Florida

Florida holds three national parks, all in the far south of the state. They are the Everglades, Biscayne within sight of Miami, and Dry Tortugas, about 70 miles out to sea west of Key West. Together they had 1,354,120 recreation visits in 2025. The state also has the Overseas Highway through the Florida Keys, the Kennedy Space Center and the Art Deco hotels of Miami Beach.

Florida's summer is long, hot and inside the hurricane season. We read the figures below on 27 October 2026 on the pages of the National Park Service, the National Hurricane Center, Florida's Turnpike and the Florida Department of Revenue. The Florida Keys tourism council and NOAA's normals supplied the rest.

Why does only the Everglades charge the $100 surcharge in Florida?

Everglades is the one Florida park on the 2026 list of eleven national parks that charge $100 for every non-resident aged 16 or over. Biscayne and Dry Tortugas are not on it, so visitors from abroad pay exactly what Americans pay there.

Two adults from abroad pay $235 for one car at the Everglades, nothing at Biscayne and $30 at Dry Tortugas, already inside their ferry tickets; a seaplane passenger pays the $15 on top of the fare. The $250 non-resident annual pass therefore only pays off on a trip that adds another surcharge park. The Everglades takes cards and digital passes only, no cash. Our guide to national park fees for international visitors lists the other ten parks.

Biscayne's islands need a boat. Docking at Boca Chita Key and Elliott Key costs $25 a day from Friday to Monday and on federal holidays, and camping with a dock berth costs $60 a night, paid on the Recreation.gov app on the island.

Guided trips leave from the Dante Fascell Visitor Center near Homestead, and from Coconut Grove in Miami. Gulf Islands National Seashore, in Florida and Mississippi, is not a national park, but it had 7,576,923 visits in 2025. That is the seventh most of any Park Service unit, and more than Florida's three national parks together.

How do you reach Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas?

Fort Jefferson, on Garden Key in Dry Tortugas National Park, can only be reached by boat or seaplane; no road goes there. The park lies about 70 miles (113 km) west of Key West, and less than 1% of it is dry ground. The Park Service calls the fort the largest masonry fort in the western hemisphere, built of more than 16 million bricks.

The Park Service names four ways out. The Yankee Freedom is a high-speed catamaran for day and camping trips; the others are Key West Seaplane Charters, permitted charter boats and private boats. The Yankee Freedom arrives daily at 10:30 a.m., weather permitting.

The seaplane's own rates page lists a half day at $527 an adult, plus the $15 entrance fee. The Key West Attractions Association lists the Yankee Freedom day trip at $235 for an adult, entrance included; the ferry's own site could not be read on 29 October 2026.

The islands have no phone signal, Wi-Fi, drinking water, food, fuel or rubbish collection, and visitors must bring everything. Camping costs $15 a site per night, or $30 for the group site, and is not included in the ferry fare. The ferry carries ten campers a day, and the seaplane takes none.

On 27 October 2026 the park's alerts said sections of the moat wall were closed "until Winter 2026". Hurricanes Helene and Milton damaged them in 2024. Bush Key had mostly reopened on 29 September, with its north side and all of Long Key closed for nesting birds.

How long is the Overseas Highway to Key West?

The Overseas Highway runs 113 miles and crosses 42 bridges, according to the Monroe County Tourist Development Council, which runs the Florida Keys' tourism office. Once in the Keys, US-1 becomes the Overseas Highway, and green mile markers count down from 127 near Florida City to 0 in Key West.

Key Largo is about 22 miles from Florida City, and an hour to an hour and a half from Miami International. The Seven Mile Bridge is in the council's words one of the longest segmental bridges in the world. The beach at Bahia Honda State Park comes just after it. The highway is an All-American Road under the federal scenic byways programme.

The Overseas Highway is a single road, and traffic builds at peak times. Key West International Airport has flights on Allegiant, American, Breeze, Delta, JetBlue and United; Marathon's airport has no commercial service. Bahia Honda is one of Florida's 175 state parks, trails and historic sites. We could not read the state parks' fee schedule on 27 October 2026.

What is there at the end of US-1 in Key West?

Key West is the last stop on the Overseas Highway, and the council calls it the nation's southernmost city, closer to Havana than to Miami. The daily sunset gathering at Mallory Square, on the docks, brings out visitors, local artists and street performers.

The council's own list of sights includes the Southernmost Point, the Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum and Duval Street. The Key West Visitor Center, run by the Greater Key West Chamber of Commerce, is at 510 Greene Street. By our own routing, Miami to Key West is about 161 miles and four hours without traffic. Orlando to Key West is about 394 miles and more than eight hours.

What does a day at Kennedy Space Center cost?

A one-day ticket to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex costs $77 for an adult aged 12 or over and $67 for a child aged 3 to 11. Parking a car costs $15 on top. A two-day ticket, used within six months, costs $91 and $81. The ticket page does not say whether sales tax is included.

The complex is about 45 to 60 miles from Orlando on State Road 528, an hour or more by car. No public transport goes there, but Gray Line Orlando runs transport from Orlando. Space Shuttle Atlantis is, in the complex's words, the only space shuttle displayed in flight.

Opening hours in 2026 are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. until 5 November, 9 to 6 from 6 to 8 November, and 9 to 5 again from 9 to 25 November. The complex closes on Thanksgiving, 26 November, and on Christmas Day. Entry ends an hour before closing, and the last bus tour leaves two and a half hours before.

Why are Miami Beach's hotels Art Deco?

Miami Beach's Art Deco hotels went up after the hurricane of 1926, according to the City of Miami Beach. The first appeared in 1933, and the style's golden age lasted into the 1940s. Albert Anis, L. Murray Dixon and Henry Hohauser were among the architects.

The Miami Beach National Register Art Deco District became the nation's first urban 20th-century historic district on 14 May 1979. The city describes it as the largest concentration of Art Deco in the United States. Barbara Capitman and the Miami Design Preservation League led the campaign to save it. Her bust stands in Lummus Park, beside Ocean Drive.

A Miami Beach hotel room carries 14% in taxes, more than the rest of Miami-Dade County. Local hotel taxes total 7% there against 6% elsewhere in the county: the city's 4% resort tax plus the county's 3% Convention Development Tax. Our Miami guide covers the city and the beach.

How far apart are Miami, Orlando and Key West?

Florida is a long state to drive: Miami to Orlando is about 233 miles and Miami to Pensacola, in the western Panhandle, about 673 miles. The distances below are our own routing, without traffic.

Orlando International says it has nonstop flights to more than 170 destinations. Its airlines include Aer Lingus, British Airways, Emirates, Icelandair, LATAM, Virgin Atlantic and WestJet. It has a Brightline rail station inside the airport. Walt Disney World lists four theme parks: Magic Kingdom Park, EPCOT, Disney's Hollywood Studios and Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park.

Magic Kingdom is about 25 miles from the airport. Miami International is, in the Keys council's words, a major gateway with extensive international service. We could not read the Miami, Fort Lauderdale or Tampa airports' own route lists.

Most of Florida is on Eastern Time. The western Panhandle, west of the Apalachicola River and the Gulf County line, is on Central Time. Pensacola and Panama City are therefore an hour behind Miami. In 2026 daylight saving time ended on 1 November.

How do Florida's cashless tolls work in a rental car?

Florida's Turnpike collects tolls electronically, and cash is not accepted at its electronic toll points. A car without a transponder is photographed and the registered owner is sent a TOLL-BY-PLATE invoice, with a $2.50 administrative charge.

TOLL-BY-PLATE is not available for rental cars. Most rental companies include tolls in the agreement through their own plate-photo or transponder programmes, each with its own fees. A SunPass Portable can be used in a rental once the rental's plate is added to the account. SunPass saves an average of 25% against TOLL-BY-PLATE.

SunPass Mini and PRO transponders are sold at Publix, CVS and Walgreens, and the PRO also works wherever E-ZPass is accepted. The Turnpike accepts E-ZPass and several other states' transponders, but Florida's managed express lanes need a transponder. Every rental also carries a state surcharge of $2 a day for the first 30 days. Our guide to renting a car in the USA covers insurance and deposits.

What does Florida's hurricane season mean for a trip?

Florida's hurricane season runs from 1 June to 30 November, with its peak on 10 September, according to the National Hurricane Center. Most activity comes from mid-August to mid-October. Storms sometimes form before and after those dates.

A hurricane watch means hurricane-force winds are possible; a warning means they are expected, and it is issued 36 hours before tropical-storm-force winds arrive. The National Weather Service advises checking whether you are in an evacuation zone. During a watch or warning the Turnpike may suspend tolls on evacuation routes. The Everglades may close all or part of the park before, during and after a storm, and the Keys have one road out.

On 27 October 2026 the Hurricane Center listed two active storms, both in the Pacific, and none in the Atlantic. The season still had five weeks to run.

Which part of Florida has the most 90-degree days?

Orlando has the most days at or above 90°F of Florida's big cities, about 110 a year in NOAA's 1991 to 2020 normals. Tallahassee has about 103, Tampa 94, Miami 91 and Jacksonville 80, while Key West has about 57.

The table gives NOAA's average highs and lows. Miami gets 67 inches of rain a year; June is its wettest month, at 10.5 inches, with September close behind at 10.2. Tallahassee, in the north, averages 27 nights a year at or below freezing, while Miami and Key West have none.

What taxes go on a Florida hotel bill?

A Florida hotel bill carries three layers of tax: the state's 6% sales tax, a county surtax and a county tourist tax. The tourist tax applies to stays of six months or less. On the Department of Revenue's 2026 rates, the total is 12.5% in Orlando and the Keys, 13% in most of Miami-Dade and 14% in Miami Beach.

Shop purchases carry the 6% state tax plus the county surtax. The surtax is 1% in Miami-Dade and in Brevard County, home of the Kennedy Space Center, and 1.5% in the Keys and in Tampa's Hillsborough County. Our guide to sales tax in the USA explains why prices are shown before tax.