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I drove the Overseas Highway in the Florida Keys for the first time in June 2025 and am ready to do it again.
On my first trip to Key West, we arrived by airplane, offering breathtaking views but a different experience. This time, we drove and experienced more of the Florida Keys, with memorable stops at roadside attractions, fruit stands, state parks, and oceanside restaurants.
These are the places my family enjoyed the most on our Overseas Highway road trip — and the spots we hope to visit next time.
The Overseas Highway is a 113-mile stretch of U.S. Route 1 in Florida from Homestead to Key West. It connects mainland Florida to Key West with a scenic chain of bridges and islands. The road is known as the Overseas Highway because much of it crosses the southernmost waters in the U.S., crossing 42 bridges.
The drive is a slow-paced island adventure over turquoise waters. It features roadside attractions and easy access to some of Florida’s best state parks.
The Overseas Highway is considered one of the best road trips in the U.S.
Driving the Overseas Highway nonstop takes about 3 1/2 to 4 hours, depending on traffic, but don’t make the mistake of trying to speed down to Key West. You’ll miss all the intriguing stops along the way. We recommend planning a full-day adventure as you head down or up the Florida Keys.
We divided our journey back up the Florida Keys into 2 days, spending about 7 hours each way while enjoying stops at a fruit stand, brewery, beach, shops, and other roadside attractions. Our journey was in June, Florida’s rainy season, when the rain showers were intense and gave the otherwise beautiful Florida Keys a dreary look, but they generally didn’t disrupt our entire day.
Whether you’re heading to Key West or making a day trip, here’s where we think it’s worth pulling over.
The Robert Is Here fruit stand isn’t technically on the Overseas Highway. It’s in Homestead, just off the stretch of U.S. 1 at the northern gateway to the Keys, around mile marker 115. But many consider this institution, operating since 1959, a high-priority spot to visit on an Overseas Highway road trip, either heading down the Keys or returning — so much so that multiple people told our family we had to go, whether we were in Miami, the Everglades, or the Keys.
This famous fruit stand is a spectacle, and you could spend hours here. It has exotic milkshakes, tropical fruits, a small zoo, live music, and more.
The shop is full of hard-to-find tropical fruits, freshly prepared guacamole and ceviche, boiled peanuts, and more. But the shakes and smoothies are the stars of the show, and you can tell because there’s always a line for them. I got an amazing coconut-Key lime shake, and I’d make a beeline back to this fruit stand just for that, even though it was $10.
But Robert Is Here is so much more than the fruit and shakes. It’s a shopping destination, with orchids, souvenirs, and even wood carvings made right there.
There’s a miniature zoo in the back, featuring goats, cows, pigs, emus, chickens, and more. This is what all those Florida strangers were so insistent that our family visit the fruit stand to see. Kids can hand-feed the farm animals with bags from the fruit stand.
There are picnic tables near the aviary, where you can enjoy your shake or fruit stand snack.
But if you’d like to make a feathered friend, all you have to do is visit the parking lot. When we visited, it was full of chickens.
While many fruit stands accept cash only, this one accepts credit cards and codes as groceries — a great spot to rack up points on a card that bonuses grocery purchases.
State parks along the Overseas Highway include Long Key State Park, Curry Hammock State Park, and Bahia Honda State Park. John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park in Key Largo, the first underwater park in the U.S., is one of the best.
The best way to experience John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park is on or under the water, scheduling a boat or snorkel tour on the park boats. If you’re limited on time but still want to get in the water, you can visit Cannon Beach, where you can snorkel to a small Spanish shipwreck 100 feet off the shore and spot crabs scurrying into holes along the beach mangroves.
We spent some time at the beach but only tapped the surface of what’s available at the state park. We’ll have to return to enjoy more of what’s under the water. We scheduled a glass-bottomed boat tour to see the famous Christ of the Abyss underwater bronze statue, but our tour was canceled twice for bad weather. We’ll try again during manatee season (November through April).
Even if you don’t get in the water, John Pennekamp State Park is worth a visit. It has an aquarium visitor center, a park video, and a beach wheelchair to use for free upon request.
Rain Barrel Village is a collection of shops, galleries, and boutiques with local art, crafts, souvenirs, and dining on-site.
Though shopping and dining are the main attractions, what we and so many others stopped for was Betsy the Lobster. You can’t miss this 30-foot-tall lobster sculpture, whether you’re just driving by or stopping at the shops. Betsy is one of the most photographed landmarks in the Florida Keys and is believed to be the world’s largest lobster statue.
There’s also a cafe just around the corner from Betsy, where you can get lobster rolls, Key lime pies, boba, and more.
The kids flocked to the boba shop, and grown-ups hit the sandwich shop.
This was a nice place to stop for a quick bite. Some of our favorites were a Cuban sandwich with a spicy pasta salad, conch fritters, and taro boba tea.
Just a few miles down from Rain Barrel Village, Florida Keys Brewing Company is an excellent stop for a beer flight and stretching your legs. This is the place if you’re looking for an island beer garden oasis.
You can sit inside, but we enjoyed visiting the beer garden in the back, with lush tropical landscaping, colorful picnic tables, and lawn games for entertaining the kids.
There’s covered seating and a stage for concerts.
We recommend getting a beer flight to sample 5 of the brewery’s beers. Some of our favorites were the Iguana Bait honey hibiscus kolsch and Death by Mermaid imperial IPA.
The brewery is in an arts district, and behind the beer garden is a photography studio. If you keep going, you might find food trucks in the back.
We spotted a Little Free Library at the very back of the beer garden along the street side, perfect for picking up a travel guide and beach read.
Robbie’s Marina features snorkeling tours, kayaking, paddleboarding, and an on-site Hungry Tarpon restaurant. But most people visit to hand-feed the tarpons from the dock.
It costs $2.50 per person to get on the dock and $5 for a bucket of fish with 5 to 8 fish inside.
Pelicans and manatees sometimes visit the dock, but you can’t feed them, just the tarpon. Hang on to your bucket and watch out for the pelicans, as they might help themselves and can be aggressive.
With a steady stream of tourists dangling fish above the water, the marina dock is a popular spot for tarpon. You can just hold the bait close to the water, and the tarpon will jump up to grab it. They don’t always have great aim, so you might find part of your hand in a tarpon’s mouth. Don’t worry: Tarpon don’t have sharp teeth, and you’ll get your hand back.
A bonus sight near Robbie’s is one of the best mailboxes along the Overseas Highway. The road is lined with dolphins, manatees, and other sea creatures dutifully holding up mailboxes. Most aren’t dressed up, but this manatee near the Robbie’s parking lot looked ready to hit the beach with her flamingo friends.
Seven Mile Bridge is a can’t-miss attraction on the Overseas Highway. Whether you stop or not, you’ll drive over it if you’re making the full road trip. This bridge is the longest in the Florida Keys and connects the Middle Keys to the Lower Keys.
The original bridge, completed in 1912, was developed as part of the Overseas Railroad. In the early 1980s, the historic bridge was replaced by the modern Seven Mile Bridge, which runs parallel to it. The new bridge is for cars, while the old bridge is for pedestrians, cyclists, and the Pigeon Key train.
Even if you don’t plan to walk the full pedestrian bridge — which doesn’t run the entire 7 miles — it’s worth getting out to take in the overwater views, including numerous boats.
Head down the walkways on either side to fish, see wildlife, and take in the vast ocean views.
As we walked under the Seven Mile Bridge, we spotted a place to eat and decided to pop in for lunch. The Sunset Grille and Raw Bar wasn’t in my notes, and I hadn’t seen it recommended anywhere, but it was an excellent find for a tasty bite with a view — and a pool.
There was inside dining, but the patio perched at the edge of the water was a much better spot, even on a dreary day. We were hot from walking the bridge and dressed to swim at the beach later. The kids wasted no time hopping into the oceanside pool next to the bar.
One of the coolest features of the restaurant? The dock entrance, where boaters stop by to get a drink and eat.
There was a full bar, complete with named tiki drinks and souvenir glasses.
The kids could get in on the fun drinks, with Shirley Temples in take-home pineapple cups.
With a fantastic location and a bar with a pool, this is the sort of place that could get by without serving great food, but we were impressed. We got a generous ginger and miso salad from the sushi menu and the signature 7 Mile hogfish sandwich with a side of coleslaw.
The sandwich had fried hog snapper, a sweet, mild fish that’s flaky and similar in taste to scallops or lobster, on Cuban bread, topped with sautéed onions, mushrooms, smoked gouda, and a smoky chipotle aioli. I usually don’t like fried fish sandwiches, but this one had great local flavor. The menu also featured a “Cheeseburger in Paradise” for Jimmy Buffett fans.
The Overseas Highway runs through the Key deer habitat, an endangered species found only in the Florida Keys. Visiting the Blue Hole Observation Platform is a great way to see Key deer and other Florida Keys wildlife.
The Key deer is the smallest North American deer species. It migrated to the Florida Keys from the mainland during the last ice age. The species was left isolated on the Keys when the glaciers melted and sea levels rose.
The National Key Deer Refuge was established in 1957. It’s home to the Key deer and more than 20 endangered and threatened plant and animal species.
We visited the Blue Hole Observation Platform within the National Key Deer Refuge, a quick turn off the highway. Sure enough, we spotted a few Key deer roadside as we drove in, but there was more wildlife to see inside. We visited the platform and got a great view of the retired limestone quarry now filled with freshwater.
The Blue Hole Observation Platform was a great place to see wildlife, with birds including ospreys and anhingas in the air and nesting in trees, and an alligator just below our feet in the water below the platform.
The platform was just the start. We then went on a short hike along part of the water, where we saw more plants and animals.
We saw a small Key deer up close near the back of the trail. It looked young with hints of fading spots. We kept our distance, stayed quiet, and got a great view of this endangered species.
As you drive the Overseas Highway, slow down and watch for Key deer. This endangered species is often found on the roadside, and vehicle collisions threaten the population.
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The Overseas Highway was a fantastic road trip. While we had a great time on our visit (even in dreary conditions), it left us wanting more. We were planning our next trip before we even left the highway, jotting down a long list of the places we didn’t get to but would love to return for:
The Overseas Highway is one of America’s most scenic adventures, and it’s my new favorite way to get to Key West. With unique roadside attractions and eats, natural wonders, and rare wildlife, I’m glad we slowed down to explore on this road trip. Whether you’re heading to Key West or bouncing around the Keys for the day, this stretch of road is a destination in itself.
Driving nonstop from Homestead to Key West takes about 3 1/2 to 4 hours. If you want to slow down and enjoy the trip, plan for a full day or split it across days with stops.
Both can be a great way to get to Key West. Flying offers a beautiful view and a quick 1-hour flight from Miami International Airport (MIA), but driving the Overseas Highway offers more of a Florida Keys experience with quirky roadside attractions, good eats, and wildlife sightings.
Winter and spring can offer good weather and wildlife spotting, including manatees. Visiting in the summer, you may find fewer crowds and better hotel rates, but be prepared for tropical rainshowers.
There are no tolls on the Overseas Highway. Expect to pay fees or make purchases at stops along the way, such as admission to the Robbie’s Marina dock for $2.50 per person or the John Pennekamp State Park fee of $8 per vehicle plus 50 cents per person.
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A long-time points and miles student, Jessica is the former Personal Finance Managing Editor at U.S. News and World Report and is passionate about helping consumers fund their travels for as little cash as possible.
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