Florida Keys and South Florida Culture Trip
Back to Florida
Florida Keys and South Florida Culture Trip10 nightsFrom £2090 per person
From £2090 per person
Price Includes: Flights, accommodation and car hire
The Florida Keys & Key West has been a draw for artists, poets, political pundits and pirates for hundreds of years. For the visual artist, it might be how the light reflects off the Caribbean waters or the explosion of colours that appear daily as the sun sets. For the poet, the birds singing and the year-round flowers in bloom provide inspiration. For the cast of characters that inhabits these islands; those who think differently, speak openly, and who live by their own rhythms, local songwriters are thankful. This creative community is vibrant and varied, overflowing with an energy and enthusiasm that has drawn visitors for decades.
Immerse yourself in a variety of cultural offerings with events ranging from an annual literary seminar, local galleries, and museums to concerts, film festivals, and theatre productions. Seasonal and year-round events flourish in the Florida Keys.
Day 1 Fly from the UK to Miami
Miami is an art lover’s paradise, home to cutting edge arts districts, internationally-acclaimed art shows, and countless galleries and museums. Enjoy live music, dance and theatre performances in venues designed by world-renowned architects, or catch a film or festival. In Miami, there’s something wonderful around every corner, from the Art-Deco and Mediterranean Rival architecture to the nine miles of beach and the beautiful people!
Stay two nights in Miami.
Day 3 Miami to Islamorada, approx. 85 miles
Collect your car and head to the Florida Keys. Visual artistry can be seen all over the Florida Keys: in palm-fringed shorescapes that edge the Atlantic Ocean, orange and purple abstracts unrolling across the sky at sunset, and the clean-lined sculptural arches of the old Overseas Highway bridges.
You’ll first notice Betsy, the larger-than-life replica of a crustacean, greeting visitors to Islamorada at the quaint open-air colony of artists at Rain Barrel. The Rain Barrel artist colony is the first of many great galleries in the Village of Islamorada. The Morada Way Arts and Cultural District is a bustling, downtown community in Islamorada, with galleries, restaurants, and studio spaces. If you happen to be there on the third Thursday of the month, several galleries stay open through the evening hours during the “third Thursday” event, which highlights include live music, performance art, photography and culinary classes.
Don’t miss the Florida Keys History of Diving Museum, which not only houses artefacts covering 4,000 years of diving history, including an exhibit of dive helmets from around the world, but boasts a 360-foot mural with manatees, a whale shark, finfish and endangered marine life found on the living coral reef that parallels the Keys. This large-scale canvas was painted by internationally acclaimed artists David Dunleavy and Guy Harvey.
In the evening, embrace the food culture of the Keys at one of the many waterfront restaurants. As you gaze out to sea, you will definitely appreciate why the whole chain of Florida Keys is such an inspiration.
Stay one night in Islamorada.
Day 4 Islamorada to Key West, approx. 80 miles
Take your time and explore, there is a wealth of choices on the island. With more than 600 buildings on the National Historic Registry, stroll the “Old Town” neighbourhood and marvel at the different architectural influences from house to house.
Historical museums and attractions, such as the Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum, Harry S Truman Little White House, The Key West Lighthouse and Keepers' Quarters, East Martello Civil War Fort, and the Key West Art & History Museum at the Custom House draw visitors who are interested in Key West’s colourful past and its position in America’s political history.
Galleries abound — featuring oils and watercolours, sculpture of all sorts, Haitian primitives, collage, pottery, handcrafted jewellery, woodcarving, stained glass and blown glass, acrylics and a variety of fine crafts. A portion of Key West's famed Duval Street known for its eclectic galleries comes alive with art exhibitions, receptions and culinary offerings during the monthly Upper Duval Street Stroll. Explore galleries, boutiques and food and wine emporiums during the event that usually takes place the first Friday of each month. Key West's Caroline and Greene streets and Historic Seaport neighbourhood form a lively art and design district, site of the Art and Ambiance Walks spotlighting galleries and merchants the first Thursday of each month.
There are several nature walks and gardens open for visitation such as the Audubon House and Gardens, the Key West Botanical and Tropical Forest Garden and East Martello Tower, a civil war-era fortress, which is home to the Key West Garden Club.
You will find street performers throughout Key West, especially at the nightly Mallory Square Sunset Celebration, and live theatre, symphony concerts, comedians and national Broadway touring shows have seasonal performances at several Key West theatres.
Stay two nights in Key West.
Day 6 Key West to Marathon, approx. 50 miles
Discover an undersea mural painted by internationally acclaimed marine life artist Wyland assisted by Guy Harvey. One of Wyland's renowned "Whaling Wall" murals, the Marathon wall depicts the area's indigenous dolphin, sharks, barracuda and sea turtles, as well as a mother humpback whale and her calf. Wyland is recognised as a pioneer of the environmental art movement and credits diving the Keys' coral reef as a significant inspiration for his work.
Spend some time exploring the Crane Point Museum on a slightly elevated patch of land referred to as a ‘hammock,’ tucked away in the heart of Marathon. On this 64-acre tropical oasis, you can experience the natural beauty of the native hardwood trees, nature trails and educational displays. Crane Point was originally set up as a homestead by George Adderly, a Bahamian man, and his family. They lived a simple life among exotic tropical trees, such as the lignumvitae, whose incredibly hard wood was once used to make bowling balls!
Florida Keys Aquarium Encounters offers an immersive experience with reef fish, invertebrates, stingrays and even sharks — without entering the ocean. The signature feature of the multimillion-dollar facility, located at the foot of the Vaca Cut Bridge at 11710 Overseas Highway, is a coral reef exhibit and shark habitat housed in a massive 200,000-gallon interconnected saltwater aquarium for viewing.
Live performances run seasonally at the Marathon Community Theater, so it’s a good idea to check before you travel to see what’s on.
Day 7 Marathon to Key Largo, approx. 45 miles
Your final stop on your Florida Keys journey is actually the Gateway to the Florida Keys! In Key Largo, you’ll find a 7,500-square-foot mural portraying undersea denizens — inhabitants of the living coral reef that parallels the Keys. Painted in 2007 by the renowned marine life artist Wyland, an Upper Keys resident, the mural wraps around all four sides of a four-story building. Another stop is a commemoration of Henry Flagler's Florida Keys Over-Sea Railroad – a hand-painted mural, measuring 60 feet long and 11.5 feet high and depicting a train similar to a Florida Keys Overseas Railroad passenger train steaming across an arched bridge much like the Long Key Viaduct.
For some smaller works of art, stop at the Gallery at Kona Kai, representing more than a dozen artists from France, Italy, Israel, the Netherlands, Venezuela and the United States.
A big part of the Florida Keys culture comes from the ocean and marine life that surrounds it, and so a stop at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park with its 30,000-gallon saltwater aquarium is a must as well as a natural history exhibit, which highlights the park's different biological communities. There are also six additional 100 to 200-gallon aquariums, which offer visitors different interpretations of the park's marine inhabitants.
Live performances are put on seasonally, by the Key Players.
Stay two nights in Key Largo
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Day 9 Key Largo to Naples, 140 miles
Head to Florida’s Gulf Coast for your final two nights. Naples and the Paradise Coast’s natural beauty has inspired artists throughout the ages, and so it’s no surprise that the area is a haven for the arts. With music and theatre shows, museums, historic sites and art galleries, you are spoilt for choice. From the Calusa Indians to Pioneer settlers and then the wealthy Northern and Midwestern holiday-makers of the 1920s, Naples has grown into a stunning coastal resort with an abundance of culture. However nearby communities such as Everglades City, Immokalee, Chokoloskee and Ochopee still offer glimpses into the days of yesteryear.
Stay two nights in Naples
Day 11 Naples to Miami, approx. 125 miles
Return to Miami and drop-off your car in time to check-in for your flight.
