Driving from Sanford

We will be taking the Autotrain to Sanford this Feb. and driving on to KW for the rest of our vacation. Can anyone give me an idea of what the drive will be like? Any specfic times to avoid certain areas ( like last year when we drove through Tampa at rush hour...what a nightmare !) ? We don%26#39;t plan on doing the drive in one day. We can probably be on the road around noon and would like to drive five or six hours the first day. Can anyone suggest a town or resort along the way to stop ?

I%26#39;ve been looking on the internet at weekly rentals. The Truman Annex and 1800 Atlantic appeal to me. If anyone has any experience with staying at either of these two I%26#39;d appreciate any input.

Thanks for your time

Driving from Sanford

It%26#39;s about an 8 hour drive, with stops, from the Orlando area to Key West. I%26#39;d suggest you get on the turnpike and take it to the end in Florida City. From there, It%26#39;s about a 3 hour drive, if you don%26#39;t stop on the way. US 1 is a slow road once you get in the keys, and it would be worth spending the night somewhere in the upper or middle keys on the way.

I%26#39;ve stayed in the Truman Annex. There are a lot of nice place there, and the location is great. I%26#39;ve stayed at the Shipyard Condos at the southern end of the annex. They aren%26#39;t luxury, but they are quite good, and I could recommend them. One good thing about the Shipyard Condos is most units have a reserved parking spot for your car. You won%26#39;t need it once you get to Key West, but it is nice to know if you take a day trip to the other keys, you will have a parking spot when you return. 1800 Atlantic gets good reviews also, but it is a way out from Old Town.

Driving from Sanford

I%26#39;ve done it. It%26#39;s every bit of 8 hours. I hope you got the ';big room'; on the train. Bring a little battery TV or music or a dvd player, and whatever you like to drink. We had the steak delivered to our cabin, it was decent. I also would recommend Tylenol PM or some other method, as they stop very late (or early) to change engineers. It%26#39;s a fun trip, I just didn%26#39;t have the right tools last time.

The drive down, you%26#39;re wise to break it up because it takes forever to get the car off the train.

Economically, if you make Florida City a destination (5 hours) it%26#39;s cheap to stay there. Once you%26#39;re past the 18 mile stretch into the Keys the prices go way up. FC to KW is 2.5 hours. Expect gas to be $3+.

Thanks simkeith and kwtaxi for the info. I%26#39;ll have to look into Florida City and the part of the Annex you stayed in. This will be my 4 th time on the Autotrain ...we always get the large family room. We have two kids and we love traveling by the train.

We%26#39;ve done the Disney, Busch Garden trips in past years and this year the boys, 11 and 13 , are looking for a more grown up vacation. Hoping to do snorkeling and fishing etc. in Key West. I haven%26#39;t been there in over 15 years. I hope it hasn%26#39;t changed much.

Can%26#39;t wait

Try this real estate agency to see some of the properties that are available in KW.

http://www.athomekeywest.com/

I%26#39;ve used them and they are a good reliable operator. They handle a lot of nice properties.

We just did a similar drive -- Orlando to KW. We landed in Sanford, took about 45 min to Kissimmee and then onto KW. We drove down last Sat. and surprisingly hit minimal traffic. Made it (with 1 stop) in under 7 hrs. We came to a dead stop north of Stock Island, where there was a serious multi-vehicle accident Sat. evening.

I would happily recommend checking out ';Craig %26amp; Cindy%26#39;s Key West rentals.'; They have three cottages on Stock Island, at Coral Hammock. They%26#39;re each 3br, 3ba, gated communited w/ pool. They have everything you need already stocked, except the food

and the booze! ;) Very easy people to work with. Have a great time!

We can typically make the drive from Orlando to Key West in under seven hours as well, but that%26#39;s stopping for nothing but gas and a quick snack break. We are so focused on getting to Key West that we don%26#39;t make any stops we don%26#39;t have to. One of these days we%26#39;ll slow down and make a few stops in the other Keys, but so far we haven%26#39;t been able to make ourselves do that yet. ;)

I would not stay in Florida City, it%26#39;s basically a gas %26amp; go place. There are a couple hotels that may be cheap but I would go just a little farther %26amp; you will be in Key Largo, Stop there for the nite. Then you will have a beautiful daytime drive thru the keys to get the true experience %26amp; will have time for some stops along the way. You don%26#39;t say what time you are arriving in Sanford and if it is a weekday. You don%26#39;t want to be in the drive at 5 especially around West Palm %26amp; south.

Have a great vacation!

The drive from Orlando down to Key West is something I%26#39;m also trying to ascertain the best route. I%26#39;m going out again in December and still trying to decide...

From what I%26#39;ve seen on other forums, here and best guess efforts looking at the map, it appears to be if you%26#39;re limited with time to get to the Keys, then the Florida Turnpike appears to be the best bet - there%26#39;s even a really useful Toll calculator available - www.sunpass.com/tollcalculator.cfm?From=Help

If you%26#39;re not restricted with the time, then it appears the more interesting routes are either down the West coast, stopping overnight near Naples or maybe as far down as Key Largo or maybe taking the more direct route past Lake Okeechobee on routes 25/27. The biggest worry with routes 25/27 would be what time you got to the Miami-Dade area as from what I%26#39;ve experienced evening peak traffic is not a joke.

While I%26#39;ve driven from Orlando to Miami, via the Kennedy Space Centre and I%26#39;ve driven from Miami to Key West twice (both times a good 3 1/2 hours), I have to trust that the 7-8 hours other people have been referring to is correct.

I can however, highly recommend the following, whether it be on your way down or when you%26#39;re exploring from Key West:

Bahia Honda State Park, on Bahia Honda Key - Lots of beaches to relax on, crystal clear water to snorkel in and if you get a clear sky, the most fantastic sunsets - walk up onto the old railway bridge and make sure your camera is ready...

No Name Pub, on Big Pine Key. Follow the road out to No Name Key and you can%26#39;t miss it - Huge gourmet pizzas, lots of character and friendly staff...

Dry Tortuga%26#39;s National Park - Fort Jefferson is interesting, the water is clear and there is good snorkelling - just be aware that when the water is a bit choppy, you%26#39;ll really notice it about 1 1/2 hours out on the boat - just sit on the back at the top of the boat and watch for the sun setting on the way back...

Lastly, I%26#39;d recommend the Looe Key Dive Resort if you want to take a trip out to one of the reefs - I%26#39;ve been unfortunate with the weather on both my trips, but the staff are friendly and from my experience, know what they%26#39;re doing...

Have a great trip :)