A while ago, I spent my holidays on a visit to Miami and Key West in Florida. Before heading on the trip, we had been planning around all kinds of amazing foods. (It’s basically a gourmet journey!) And because I’ve visited many great restaurants that I’d like to share with you on this 4-day trip, I’m planning to write several posts for different themes (in case I make my travel notes into a thesis with hundreds of thousands of words lol). If you plan to visit Miami and Key West, I hope this series of posts can more or less provide some help. If you’re not planning to go recently, hope these posts can bring you on a virtual tour there!
I’ll share my daily schedule for this 4-day trip in today’s post first for your reference. Feel free to copy it and adjust it to your own preference!
Miami and Key West
How to Schedule A Trip?
The workflow and sequence of how I scheduled this trip looks something like this:
- Dates, how many days, and how many people
First, decide who is going and how long you want to go, then it will be easier to arrange a suitable schedule that works for you. - Transportation
How to reach the destination, and how to move around in the destination can also be figured out beforehand. For this trip, we drove our own car to Miami and Key West. It took a bit of time to find parking spots but we were lucky and did not waste too much time on it. If it’s not convenient for you to go by self-driving, using Uber or Lyft is also an option (and depending on how you plan out your trip, it could be cheaper than paying gas and parking fees). Another option is to take the free Trolley in Miami (you can find the route and schedule on their website), which could also be a special experience! - Must-go restaurants and things to do
We focused on food for this trip so scheduled our must-try restaurants first lol. If you are more into other things to do, you can schedule your “must-haves” first when planning your trip. - Accommodations
After deciding your must-go restaurants and things to do, you can choose a closer, more convenient hotel or Airbnb accordingly. Although it’s more expensive to live downtown, living in a spot that’s too far from your destination could potentially cost more when taking the fee of Uber, Lyft and the time you spend into account. - Other attractions and things to do
Finally, based on the brief schedule you’ve got, you can find some other nearby attractions to visit.
And then here is the schedule of my 4 days Miami and Key West trip!
Categorizing them with icons in a few buckets below:
🍽️: Eating & drinking
🛍️: Shopping
📍: Attractions & sightseeing spots
🏠: Accommodations
Day 1
- 🍽️ Lunch: Cvi.Che 105 South Beach
- 🛍️ Lincoln road
- 🍽️ Kith treats
- 🛍️ Bal Harbour mall
- 🍽️ Dinner: Joe’s Stone Crab Restaurant
- 🏠 Hotel: Radisson RED Miami Airport (Click me to check the price*)
Day 2
- (Heading to Key West)
- 🍽️ Lunch: DJ’s Clam Shack
- 📍 Duval Street
- 📍 Southernmost Point
- (Back to Miami)
- 🍽️ Dinner: NAOE
- 🏠 Hotel: Hilton Miami Dadeland (Click me to check the price*)
If not too crowded, it’s about a 3 hours drive in between Miami and Key West. But there is only one long lane from Miami to Key West so the traffic is usually very busy. Remember to take the heavy traffic into consideration when scheduling, especially if you’re like me and plan to go back to Miami on the same day!
Day 3
- 📍 little Havana
- 🍽️ Lunch: Boss Cow Oyster Bar
- 📍 downtown Miami
- 🍽️ Lunch: Zuma
- 🏠 Hotel: Sonesta Miami Airport (Click me to check the price*)
Day 4
- 📍 Design District (designer brands, Dior café, Fendi café, etc.)
- 🍽️ Lunch: Nusr-Et Steakhouse Miami (#saltbae)
Some Reminders
There is a reason why Florida is called the Sunshine State, and I totally felt it on this trip. Miami and Key West are truly incredibly hot lol. Strongly suggest bringing your thermos with you, and fill it with cool water whenever you can before heading on the road. Remember to keep hydrated at all times!
To be honest there was an afternoon when it’s just so hot outside that it made me super dizzy and uncomfortable. So I had to put my schedule aside and went directly to the hotel to check-in early. At first, I felt upset about the fact that I had to stay in the hotel room during the trip instead of exploring the city. I usually think that I should cherish every “normal” day like I’m traveling, but on the flip side, I should probably also learn to live my traveling days as the normal ones. Enjoy the moment with a thankful mindset, and always put mental and physical health first. Take care of myself first, and not feel the pressure of following the plan. After all, the most important thing about traveling is safety and joy!
And More…
Planning to visit Miami or Key West? Here are some more posts that you might be interested 😉
- Restaurants and Things to Do In Key West, FL
- Restaurants and Things to Do In Miami, FL
- Reviews and Comparison of 3 Miami Hotels
- Restaurant Review | CVI.CHE 105 in Miami, FL
- Restaurant Review | Boss Cow Oyster Bar in Miami, FL
That’s it for today. I’ll continue to organize my travel notes on attractions, restaurants, and hotels for Miami and Key West, Florida, and share them with you!
This post contains affiliate links (marked with “*”). Buying through these links will NOT cause any additional costs to you. It only means that I will get an amount of commission if someone makes their purchase through these links. Appreciate your support!