We travel as a family at least 5 times a year around the country. However, my husband and I always make time to do at least one couples getaway once a year (more if possible). Since we live in Miami, FL, a road trip to the Florida Keys is one of the best ways we travel locally. It is one of the best cities to visit on a Florida roadtrip. We drove down to Key West for a couples getaway and had a blast relaxing, eating, and enjoying the outdoors. While Key West is definitely considered a party town, I feel it is an underrated city in the US. Here is my review on what to do, where to eat, and stay for a romantic getaway in Florida in Key West.
First of all, if you would like the simple itinerary of what we did, click on my post – a Key West Weekend.
Miami to Key West
Day One
We drove down to the Florida Keys from Miami around
HogFish Bar and Grill
This was our first stop just before we hit the main downtown area of Key West. It is technically located
What a great meal! This place embodies “The Keys” – a very local type spot with fresh seafood, great drinks, and nice waterfront dining. They are open for breakfast, lunch
Better than Sex Desserts
When I heard about this place, I was a little unsure due to the name. It is a dessert only restaurant! Besides a traditional ice cream shop, I didn’t know places like this existed. Let me start off by saying that this is adults only… all of the desserts here have explicit names and the artwork in the place shows “some skin”. Many of the desserts are also plated in a “suggestive manner” (if you catch my drift). I repeat – this is not a kid friendly place!
Now that we are past that part, you really do need reservations to this dessert restaurant. It was packed when we arrived at 9:00 PM and luckily they sat us right away. The menu is brought to you in a tablet where you can scroll through pictures, descriptions and laugh at the clever dessert names. In addition to the desserts, there are dessert type drinks with liquor, beer
Let me say that Better than Sex Desserts was a lot of fun and laughs! It is the perfect dessert and drinks place for a couples weekend in Key West.
Places to Stay in Key West
Key West has a number of unique places to stay and is beaming with quaint inns with a beachside flair. Check out some boutique hotel options or rent an Airbnb.
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Check rates to Key West resorts
Where We Stayed: Hyatt Residence Club Key West Windward Point
This hotel was beautiful! The reason we chose this place was due to a special 4 day/3 night offer I was emailed since I am a Hyatt member. I am a budget traveler and am always looking for ways to save on travel, so when I was emailed a cheap rate, I jumped on it. See how I use credit cards to save on family travel and How to Get Free Hotel Stays. Well, the rate was so good that we asked our best friends to join us for an impromptu couples weekend in Key West.
Pros
– great rate
– huge 2 bedroom suite with a full kitchen, large balcony, pool, and ocean view
– quiet and away from the hustle and bustle
– nice, relaxing pool and very good bar
Cons
– not walkable to downtown (had to take a taxi – Uber is not allowed here)
– close to the airport (could hear the planes landed and arriving)
– had to sit through a
Here is a video tour from our balcony:
Day Two
Glazed Donuts and Red Buoy Coffee
What a tasty donut! We took a quick little drive to this breakfast place and immediately loved the robot theming. Their coffee was flavorful and the donut selection was on point. They had everything you would expect from a donut shop with some local twists (key lime of course). If you love a good donut, you must
Kayak Adventure
After an early breakfast, we headed to the marina for our kayak adventure through the mangroves. We used a company called Lazy Dog Adventures for our kayak and snorkel tour- we loved them!
If you are staying in Key West, they offer to pick you up on their shuttle for free, but since we were already planning on driving to breakfast, we drove the extra 5 minutes to them. Once we parked, there was a
After some quick basic
Our favorite part of the entire kayak adventure in Key West was going through the mangroves. There was an area that we had to go through that was too shallow due to low tide and instead of paddling, we had to use our hands to pull ourselves through the mangroves. It was quite a workout and a little nerve-racking, but looking back on it… very fun! Check out the video below to see how we did it!
This was one of the most unique kayaking experiences we’ve ever had. If you love kayaking, check out: Best Places to Kayak in the U.S.
Part of the tour also included a snorkeling stop. They provide you with masks and snorkels but we brought our own full face snorkel mask. It was our first time using it so we were both very excited about testing it out. Sadly, the water visibility was not great, but we loved how the mask worked. If you are ever down in Key West or even in the Lower Keys, you should check Lazy Dog Adventures out. They were a great company with very knowledgeable guides and have a variety of tour options. Click the picture below to look at the tours they offer.
Lunch at Hurricane Hole Marina
We were going to drive back to Key West, but were starving so decided to just stay here where we parked our car at the start of the kayak adventure. I am glad we did because this place was great! We had their fresh catch and each ordered a frozen beverage. It was a delicious lunch.
After an exhausting morning, we just wanted to relax. We headed back to the hotel pool to change and have some drinks poolside. Then, it was tourist time. We took a taxi and toured Duval Street (this is the famous main street
After having a drink at a couple of bars, and doing some shopping, we walked to the end of the street where the famous Southernmost Point sign was. We took the touristy picture (after waiting 10 minutes in line) and then walked back and saw the Hemingway House and Little White House. I would have loved to tour the grounds of each place, but we were hungry and needed to get back to the main area for dinner.
Check out some great activity options in Key West:
Hot Tin Roof
This was another fantastic meal! It is located in the Ocean Key Resort right in Mallory Square and offers some of the best waterfront dining and Latin/Caribbean fusion in Key West. We purposely made dinner reservations to catch the sunset and it was well worth it. Here are some ideas for the best Key West sunset spots.
They have numerous tables by the windows and have outdoor dining too. This place was more of an upscale restaurant, and had delicious appetizers, seafood, meats, drinks and desserts.
Day Three
On the last morning of our couples weekend in Key West, we slept in and enjoyed the pool until it was time for lunch. We headed back to Mallory Square and took a small ferry to Sunset Key (an island just 2 minutes offshore).
Latitudes – Sunset Key Cottages
Once you step off the ferry boat, you feel like you have been transported to the Caribbean somewhere. I don’t know why, but the water was more beautiful here than a few yards away in Key West. It is a residential community, and there is one company that manages vacation rental cottages on the private island. This is where the restaurant, Latitudes, is located.
It is open for breakfast and lunch, yet for
The food was amazing! The views were amazing! The whole island was amazing! After lunch, we walked around the beachfront for a few minutes and took the ferry back to the “mainland” of Key West.
Check out: Dry Tortugas Day Trip
We left right after lunch and drove back to Miami after a terrific couples weekend in Key West. Key West can be family-friendly too and can be a great spot for a family beach vacation. If you are planning to travel with kids instead, check out 35 Fun Things to Do in Key West with Kids.
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Great tips, I haven’t been to the Keys in forever, I need to make a trip down there!
The kayak adventure sounds like great fun! And I looove the look of the doughnuts – although on a romantic gettaway, I’d hope that you could beat the name of ‘better than sex desserts’! 😉
Oh, this trip looks so peaceful and amazing! I would love to visit Key West.
I would love to check out the “Better than Sex” desserts! I would also love to try the chocolate dipped key lime pie on a stick. YUM. Thank you for such a great Key West guide!
Great post! My husband would love to head over to Florida for a romantic weekend and this has given us some great ideas! Loved your details and photos. Thanks for sharing!
hahaha, I wanna try the desserts at that restaurant! Sounds like a fun place to visit! 😛 I haven’t been kayaking in a while and would love to do that again someday!