Florida Keys in pictures
Planning a Florida holiday? We don't blame you. It's an out-and-out favourite with British holidaymakers for good reason - blissful beaches, family attractions, adventure and natural beauty combine to make this almost the perfect holiday destination.
If you're planning a trip, make sure you don't overlook the Florida Keys. This low-lying stretch of paradise is made up of 1,700 islands, beginning at the southernmost point of the Florida peninsula and stretching through a 120-mile southwestern arc to Key West. Here's a picture-based tour of the highlights.
It basically looks like this:
There are 42 bridges connecting the main islands in the Keys chain. This is the longest of them all, the Seven Mile Bridge.
Key West, the southernmost point in the US. You could almost swim to Cuba from here. We don’t recommend trying though.
Expect to see plenty of these...
And if you’re lucky, a few of these...
Brave enough to hand-feed huge wild fish from the dock? Head to Robbies in Islamorada.
There’s a reason they call this place the “sportfishing capital of the world”.
Also in Islamorada you'll find The Moorings Village - eagle-eyed Netflix subscribers will recognise this as the Rayburns' house in "Bloodline".
Hemingway’s House in Key West – the famous American writer Ernest lived (and drank) here from 1931 to 1940. You can check out the very room in which he penned some of his most famous works.
Half the Hemingway cats at the house are six-toed, descendants of the cat (called Snow White) that the writer was given by a ship’s captain.
Sloppy Joe’s was a haunt of Hemingway’s and is mentioned in the Orson Welles film "Citizen Kane".
Do not leave the Keys without eating plenty of this. Many places reckon to serve the best version. Renowned Key West restaurant Blue Heaven is one of them…
Kermit's also reckon to be experts on the subject. Which, of course, is true...
The Square Grouper in Cudjoe Key. Want to know how it got the name? It’s a drug thing...
Yep, that’s a car on water. That can mean only one thing: sundowners at Lorelei, Islamorada.
And yes, that's a chicken on water. This kind of thing doesn't seem so weird once you're there...
Take the ferry from Key West to Fort Jefferson, part of the Dry Tortugas National Park.
Award-winning beaches and a historic bridge – welcome to Bahia Honda State Park.
It's worth sticking around for sunset too...
The Florida Keys – turtle-y awesome.