando and Went out from there, mainly to save accomodation costs. Everywhere is within 2-2:30hrs anyway. St Augustine (well worth a visit) Daytona Beach (we actually went to a Nascar race as it was Daytona weekend) Kennedy Space Centre, unmissable really we were hoping to see a Shuttle launch but it got cancelled. Universal Studios and some more shooting guns. Clearwater/St Petes and Tampa as well.
We flew back out of Orlando as the Car Hire was a free one way between MIA and ORD.
Where are you staying in Jacksonville? I heard there was nothing there so on our last trip when we came back into Florida from Savannah we stayed at the Palms Retro in Atlantic beach, it's a very nice place about 15 mins from Jacksonville and it was very cheap.
Photo's if you are interested. http://www.doufos.co.uk/lightroom/florida/
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if you do goto any parks then skip Disney and go to Universal, its awesome.
