Key West

Anchored at the western terminus of the 180-kilometre (113-mile) Overseas Highway (US Route 1) where the emerald waters of the Gulf of Mexico merge with the deep sapphire of the Florida Straits, closer to Havana, Cuba (90 miles south) than to Miami (160 miles northeast), Key West is a 6.4-by-2-kilometre limestone-and-coral island that feels like a Caribbean republic of its own. Named Cayo Hueso ('Bone Key') by Spanish explorers, settled in the 1820s by Bahamian wreckers, Cuban cigar-rollers and New England sea captains, and playfully styling itself the 'Conch Republic' since 1982, it boasts the largest historic district of 19th-century wooden architecture in Florida.

In walkable Old Town, free-roaming gypsy chickens strut beneath pastel gingerbread verandas along Duval Street and the nightly sunset carnival at Mallory Square. Just off Whitehead Street stand the 1851 Ernest Hemingway Home (populated by 60 six-toed cats) and the 1848 Key West Lighthouse, leading south to the Southernmost Point Buoy, Bahama Village and the Harry S. Truman Little White House. On the water, pine-shaded Fort Zachary Taylor Beach looks out toward North America's only living coral barrier reef and the moat-ringed brick citadel of Dry Tortugas National Park 70 miles at sea. Start with our before-you-go briefing and top things to do in Key West.

You can reach Key West in three ways: driving the landmark 113-mile Overseas Highway (US-1) across 42 ocean bridges from Miami (allowing 3.5 to 4.5 hours with stops at Islamorada, the Seven Mile Bridge and Bahia Honda State Park); flying nonstop into Key West International Airport (EYW, located right on the eastern side of the island, a 10-minute ride from Old Town); or riding the high-speed Key West Express catamaran ferry from Fort Myers Beach or Marco Island across the Gulf of Mexico in 3.5 hours. Once in Old Town, leave your car parked and use a rented cruiser bicycle or the complimentary pink-and-blue Duval Loop bus. See getting to Key West and how the free Duval Loop bus and bike rentals work.

Key West is split cleanly in half along White Street: stay in Old Town (west of White Street, around Duval Street, Fleming and Eaton Streets, Truman Annex or the Historic Seaport) if you want to sleep in a restored 19th-century Victorian guesthouse with a heated courtyard pool and walk to every bar, museum and sunset pier in 10 minutes; or stay on the eastern side of the island in New Town (North Roosevelt Boulevard and Smathers Beach) if you are driving a car, want spacious modern resort rooms with complimentary parking, and do not mind a 10-minute shuttle or taxi into Old Town. Compare all areas in where to stay in Key West.

Meet the 60 polydactyl cats inside the Ernest Hemingway Home & Museum and climb the 88 steps of the Key West Lighthouse across the street, watch street performers and tall ships at the Mallory Square Sunset Celebration, take the catamaran or seaplane out to Dry Tortugas National Park (Fort Jefferson), snap a morning photo at the Southernmost Point Buoy and tour the Truman Little White House, snorkel the rocks at Fort Zachary Taylor State Park, lift a real 1622 gold bar at the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum, and drive the Seven Mile Bridge and Bahia Honda State Park. Full list in things to do in Key West.

Conch Republic cuisine blends Bahamian, Cuban and Florida Keys seafood: tart yellow Key Lime Pie (never dyed green) on a graham-cracker or pastry crust topped with billowy meringue or dipped in dark chocolate on a frozen stick, sweet wild-caught Key West Pink Shrimp, crispy Bahamian Conch Fritters, pressed Cuban mix sandwiches and café con leche at Cuban bakeries, and whole fried yellowtail snapper dockside in Bahama Village and Stock Island. Read more in our Key West food and Key Lime Pie guide.

Home over the decades to Ernest Hemingway, Tennessee Williams, Elizabeth Bishop, Robert Frost, Shel Silverstein and Jimmy Buffett, Key West celebrates a proud 'One Human Family' bohemian spirit alongside 200 years of Cuban, Bahamian and maritime salvaging heritage.