KEY LARGO

Day 1

ORLANDO

Arrive in Orlando and proceed to your hotel. Spend the day at leisure or explore Orlando Downtown Historic District with its diverse mix of architecture, combining past and present. Stop by the Church Street Station, the area’s entertainment and shopping complex. Take a stroll in Lake Eola Park. Numerous spots around the park provide nice views of the city’s skyline and the lake’s fountain, which is illuminated at night.

Day 2

ORLANDO

If art is your thing, make sure to visit the Orlando Museum of Art. More than 600 works include 19th and 20th century American art. Orlando Science Center is a good place of interest for both children and adults. Visit Walt Disney World Resort, a city within a city, which is twice the size of Manhattan Island. Four extensive theme parks – Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney’s Animal Kingdom and Disney MGM Studio – will keep you occupied for the rest of your day. As an alternative to theme parks, visit Wekiwa Springs State Park (20 min north of Orlando). It has a vast network of 13.5 miles of trails allowing for hiking, bicycling and horseback riding.

Day 3

ORLANDO » COCOA BEACH » MIAMI BEACH (270 mi / 435 km)

Depart Orlando early in the morning and head towards the “Space Coast”. It is home to Kennedy Space Center, NASA’s launch headquarters. Here you can tour the launch areas, see giant rockets, train in spaceflight simulators or even experience a launch. After the Space Center drive to Cocoa Beach an internationally famous stretch of Atlantic beach. Cocoa Beach Pier is THE place for bars, restaurants, gift shops, fishing and live music. Once back on the road, going towards Miami Beach, do not forget to make a pit stop in Palm Beach, famous for its lavish multimillion – dollar mansions.

Day 4

MIAMI BEACH

Start your day by exploring the Art Deco Historic District, the largest display of Art Deco architecture in the world. It consists of hotels and apartment buildings from the late 1920s to the early 1940s. Take a stroll along the Ocean Drive – north-south boulevard that borders the Atlantic Ocean. Visit the Lummus Park, which runs along the Ocean Beach. The park offers a great view of Ocean Drive and its line-up of Art Deco Hotels. Other places of interest, worth seeing are: Washington Avenue, Lincoln Road Mall, Collins Avenue and Collins Park, Bass Museum of Art.

Day 5

MIAMI BEACH » KEY WEST (170 mi / 272 km)

Depart Miami Beach towards Key West. Take the US 1 Overseas Highway. It links the 120 mile long Florida Keys island chain to mainland Florida. Arrive in Key West, the Southernmost City in the continental United States. Key West cultivates an atmosphere of inspiring tolerance that encourages a diverse mix of residents, from old-time “conch’ families (descended from the island’s original settlers) to a more recently arrived gay community. Take a biking or a walking tour of Old Town Key West. Old Town boasts more than 3000 significant historic structures including museums and other attractions. Visit Harry S Truman Little White House Museum, it gives a rare glimpse of the personality and private life of America’s 33rd president. Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Society showcases gold, silver, and treasure recovered from shipwrecks around the world. The Duval Street bar and restaurant district includes many different entertainment options, all within walking distance.

Day 6

KEY WEST » KEY LARGO (105 mi / 168 km)

Start the morning by visiting Nobel Prize-winning author Ernest Hemingway's former home which is now open to the public as a museum, populated by as many as sixty descendants of his famous polydactyl cats. The Key West Botanical Forest and Garden is an excellent, frost-free arboretum and botanical garden containing a number of "champion tree" specimens. Nancy Forrester's Secret Garden is a one acre (4,000 m²) garden resembling a lush, predominantly green, rainforest. It is an exhibit of wild nature’s artistry in a woodland garden. The Key West Lighthouse and Keeper's Quarters Museum preserves the history of the Key West Lighthouse built in 1847. The Key West Butterfly & Nature Conservatory features a 5,000 square foot (460 m²) glass-domed tropical butterfly habitat. Some tourists mix with the locals, shop, and dine at the Key West Historic Seaport at the Key West Bight. Key Largo, the Keys’ largest Island, for a while tried to compete with Key West for economic domination of the Keys, but lost the battle long ago. The tiny towns of Tavernier and Key Largo, which changed its name from Rock Harbor after the movie “Key Largo” -entirely shot in Hollywood- became a hit, are the island’s commercial centers. They make nice enough stops. The Florida Keys Visitor Center is at MM106 . But the essential thing to do would be a visit to the John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park

Day 7	KEY LARGO » ORLANDO (290 mi / 464 km)
John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park offers a fine opportunity to visit the Florida Reef, America’s one live coral reef, populated with lobsters, eels, jellyfish and schools of silvery minnows stalked by mean looking barracuda’s. If you can, make the snorkeling or scuba-diving tours; if that’s too much, a glass-bottom boat tour is your next best option.

Day 8	DEPARTURE
Depart Orlando for your return trip home