The Florida Keys are addressed by mile marker. Green signs count down from MM 106 at the top of Key Largo to MM 0 in Key West, 180 kilometres later, and locals give directions and addresses by the number. It is the most useful piece of geography in the state because the number tells you almost everything about a property before you look at a photograph.
There is one road, US 1, connecting 42 bridges and about 30 inhabited islands. If it closes, and it does in storms, there is no alternative route.
What the number tells you
MM 106 to 90, Key Largo. An hour from Miami, the closest to the mainland, and the diving capital of the chain. John Pennekamp is the first undersea park in America and the reef is offshore.
MM 90 to 70, Islamorada. Sportfishing. The channels between the islands funnel tarpon and bonefish and the town has been a fishing destination for a century.
MM 70 to 40, Marathon and the middle Keys. Quieter, family-oriented, with the Seven Mile Bridge at the bottom of it.
MM 40 to 5, the lower Keys. Almost undeveloped. Big Pine has miniature Key deer and Bahia Honda has the only real natural beach in the chain.
MM 5 to 0, Key West. A town rather than a resort strip: Cuban and Bahamian architecture, Duval Street, and a genuine end-of-the-road feeling.
The one thing nobody mentions: the Keys have very little natural sand. These are coral islands fringed by mangrove and rock, and most resort beaches are imported and narrow. Come for the water rather than the beach.
The twelve below run down the chain in order.
Key Largo, MM 106 to 90
Closest to Miami, best diving.
Bungalows Key Largo - All Inclusive occupies a private site with all-inclusive adults-only bungalows in mangrove gardens, no televisions and a policy against phones by the pool. It is the most restful property in the chain.
Bungalows Key Largo - All Inclusive
Key Largo, MM 99 · 5★ · $$$$
Adults-only all-inclusive with no phones by the pool
Check availabilityPlaya Largo Resort & Spa, Autograph Collection sits on 13 hectares of hammock with several pools, a good beach for the Keys and full family facilities.
Playa Largo Resort & Spa, Autograph Collection
Key Largo, MM 97 · 4★ · $$$
Thirteen hectares with the best beach in the upper Keys
Check availabilityBaker's Cay Resort Key Largo, Curio Collection By Hilton occupies a bayside position with a marina, a large pool and rooms angled at the sunset, which on the bay side of the Keys is the better direction.
Baker's Cay Resort Key Largo, Curio Collection By Hilton
Key Largo, MM 97 bayside · 4★ · $$$
Bayside marina with rooms angled at the sunset
Check availabilityIslamorada, MM 90 to 70
The fishing capital, with the best restaurants in the middle chain.
Cheeca Lodge & Spa sits on 11 hectares with a fishing pier, a golf course and a history going back to 1946. It is the classic Islamorada address.
Cheeca Lodge & Spa
Islamorada, MM 82 · 4★ · $$$
Fishing pier and golf on eleven hectares since 1946
Check availabilityIslander Resort occupies a stretch of oceanfront with a marina, a pool and a lower rate than its neighbour.
Islander Resort
Islamorada, MM 82 · 4★ · $$
Oceanfront with a marina below neighbouring rates
Check availabilityMarathon and the middle Keys, MM 70 to 40
Quieter, family-weighted, at the foot of the Seven Mile Bridge.
Hawks Cay Resort occupies its own island at Duck Key, connected by bridge, with six pools, a marina and a saltwater lagoon. It is the family answer in the Keys.
Hawks Cay Resort
Duck Key, MM 61 · 4★ · $$$
Its own island with six pools and a saltwater lagoon
Check availabilityIsla Bella Beach Resort & Spa sits on Knights Key at the northern end of the Seven Mile Bridge with the longest private beach in the chain and a contemporary interior.
Isla Bella Beach Resort & Spa
Marathon, MM 47 · 4★ · $$$
Longest private beach in the chain
Check availabilityThe lower Keys, MM 40 to 5
Almost undeveloped. Mangrove, deer and the best natural beach.
Little Palm Island Resort & Spa occupies a private island reached only by boat or seaplane, with thatched bungalows, no televisions and no guests under sixteen. It is the most secluded hotel in Florida.
Key West, MM 5 to 0
A town, not a strip. Old wooden houses, a working harbour and the end of the road.
Casa Marina Key West, Curio Collection by Hilton occupies a 1920s building on the largest beach in Key West with two pools and a pier. It is the most complete resort in town.
Casa Marina Key West, Curio Collection by Hilton
Key West, MM 0 · 4★ · $$$
A 1920s building on the largest beach in town
Check availabilityThe Reach Key West, Curio Collection by Hilton sits beside it with a smaller beach, a pier and a quieter tone.
The Reach Key West, Curio Collection by Hilton
Key West, MM 0 · 4★ · $$$
Smaller beach and a quieter tone beside its sister
Check availabilityGlunz Ocean Beach Hotel and Resort occupies the corner at Mallory Square where the sunset celebration happens, with a pool deck over the water and the best position in Old Town.
Glunz Ocean Beach Hotel and Resort
Mallory Square, Key West · 4★ · $$$
Pool deck over the water where the sunset happens
Check availabilityPier House Resort & Spa sits on the harbour with a beach, a spa and the shortest walk to Duval Street.
Pier House Resort & Spa
Key West harbour · 4★ · $$$
A beach and a spa a step from Duval Street
Check availabilityWhat we have left off
The guesthouses and converted conch houses across Old Town Key West are excluded, and several are the most likeable places to sleep in the chain. They are guesthouses rather than hotels, which is the standard applied throughout.
What to do
Get in the water. Snorkel or dive the reef off Key Largo, which is the only living coral barrier reef in the continental United States. Kayak the mangroves. Fish the flats at Islamorada.
Drive the Seven Mile Bridge and stop at Bahia Honda for the beach, which is the one genuinely natural stretch of sand in the Keys.
In Key West, walk Old Town in the morning, do the Hemingway House and the Truman Little White House, and watch the sunset at Mallory Square once.
Take a boat to the Dry Tortugas, 110 kilometres west of Key West, where a nineteenth-century fort sits on an island with extraordinary snorkelling. It is a full day by ferry or seaplane.
Practical notes
Miami is an hour from Key Largo and four hours from Key West. Key West has its own airport with limited connections.
December to April is the dry season and peak. June to November is hurricane season, with the highest risk from August to October; storms close US 1 and evacuations are ordered for the chain.
Book restaurants in Key West in season. Mosquitoes and no-see-ums are real in the mangrove areas.
Explore 4 & 5 Star The Florida Keys Hotels
Questions people actually ask
Which mile marker should you pick?
Key Largo for diving, Islamorada for fishing, Marathon for families, Key West for a town. The chain takes four hours end to end.
Are the beaches good?
Not by Caribbean standards. These are coral islands and most resort sand is imported. The water is the point.
Key West or the upper Keys?
Key West for atmosphere and nightlife, the upper Keys for the reef and quiet. Many people split the week.
How many nights?
Six. Three in Key West and three further up, which avoids driving the whole chain twice.