Last updated September 2, 2026 · Editorial policy
Things to Do in Florida: What Is Actually Worth Your Time
Quick answer: This is an honest look at Florida: what the two national parks actually cost, and which one rewards the effort of getting there.
Everglades National Park is the one most visitors reduce to a single airboat ride. Entry runs around $30 per vehicle, $25 per motorcycle or $15 on foot or bicycle, valid for seven days — and the three main entrances are far enough apart that treating it as one stop misses most of what is there.
Dry Tortugas is the harder trip and the more memorable one. The park sits almost seventy miles west of Key West, entry is around $15 per person aged sixteen and over, and the ferry fare normally includes that park fee. There is no way to arrive casually, which is precisely why Fort Jefferson and the surrounding water stay quiet compared with anywhere reachable by car.
- Book the Dry Tortugas ferry well ahead. Daily passenger numbers are capped, and it sells out in high season long before you arrive.
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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.
