The Best Drives in Miami and South Florida
Six routes worth renting something quick for, and when to do them.
Miami is a city people rent cars in to be seen. That is fine, and Ocean Drive at nine on a Saturday will do it. But the roads worth the rental are mostly somewhere else, and most of them are within an hour of the garage. These are the ones we send people on.
The Rickenbacker Causeway to Key Biscayne
Ten minutes from downtown and the best short drive in the county. You climb the bridge with Biscayne Bay on both sides and the skyline in the mirror, then drop onto Virginia Key and Crandon Park. It is about eight miles each way. Go early — before eight on a weekday it is empty and the light is extraordinary. It is patrolled and the tolls are by camera, so drive it for the view rather than the speed.
A1A north to Fort Lauderdale
The coastal road, running north through Sunny Isles, Hallandale and Hollywood before it reaches Fort Lauderdale beach. Slower than I-95 by a wide margin and worth every extra minute — ocean on your right most of the way, low bridges, and a series of small beach towns that feel nothing like Miami. Roughly thirty miles. Allow ninety minutes and stop somewhere.
Old Cutler Road
South from Coconut Grove through Coral Gables and Pinecrest, under a banyan canopy that meets overhead for miles. It is narrow, shaded and slow, and it is the prettiest piece of road in Miami-Dade. Take a convertible. Watch for cyclists, who use it constantly and have every right to.
The Overseas Highway to the Keys
The big one. US-1 from Florida City out across forty-two bridges to Key West, including the Seven Mile Bridge. Key Largo is an hour from Miami; Key West is closer to four each way. This is a full day and it will comfortably exceed your daily mileage allowance, so tell us before you book and we will sort the numbers out rather than surprising you. Worth doing once in your life.
Ocean Drive and Collins, late
Included because people want it and because it does work — but after eleven rather than at eight, when the traffic has thinned and the cars still out are worth looking at. Expect to move slowly and to be photographed. Park in a garage, not on the street.
Card Sound Road
The alternative way into the Keys, and the better one. It leaves US-1 south of Florida City, runs through mangrove and open water, and crosses a high toll bridge with a view most people driving the main road never see. It rejoins US-1 at Key Largo. A few miles longer and considerably more interesting.
What to know before you go
Fuel is your responsibility and the car goes out full, so bring it back that way. Tolls are by plate and passed on at cost. Cars stay within Florida, which still leaves you several hundred miles of coastline. And the mileage allowance is 100 a day — enough for any of these except the Keys, which needs a conversation first.
Common questions
- Which of these needs extra mileage?
- Only the Keys. Key West and back is roughly four hundred miles, well past the daily allowance. Tell us when you book and we will price the extra properly rather than billing you afterwards.
- Can I take the car out of Florida?
- No. Cars stay within the state — that is a firm condition on every rental. It still leaves you the entire peninsula and the Keys.
- What is the best car for a long coastal drive?
- Something with range and comfort rather than something with the loudest exhaust. The Aston Martin, the Bentley and the larger Porsches earn their keep on a day like that in a way a track-focused car does not.