Quick answer: Miami’s escapes run from the Keys’ highway-over-water (Key West, 3.5h) to Palm Beach polish, Everglades airboats an hour out and Naples’ Gulf sunsets: ocean in every direction, each with a different accent.
Best weekend getaways from Miami: top picks
| Getaway | Distance | Great for |
|---|---|---|
| The Florida Keys | ~1.5 hrs+ | Island-hopping to Key West |
| The Everglades | ~1 hr | Airboats & wildlife |
| Naples | ~2 hrs | Calm Gulf beaches |
| Bahamas | short flight | Out-island beaches |
The Florida Keys & Key West (3-4h)
The Overseas Highway’s 42 bridges, snorkelling at John Pennekamp (Key Largo), feeding tarpons at Robbie’s and Key West’s sunset ritual at Mallory Square: stay over: the Keys reward slow.
Palm Beach & West Palm (1.5h)
Worth Avenue’s manicured glamour, The Breakers’ grandeur, the Norton’s excellent galleries and a walkable, palm-lined waterfront: Old Florida money wearing new linen.
The Everglades (1h)
Airboats over sawgrass, alligators sunning on levees and the Anhinga Trail’s close-up wildlife: the planet’s only Everglades, absurdly close to the espresso of Calle Ocho. Winter (dry season) is prime.
Naples & Marco Island (2h)
Gulf-side calm: shelling beaches, dolphin cruises through the Ten Thousand Islands and sunsets that face the right way: the un-Miami, two hours across Alligator Alley.
Bimini, Bahamas (2h by fast ferry)
A passport turns the weekend international: gin-clear flats, conch salad shacks and Hemingway’s old haunt: the Bahamas before lunch, improbably.
Getaway craft
Keys traffic peaks Friday afternoon and Sunday evening: drive against it; everything waterfront books out for winter weekends by November; and summer escapes flip inland-to-coast: gulf mornings, storm-watching afternoons. Sunscreen is infrastructure here.
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John Morrison is the founder and lead travel writer at Packzup. Over the past decade he has explored destinations across Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Oceania — always self-funded, never on a press trip.