A road trip from West Palm Beach to the Florida Keys is bursting with exciting adventures and unique places to visit. Check out an alligator farm, spot manatees in the Gulf of Mexico, hike the boardwalks of the Everglades, and snorkel the crystal clear waters around a coral reef on this road trip of a lifetime. Pack your bags, grab your camera, rent a car from West Palm Beach, and get ready for an experience you won’t forget at these southern Florida travel destinations.
After picking up your rental car from the PBI airport drive south on Interstate 95 to the Everglades Alligator Farm in Homestead. Don’t worry about carrying cash for the highway tolls—you can use our Avis Car Rental E-Toll service.
Home to thousands of alligators and other reptiles, the Everglades Alligator Farm offers daily shows, alligator feedings, and airboat rides. Get up close and personal with a baby alligator during the alligator show, learn about poisonous snakes found in Florida during the snake show, and watch over 500 alligators snack on their lunchtime meal before grabbing a bite to eat yourself. Don’t leave without taking a 20-minute airboat ride. The knowledgeable tour guide will point out fish, alligators, birds, and other wildlife. Wear something you don’t mind getting wet, and don’t forget your camera.
Everglades National Park is one of the largest national parks in the United States and is comprised of stunning habitats such as sawgrass marsh, freshwater slough, and hardwood hammock forests. Make a stop at the Royal Palm Visitor Center to pick up maps and ask a ranger for recommendations of where to hike, what to explore, and where to take the best photographs on your way to Flamingo Marina.
Flamingo Marina is a 45-minute drive from the Royal Palm Visitor Center. The marina is situated on the Gulf of Mexico and provides panoramic views of the coastal islands. Keep your eye out for manatees, shore birds, and crocodiles.
After making your way out of Everglades National Park, jump on Route 1 South and drive to Key Largo on the Florida Keys. The Florida Keys is a coral cay archipelago comprised of 800 individual islands that begins at the southern tip of mainland Florida and reaches down into the Gulf of Mexico.
On Key Largo, the gateway to the Florida Keys, enjoy the crystal clear water and spectacular shipwrecks at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park. Join a diving class, snorkel off the sandy beach, or book a glass-bottom boat ride to experience one of the Florida Keys most beautiful reefs. Eat dinner at one of Key Largo’s waterfront seafood restaurants before returning to West Palm Beach.
West Palm Beach is the perfect launching point for a road trip to the Everglades and the Florida Keys. Avis is here to help you make the most of your West Palm Beach car rental. Stop by any Florida location for top notch care and assistance.