Visiting Florida: an itinerary in 10 days or 2 weeks

Florida is visited as a loop from Miami: the city, the Everglades, the Keys road down to Key West, then Orlando and Cape Canaveral. Ten days are enough to see these five stops provided you limit yourself to two park days in Orlando; two weeks let you do four and sleep two nights in Key West. The best period runs from December to April, in the dry season and once the hurricane season has closed, and a car is essential.

What to see in Florida: the five stops of the south and centre

• Miami: the pastel façades of Ocean Drive in South Beach, the largest concentration of Art Deco in the world, Little Havana and its Calle Ocho, the murals of Wynwood, the Vizcaya villa on Biscayne Bay.
• The Everglades: at Shark Valley, a flat 24 km (15 mile) loop is covered by bike or by tram among the alligators, with an observation tower halfway round.
• The Keys: the Overseas Highway hops from island to island for 180 km. Along the way, the Key Largo reef, Bahia Honda beach, the Seven Mile Bridge and its 11 km just above the water, then Key West, Hemingway’s house and the sunset at Mallory Square.
• Orlando: four Disney parks, three Universal parks including Epic Universe, opened in 2025, and a water park.
• Cape Canaveral: the Kennedy Space Center, with the shuttle Atlantis and the Saturn V moon rocket, 111 m long.

Florida in 10 days or 2 weeks: two possible routes

Both routes start from Miami. Driving times are given without stops.

Stop	In 10 days	In 2 weeks	Drive
Miami	Days 1 to 3	Days 1 to 4	On the spot
Everglades, Shark Valley	Day 4	Day 5	Day trip from Miami
Keys road and Key West	Days 5 and 6, one night in Key West	Days 6 to 8, two nights in Key West	4 h on the way out, 3h45 on the way back
Drive up to Orlando	Day 7	Day 9	3h30 from Miami
Orlando parks	Days 8 and 9	Days 10 to 13	On the spot
Kennedy Space Center	Day 10	Day 14	1 h from Orlando

Three things to know:

• The Keys cost two full days. Key West is 4 h from Miami on a road with a single lane in each direction, more at the weekend. Sleep at least one night there, then break the drive back north with a night around Miami before heading for Orlando.
• In 10 days, you have to choose your parks. Two days means two parks out of eight. If Orlando is the reason for the trip, take the two weeks, or drop the Keys.
• The Gulf of Mexico is a variant, not a detour. Clearwater Beach and its white sand are 30 minutes from Tampa airport, and Tampa is 4h15 from Miami via Alligator Alley. So you can land in Tampa, at the cost of one more day.

These routes are suggestions: Étaperia does not sell any 10 or 14 day tour of Florida. Our Florida itinerary lasts 19 days, Gulf of Mexico and eight park days included: enough to pick out the days for yours.

When to go to Florida: the dry season, hurricanes and heat

The climate is tropical, with two clear seasons.

• From December to April, the dry season. This is the right window. November comes close, but the hurricane season only closes on the 30th. It is also the high season: at Shark Valley, the car park is generally full from 10:00 and the wait at the entrance can exceed an hour on winter weekends.
• In summer, humid heat and thunderstorms. A storm breaks almost every day in the late afternoon. It closes the water attractions in the parks.
• From 1 June to 30 November, the hurricane season. According to the National Hurricane Center, most of the activity is concentrated from mid-August to mid-October, with a peak on 10 September.

Watch out: The Keys are the most vulnerable point in the state. A mandatory evacuation is ordered there well before a system arrives, and only one road leads out. Between August and October, keep cancellable bookings and follow the National Hurricane Center bulletins (nhc.noaa.gov) during your stay.

For the rest of the country, see when to go to the United States.

Car, tolls and parking: what comes as a surprise in Florida

Tolls are paid without cash. Florida’s Turnpike, which links Miami to Orlando, Alligator Alley and the Rickenbacker Causeway to Key Biscayne all have electronic tolling: no booth there takes notes or coins. Billing by post from a number plate reading does not exist for hire cars: it is the hire company that pays the tolls and then charges them back to you, under a programme and fees specific to each brand.

Tip: At the counter, ask how tolls are billed and how much the service costs per day, then read the corresponding line of the contract before you sign. The rest is in hiring a car in the United States.

Parking is the other surprise:

• South Beach: choose the municipal garages, $2 an hour for the first hours and $20 at most for the day, over street spaces, at $4 an hour and closely monitored (October 2026 prices).
• Key West: spaces are scarce and expensive. Leave the car at the hotel and get around on foot or by bike.
• State parks (Bill Baggs, Bahia Honda): paid entry per vehicle, $6 to $9.

Everglades: the fee that has changed for foreign visitors

At the time of writing, in October 2026, the park’s website shows:

• $35 per vehicle, valid for 7 days at all entrances, or $20 per pedestrian or cyclist;
• $100 more per non-resident visitor aged 16 and over, in force since 1 January 2026;
• $250 for the non-resident America the Beautiful annual pass, which covers the vehicle and waives the surcharge.

For two French adults, for example, single entry therefore comes to $235, almost the price of the pass. From three adults, or if another national park is on your trip, the pass is the better deal. The park does not take cash. Check these fees again on nps.gov before you leave, and place them in the budget for a trip to the United States.

Shark Valley opens at 8:30. Arrive at opening time, before the heat. Bike hire on site costs $27 a day.

What to book in advance

• Tickets for the Orlando parks, for a fixed date and online, well before you leave. It is the biggest item of the trip.
• The Kennedy Space Center: open from 9:00 to 17:00 in autumn 2026, closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. The last bus to the Saturn V rocket leaves 2h30 before closing: arrive before 11:00.
• In Miami: the guided tour of the Art Deco district (daily departure at 10:30, around two hours), the timed slots at Frost Science and Superblue, the Wynwood Walls ticket, the tours of The Kampong garden, Tuesday to Saturday only.
• Closing days: the Wolfsonian museum is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, the Venetian Pool on Mondays.

As for formalities, a French passport holder needs a biometric passport and a travel authorisation, detailed in the ESTA for the United States; with any other passport, check with the authorities of your own country. For meals, allow $15 to $25 at lunchtime and $25 to $50 in the evening in Miami and Key West, $15 to $20 for a quick meal in the parks.

So, how should you visit Florida?

• You have 10 days: Miami, the Everglades, one night in Key West, two parks in Orlando and the Kennedy Space Center.
• You have 2 weeks: the same route, with two nights in Key West and four park days.
• You are choosing your dates: between December and April, November at a pinch. Avoid mid-August to mid-October, especially for the Keys.
• You are hiring a car: settle the question of tolls at the counter.

To go further, Florida in 19 days details each day, and the other regions of the country are on the United States page.