Getting there: Air Canada, hotwire car rental
Where we stayed: We spent 3 nights in Key West in a lovely home on Varela St. far away from the main hotel area. We had the front unit which was a roomy one-bedroom, well appointed kitchen, good wifi, clear instructions on getting in, parking on the street, close to all amenities, with a bike rental shop at the end of the street. Then we spent 5 nights in South Beach at a condo found on Airbnb – a traditional art deco unit in a fairly well appointed (no dish clothes or dish towels!) unit that had some free parking stalls (otherwise would arrange a parking pass), onsite laundry, but sketchy wifi that was close to all the action in SoBe.
Fun: Key West was all about the beaches (Higgs Beach, Fort Zachary Taylor), food (great Cuban at Havana 1, LOTS of key lime pie at different places), and just relaxing. We rented bikes one day and used them to explore. South Beach was pretty much about the same! We did a lot of shopping (stores were even open on Christmas Day), ate at a few of our fave spots (Ice Box, Taco Rico), and spent some time at the beach snoozing.
Tips: 1. In the rental units, there are sometimes binders with past traveler tips – use those or coupons that might be in the unit for nearby activities. We used the binder in our Key West unit to find Havana 1 for Cuban food, Sandy’s Cafe for con leche (delicious!), and for a coupon for our rental bikes. 2. You don’t need a car in South Beach, unless you want to explore more of Miami in general. We kept the car for one night in South Beach just so we could do some shopping about 30 mins away, and then returned our rental to the airport the next day. 3. Miami transit has a fabulous new South Beach airport express – you catch the bus right at the new bus terminal at the airport and it takes you to South Beach – all for around $3/person versus a $35-40 cab ride. Depending on where you are going in South Beach, the ride will take about 40-50 minutes.
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