Miami is a major hub for supercar enthusiasts, but it’s also an excellent base for road trips from the city. If you’re ready to take your car out on a day trip or weekend adventure, check out this guide to some of the best road trips from Miami. We’ll include coastal escapes, luxe hangouts, and even one of the best road trips from Florida if you want to leave the state.
Key Largo
Mileage: 64 miles
Drive Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
If you don’t have time to travel the length of the Florida Keys, you can get a taste of this paradise with a short trip to Key Largo. In just over an hour, you’ll land in the home of key lime pie and the gateway to a very different change of pace.
If Key Largo is your final destination and you have time to linger, take advantage of its reputation as a premier diving destination. John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park is the best way to experience that fact, even if you’re not here to dive or snorkel. See the reef from the top of the glass-bottom boat tour.
Naples
Mileage: 127 miles
Drive Time: 2 hours 5 minutes
Drive west to the Gulf side of the state for miles of beach, high-end shopping, and meals with a view of Naples. If you have time to walk downtown, you might think you’ve been transported to the Mediterranean with its palm-lined streets and ideal temperatures.
Adventure-seekers on a more extended trip will love how close the city is to the western edge of the Everglades.
Take the two-lane Tamiami Trail from Miami to Naples if you want to extend your trip with a scenic drive of the Everglades. You’ll pass through the Miccosukee Indian Village and get the chance to do some alligator spotting in Shark Valley. Various roads connect to the Tamiami Trail for deeper exploration of the park but note that many are gravel roads that aren’t appropriate for supercars.
Key West
Mileage: 165 miles
Drive Time: 3 hours 35 minutes
It’d be tough to name a more classic Florida drive than a Miami to Key West road trip. Traveling the Overseas Highway is one of the country’s most popular and scenic drives. You’ll pass through towns like Islamorada, known as the sport fishing capital of the world and home to tarpon feeding at Robbie’s. Nearby Duck Key is a hub for paddle boarders and fresh seafood.
As you approach Key West, Marathon is another town worth a stop for some of the best beach scenery in the Keys. If you’re short on time, Key West itself is worth the trip. See the Ernest Hemingway House, and take in the colorful architecture.
Visit the Southernmost Point Buoy to mark that you just drove to the southernmost point in the continental United States. Take some time if you’re leaving Miami around the morning or afternoon rush hour. You’ll hit some traffic traveling south out of the city.
Tampa & St. Petersburg
Mileage: 282 miles
Drive Time: 4 hours 10 minutes+
You’ll need more than your supercar to get to the original Cuban sandwich in Cuba. Still, the sandwich’s origins in the continental United States are in Tampa, not Miami. As you first arrive in Tampa for promises of that sandwich, it might feel like you traded one big city for another.
Look a little closer; you’ll find eclectic bars, boutiques, eateries, and a town steeped in history. The Tampa neighborhood of Ybor City is the only neighborhood on this side of the state with National Historic Landmark District status. It’s the heart of the state’s cigar industry.
With extra time on a South Florida road trip, head to nearby St. Petersburg on the other side of Old Tampa Bay. Thanks to a growing craft beer movement and cultural offerings, it feels a little younger here. If you want to linger, the city’s art scene is one of the best in the state. The Dalí, or the Salvador Dalí Museum, is a big deal in town as one of the most extensive collections of works from the surrealist artist.
St. Augustine
Mileage: 318 miles
Drive Time: 4 hours 45 minutes
Drive up to the oldest city in the United States for loads of history, charming architecture, and a downtown that will make you feel like you’re somewhere much further away from southern or central Florida. Pull over for cannon firings at the Castillo de San Marcos National Monument if you’re here on the weekend. Built by the Spanish as a defense system, this is the oldest masonry fortification in the continental United States.
Enjoy coastal views along the way to St. Augustine, too. If you don’t mind adding some time to your drive, the A1A Scenic & Historic Coastal Byway is the most scenic route. You’ll pass through some of the state’s best beach towns, like Cocoa Beach, the birthplace of surfing legend Kelly Slater.
Hilton Head Island
Mileage: 522 miles
Drive Time: 7 hours 45 minutes
Drive through some of the best destinations along the Atlantic Coast on this full-day road trip from Miami to South Carolina’s Hilton Head Island. Florida towns like West Palm Beach, Vero Beach, St. Augustine, and Jacksonville will beg for your time. Over the border into Georgia, Jekyll Island and Savannah are easily worth a day each. If you’re here to drive the entire stretch in one day, you’ll be treated to beautiful ocean views for the length of your journey.
Once you’ve made it to Hilton Head, relax on the resort town’s impressive beaches or hit the links on its famous golf courses. Enjoy the area’s natural beauty and delicious food scene. Hilton Head showcases the best of South Carolina’s low country.
Take a Road Trip With Fast Lane Drive
At Fast Lane Drive, we’re well aware of the car culture in Miami. That’s why we made it our mission to start a car club in Miami that took advantage of that fact and the epic road trips available in and around the city. From glamorous South Beach down the Florida coast, we love the feel of the open road.
That’s not all we’re here for, though. Our Miami chapter is invested in the community just as much as our other chapters across the country.
When you join Fast Lane Drive, you join a group of car enthusiasts passionate about improving their cities and building relationships. Are you ready to drive and give back? Join the waitlist today.
