Anyone here been to Miami or the Florida Keys?

Me and the wifes honeymoon is 2 weeks away, never been to the States always wanted to go so really excited!!!

Any advice on traveling to the USA? Or better still in Miami?

We have our toddler with us, so no partying or nightlife

We are based in Miami Beach for 4 days, then rent a car to drive to Key West for 5 days then back up to Key Largo for 4 days. Advice on driving out there would be helpful too!!! Hints tips must see sights and advice most welcome, and most importantly being child friendly out there!

Means I miss loads of games as I work tomorrow also! My last game was Brum home, my next Blackpool home! 2 months without a City game! The longest I have gone in a decade!

HAPPY NEW YEAR BLUEBIRDS

Done the Miami trip a few times and it great, huge spread out City, with some dodgy parts like all big city's, but you just don't do those parts, hotels great easy to find and cheap as chips.
Get the upgrade on hire car, you will spend a lot of time driving so get a the best car you can manage.

Never went down the Keys and regret it, looks like paradise and really chilled, envious of you, have a ball.

Oh, the main highways in Miami are six laners in some places and manic, but in general out of the main areas, driving is a pleasure.

Been to Florida twice a couple of years ago with my parents. Dad drove there, be careful of the street signs over crossroads, the name of the street that your on will be on your left and right hand sides above the cross road.

We made the mistake a few times of turning when we should have kept to the same road as the sign we was on was above the cross road to the left and right of us.

I got married out in Key West-16 years and 1 day ago!

The Keys are very nice. People friendly. Key West is prob most cosmopolitan of all the keys-quite alot of druggies (dopeheads more than anything) and a large gay community. This was 16 years ago so it could have changed.

Me and the wifes honeymoon is 2 weeks away, never been to the States always wanted to go so really excited!!!

Any advice on traveling to the USA? Or better still in Miami?

We have our toddler with us, so no partying or nightlife

We are based in Miami Beach for 4 days, then rent a car to drive to Key West for 5 days then back up to Key Largo for 4 days. Advice on driving out there would be helpful too!!! Hints tips must see sights and advice most welcome, and most importantly being child friendly out there!

Means I miss loads of games as I work tomorrow also! My last game was Brum home, my next Blackpool home! 2 months without a City game! The longest I have gone in a decade!

HAPPY NEW YEAR BLUEBIRDS

Not a huge amount to do in key west but lovely place. Go to sloppy joes for a cocktail, hemingways local. Do an airboat trip on te Everglades and see giant alligators up close and personal. Worth doing a day trip to the Bahamas also. I think there is a dolphin place in key largo too that the little one will like. Keep your eye on the road driving down to key west, it's stunning but very distracting.

Agree with the above.

Not been to the USA before?? Check out local and tourist web-sites for each area you are visiting and learn the 'rules of the road' before driving out there. Most 'hire' cars are automatics and the driving out there is far more laid back (maybe even more respectful) in general than over here. I agree with going for the best car (size-wise) as you can afford but a 'Full-size' should be more than ample for yor needs (about the size of a Mondeo) and one of the best sites I have found is to visit www.floridacarhire.com

Regional variations may include you being able to turn RIGHT (like a 'Give Way' with maximum care) at junctions even when the lights are red. And don't SPEED!! It'l cost you big time and the Police and State Troopers don't muck around (they will even DOUBLE the size of fines when roadworks or work teams are in the vacinity!!

But don't let that put you off (seriously, it's just some advice to help) as the driving over there is (IMHO) far easier than over here once you get over the fact that everything is on the opposite side and you should have a fabulous honymoon in a fabulaous location that I have almost made my second home; Florida

If you like tattoo's dont forget to visit the miami ink parlour which has been on the tv, All superb artists

If you like tattoo's dont forget to visit the miami ink parlour which has been on the tv, All superb artists

Do they do 'toddlers' too??

THANK YOU BLUEBIRDS THAT IS SO CONSIDERATE AND HELPFUL ITS MUCH APPRECIATED

Gonna take that all in!
Enjoy the game tomoz! Will be listening in on my lunch hour

i went to miami and the keys just over 3 years ago
i went for 10 days or 2 weeks cant remember, but it was more than enough
the drive to the keys is bloody awful, i did it there and back in a day as we couldnt get in any reasonable priced hotels, its only 120 miles, dead straight road but it takes 3 1/2 hours because of the bloody 50mph speed limit, trust me obey this! i know have a large fine to pay before i can get back into the state
miami is nice and the beaches and bars are good, but i got bored of it quickly, and without a car i think we'd have got fed up. the car allowed us to get to malls and explore other nearby places, eg hollywood. we were tempted to drive to orlando but again it takes a while
my hotel was dirt cheap - brand new hotel, twin king size beds, free mini bar, flatscreen tv etc, but the drinks were expensive. when i booked the flights the dollar was 2:1 however by the time we got there it had moved to about 1.6:1 which meant that pints on miami beach @ $9 was costing us a fortune!
hit up the everglades for a day too
parking in central miami was a pain in the arse so make sure the hotel has a carpark, it cost me a fortune! we ended up using the bus quite a lot as it was much more reasonable than taxis, although we did end up getting off the bus at completely the wrong side of town. 2 22 years white british people wandering around aimlessly with raybans ipods and cameras! how we didnt get mugged i will never know
enjoy!!

i went to miami and the keys just over 3 years ago
i went for 10 days or 2 weeks cant remember, but it was more than enough
the drive to the keys is bloody awful, i did it there and back in a day as we couldnt get in any reasonable priced hotels, its only 120 miles, dead straight road but it takes 3 1/2 hours because of the bloody 50mph speed limit, trust me obey this! i know have a large fine to pay before i can get back into the state
miami is nice and the beaches and bars are good, but i got bored of it quickly, and without a car i think we'd have got fed up. the car allowed us to get to malls and explore other nearby places, eg hollywood. we were tempted to drive to orlando but again it takes a while
my hotel was dirt cheap - brand new hotel, twin king size beds, free mini bar, flatscreen tv etc, but the drinks were expensive. when i booked the flights the dollar was 2:1 however by the time we got there it had moved to about 1.6:1 which meant that pints on miami beach @ $9 was costing us a fortune!
hit up the everglades for a day too
parking in central miami was a pain in the arse so make sure the hotel has a carpark, it cost me a fortune! we ended up using the bus quite a lot as it was much more reasonable than taxis, although we did end up getting off the bus at completely the wrong side of town. 2 22 years white british people wandering around aimlessly with raybans ipods and cameras! how we didnt get mugged i will never know
enjoy!!

Oh dear!! As I said STICK to the speed limits!! The Feds over there DON'T mess about!!

i went to miami and the keys just over 3 years ago
i went for 10 days or 2 weeks cant remember, but it was more than enough
the drive to the keys is bloody awful, i did it there and back in a day as we couldnt get in any reasonable priced hotels, its only 120 miles, dead straight road but it takes 3 1/2 hours because of the bloody 50mph speed limit, trust me obey this! i know have a large fine to pay before i can get back into the state
miami is nice and the beaches and bars are good, but i got bored of it quickly, and without a car i think we'd have got fed up. the car allowed us to get to malls and explore other nearby places, eg hollywood. we were tempted to drive to orlando but again it takes a while
my hotel was dirt cheap - brand new hotel, twin king size beds, free mini bar, flatscreen tv etc, but the drinks were expensive. when i booked the flights the dollar was 2:1 however by the time we got there it had moved to about 1.6:1 which meant that pints on miami beach @ $9 was costing us a fortune!
hit up the everglades for a day too
parking in central miami was a pain in the arse so make sure the hotel has a carpark, it cost me a fortune! we ended up using the bus quite a lot as it was much more reasonable than taxis, although we did end up getting off the bus at completely the wrong side of town. 2 22 years white british people wandering around aimlessly with raybans ipods and cameras! how we didnt get mugged i will never know
enjoy!!

Oh dear!! As I said STICK to the speed limits!! The Feds over there DON'T mess about!!

aye too late not tho

i went to miami and the keys just over 3 years ago
i went for 10 days or 2 weeks cant remember, but it was more than enough
the drive to the keys is bloody awful, i did it there and back in a day as we couldnt get in any reasonable priced hotels, its only 120 miles, dead straight road but it takes 3 1/2 hours because of the bloody 50mph speed limit, trust me obey this! i know have a large fine to pay before i can get back into the state
miami is nice and the beaches and bars are good, but i got bored of it quickly, and without a car i think we'd have got fed up. the car allowed us to get to malls and explore other nearby places, eg hollywood. we were tempted to drive to orlando but again it takes a while
my hotel was dirt cheap - brand new hotel, twin king size beds, free mini bar, flatscreen tv etc, but the drinks were expensive. when i booked the flights the dollar was 2:1 however by the time we got there it had moved to about 1.6:1 which meant that pints on miami beach @ $9 was costing us a fortune!
hit up the everglades for a day too
parking in central miami was a pain in the arse so make sure the hotel has a carpark, it cost me a fortune! we ended up using the bus quite a lot as it was much more reasonable than taxis, although we did end up getting off the bus at completely the wrong side of town. 2 22 years white british people wandering around aimlessly with raybans ipods and cameras! how we didnt get mugged i will never know
enjoy!!

Taking that all in Bluebird!!

Don't plan to do much driving cos of the little 'un, but will deffo stick to the limit!

thanks pal

i went to miami and the keys just over 3 years ago
i went for 10 days or 2 weeks cant remember, but it was more than enough
the drive to the keys is bloody awful, i did it there and back in a day as we couldnt get in any reasonable priced hotels, its only 120 miles, dead straight road but it takes 3 1/2 hours because of the bloody 50mph speed limit, trust me obey this! i know have a large fine to pay before i can get back into the state
miami is nice and the beaches and bars are good, but i got bored of it quickly, and without a car i think we'd have got fed up. the car allowed us to get to malls and explore other nearby places, eg hollywood. we were tempted to drive to orlando but again it takes a while
my hotel was dirt cheap - brand new hotel, twin king size beds, free mini bar, flatscreen tv etc, but the drinks were expensive. when i booked the flights the dollar was 2:1 however by the time we got there it had moved to about 1.6:1 which meant that pints on miami beach @ $9 was costing us a fortune!
hit up the everglades for a day too
parking in central miami was a pain in the arse so make sure the hotel has a carpark, it cost me a fortune! we ended up using the bus quite a lot as it was much more reasonable than taxis, although we did end up getting off the bus at completely the wrong side of town. 2 22 years white british people wandering around aimlessly with raybans ipods and cameras! how we didnt get mugged i will never know
enjoy!!

Taking that all in Bluebird!!

Don't plan to do much driving cos of the little 'un, but will deffo stick to the limit!

thanks pal

To be honest mate I wouldn't recommend Florida to anyone who doesn't want to do driving.

TOTALLY agree with that comment, MG

If ever there was a need for personal transport then THIS is the time and the place. It's bigger than you think and you really don't want to rely on buses, taxis or (in particular) walking too far!!

In the US of A the car is the star!!

O/T a little (but on the Florida theme) has anyone been to Florida and seen the Cirque du Soleil show called 'La Nouba' in Downtown Disney?? (an absolute MUST in my humble opinion )

The little clown in the white suit that scuttles around the stage and does the tricks with the little pushbike....

Is that Kenny Miller's twin brother or what?!?!

It is 100 miles from the tip of Miami to the Keys, loved the drive but takes ages because of their speed limits.Key West is worth a visit I found the hotels very reasonable, a day and a half is about right.very vibrant on the harbor with streets acts market etc and the sunset is brill