A road across the sea, alligators in the swamps and sunsets in Key West – Florida is the winter road trip for the Swiss.
Photo: Slava Jamm (Unsplash)
I travelled Florida by hire car, and that's how it should be done: from Miami along the Overseas Highway to Key West, 200 kilometres over 42 bridges, the sea on both sides. Key West itself is a village of wooden houses, chickens in the street and the daily sunset spectacle at Mallory Square.
The Everglades are an hour from Miami – airboat tour, alligators, mangroves. Then the Gulf Coast: Naples, Sanibel Island with its seashells, Sarasota with the white sand of Siesta Beach. Quieter than the Atlantic side, with a shallow, warm sea.
On the Atlantic coast north of Miami I stayed at Sandpiper Bay near Port St. Lucie, an all-inclusive resort with golf and tennis – the hotel page tells you more. I'll leave out Orlando and its theme parks; anyone travelling with grandchildren knows why they have to go.
Key West: Old Town, despite the prices. Gulf Coast: Naples or Sanibel. For golf and tennis: Sandpiper Bay near Port St. Lucie.
Hotels I know personally and describe on their own pages: Sandpiper Bay Resort, Port St. Lucie, Shore Club Miami Beach.
I almost always compare hotels, apartments and guesthouses on Booking.com – with genuine reviews and usually free cancellation.
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