Mallory Square Sunset Celebration. Every evening the waterfront at Mallory Square transforms into Key West's most beloved ritual — a free, nightly festival of street performers, artists, and food vendors who gather to collectively applaud the setting sun over the Gulf. The tradition dates to the 1970s and is curated year-round by the Key West Cultural…
Ernest Hemingway Home & Museum. The Spanish Colonial house at 907 Whitfield Street is where Hemingway lived and wrote some of his most celebrated work during the 1930s; descendants of his famous six-toed cat Snow White still roam the lush grounds. Open daily 9 AM–5 PM, the museum pairs original furnishings with memorabilia from his fishing yacht,…
Dry Tortugas National Park. Seventy miles west of Key West lies Fort Jefferson — the largest masonry fort in the western hemisphere, rising from a remote archipelago ringed by some of the most pristine coral reefs in North America. Access is only by high-speed ferry (Yankee Freedom) or seaplane, and day-trippers can snorkel 5–15 feet of clear…
Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park. This 54-acre National Historic Landmark on Key West's southwestern tip houses a Civil War-era fort and the island's best beach — calm, clear water with good snorkeling and shade from Australian pines. Admission to the state park grants access to both the restored fort and the beach.
Duval Street & the Conch Republic. Key West's famous 1.25-mile spine runs from the Gulf to the Atlantic and packs more than 30 bars, historic saloons, galleries, and shops into a corridor that tells the full story of the Conch Republic — the tongue-in-cheek nation Key West declared in 1982 when the U.S. government blockaded the Keys. Sloppy Joe's Bar,…
Florida Keys Coral Reef Snorkeling. The Florida Keys protect the only living coral barrier reef in the continental United States — a 350-mile underwater landscape starting just six miles offshore from Key West. Within a 30-minute boat ride, snorkelers can swim over staghorn coral gardens at Sand Key, drift through Eastern Dry Rocks, or hover over the…
Harry S. Truman Little White House. Florida's only presidential museum occupies the 1890 naval station headquarters at 111 Front Street, where President Truman spent 175 days of his presidency between 1946 and 1952 — hosting the Joint Chiefs of Staff and drafting both the Marshall Plan and the Truman Doctrine. The fully restored interiors, original…
Key West Butterfly & Nature Conservatory. At 1316 Duval Street, a climate-controlled glass habitat houses 50–60 species of live butterflies from around the world alongside American flamingoes, canaries, and finches in a setting of cascading waterfalls and tropical plantings. It consistently ranks as one of Key West's top-rated family attractions.