Is It Worth Visiting Key West Florida?

Thinking About Traveling To Key West, Florida, But Wondering If It Is Really Worth Visiting?

When I was living in South Florida, I took a road trip down to Key West and although I had one of my most exciting marine life encounters up to this point, there were a few reasons why I could see it not being worth visiting depending on your interests and your budget.

🏝 Is It Worth Visiting Key West, Florida?

My marine life experience here was one of the best I've ever had.

I enjoyed my time in Key West and loved the marine life encounter that I experienced here (pictured above), but it wasn’t an absolute favorite place that I’ve visited and going once or twice is probably plenty for me.

Why It Is Worth Visiting Key West

Some of the historical sites might make Key West worth visiting for some.

Although one or two trips is plenty for me to Key West, some reasons why this is a great destination worth visiting include:

snorkeling at the only living coral barrier reef in the continental US

historical sites such as
- The Hemingway Home and Museum (pictured above)
- Fort Zachary Taylor
- Truman Little White House (pictured below)
- USCGC Ingham Maritime Museum
- Mel Fisher Maritime Museum
- Key West Shipwreck Museum
- the Southernmost Point in the continental US
- Dry Tortugas National Park

unique events like
- the Key Lime Wedge Drop at New Years Eve
- Key West Fantasy Fest
- Hemingway Days
- the Key Lime Festival

tons of active, water activities like
- kayaking
- jet skiing
- snorkeling
- fishing
- parasailing
- marine life viewing
- and much more

Why It Might Not Be Worth Visiting

I personally loved snorkeling out at the reef the best.

Although Key West is a great place to get outdoors and get in the water, some reasons why it might not be worth visiting include:

it’s a small area so there is limited parking, limited food options (especially healthy ones), limited hotels, and so on

it’s not the cheapest place to visit, especially during high season (the winter and spring months)

although a car isn’t really necessary in Key West, during the off season (summer and fall) it gets really hot so walking around can be exhausting

other than water activities and a few historical sites, there isn’t much else to do in Key West except eat and drink (neither of which are my kind of things)

Key West isn’t a great beach destination; the beaches aren’t anything special and there aren’t that many of them

📆 How Many Days Do You Need In Key West, Florida?

The southern most point is a unique place to visit in Key West and it might make this area worth visiting for some.

How many days you need in Key West depends on why you’re visiting. If you plan to just explore the main Old Town part of Key West, see a few museums, and go on a tour or two, I think three days (not including travel) is more than enough.

If you plan on visiting Key West during some of its popular events or going further out to a place like Dry Tortugas then a few extra days would obviously be necessary.

🔁 Sum Up: Is It Worth Visiting Key West, Florida?

I don’t think Key West, Florida is the absolute best destination around, but a few reasons I personally thought it was worth visiting at least once was to snorkel at the only living coral barrier reef in the continental US and to see some of the interesting historical sites like the southernmost point or Hemingways home.