Do You Need A Rental Car In Key West, Florida?
Planning A Trip To Key West, Florida And Wondering If It’s Necessary To Get A Rental Car For Your Trip Here?
When I was visiting Key West I had a car because I drove from the West Palm Beach area in South Florida, but in the main Old Town area of Key West, it’s actually not that helpful to have a car for a few reasons so I don’t think it’s necessary to rent one for most visitors (I’ll explain more below).
🚗 Do You Need A Rental Car In Key West, Florida?
I had a car while I was visiting Key West because I drove down from Palm Beach Gardens where I lived, but other than driving to the hotel, I didn’t really use my car the rest of the trip because it’s not that helpful to have one in the main Old Town area of Key West.
Why You Don’t Need A Rental Car In Key West
I don’t think most visitors really need a rental a car in Key West, Florida because:
- space is limited and there isn’t a ton of parking everywhere
- the Old Town area is very walkable so there’s really no need for a car
- other than getting to/from the airport, there really aren’t any points of interest in Key West that would require using a rental car or even an Uber to get to
- if you don’t plan to stay near to the Old Town area of Key West, it won’t be easy to walk to this main area, but many of the hotels offer shuttles so a rental car wouldn’t be needed (I stayed at the Double Tree and they had a shuttle)
When You Might Want A Rental Car
While I don’t think it’s necessary for most visiting Key West to rent a car, one reason why you might want a rental car is if you plan to visit other destinations in the Keys or in Florida in general (like Miami, Palm Beach County, Venice Beach, or even Orlando).
Doing a road trip from Key West is very doable (Miami is just under four hours away) and this coastal route is pretty unique and beautiful.
One other reason why you might want a car in Key West is if you go out to dinner after showering and you don’t want to get all hot and sweaty again walking around. In this case I think an Uber or taxi would be better than a rental car though.
🛳 Other Ways To Get Around In Key West, Florida
Because most of Key West is pretty walkable, at least in the main Old Town area, cars aren’t really a necessity, but some others ways you can get around Key West besides on foot include:
🔁 Sum Up: Do You Need A Rental Car In Key West, Florida?
If you plan to only spend your vacation in the main part of Key West (not going to other destinations in Florida), I don’t think it’s necessary at all to get a rental car here because everything in the Old Town area is walkable (plus there are other options like the trolley or train for getting around) and it’s actually more of a hassle with the limited parking.
