Day Trips From Miami: Costs, Hours & Which Are Realistic

The best day trips from Miami split into two kinds: places you can reach in a normal drive and be back for dinner, and places that look close on a map but eat the whole day. The first group is the Everglades, Biscayne National Park, Key Largo and Homestead. The second is Key West, and the Bahamas, which doesn’t leave from Miami at all. I’d plan around that split before picking anything, because the drive is the real cost of a day trip.

I checked the official park, state park, attraction and operator pages on October 29, 2026, for admission, hours and access. Where official pages didn’t publish a drive time from Miami, I’ve labeled it as a planning estimate rather than an official figure.

Day trips from Miami compared

Costs and hours from each park, state park, attraction and operator page, checked October 29, 2026. Drive times are approximate planning estimates, not guarantees; only the Biscayne range comes from a published source. Traffic and your starting point change them, so check live navigation before you leave.

How I’d think about the map

Miami sits in the middle of three very different directions, and picking one matters more than picking a destination. West is the Everglades along the Tamiami Trail, which is US 41. South is a single funnel: Homestead and Biscayne National Park, then Florida City, where US 1 becomes the Overseas Highway at mile marker 127 and counts down to 0 in Key West. North is Fort Lauderdale, where the Bahamas day trips leave. I’d never combine a west trip with a south trip, and I’d only pair stops inside the same direction, such as Biscayne National Park and Coral Castle, which are both near Homestead.

Everglades National Park: Shark Valley

Everglades National Park charges $35 per private vehicle, good for 7 consecutive days at all park entrances, or $20 per person for visitors arriving on foot, by bicycle or by paddling, according to the National Park Service. Visitors 15 and younger are admitted free. Non-U.S. residents 16 and older pay an additional $100 per person unless they hold an annual or America the Beautiful pass. The NPS lists Veterans Day, November 11, as the last fee-free day of 2026, but the 2026 fee-free days apply only to U.S. residents, so non-U.S. residents still pay. Payment at fee stations is by credit or debit card or digital pass only.

For a day trip, I’d choose the Shark Valley entrance. The park’s visitor information lists a 15-mile loop trail that you can walk, bike or ride by tram. You drive to the entrance and parking lot, but private vehicles cannot continue past that point on the loop road. The Shark Valley Tram Tours site lists 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. Tram tours run about 2 hours and cost $36 for adults, $27 for seniors 62 and older and $19 for children 3 to 12. From May 1 through December 18, 2026, the listed departures are 9:30 a.m., 11 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 2 p.m., with a 4 p.m. tour only on Saturdays, Sundays and holiday weeks. The NPS advises arriving 1.5 to 2 hours early for scheduled tram tours, and the tram site warns the entrance can close temporarily when the lot fills in busy season. I’d book the tram first and plan the drive around it, not the other way around.

The park’s page also lists private airboat concessions on Route 41, 15 to 20 minutes east of Shark Valley. I couldn’t find their current prices on an official park page, so I’m not quoting any here. For any open-air Everglades day I’d bring water and sun protection, whichever way you ride the loop.

Biscayne National Park: mostly water

The National Park Service says Biscayne National Park has no entrance fees, and that 95 percent of the park is covered by water, so being on or in the water is the best way to experience it. The Dante Fascell Visitor Center is at 9700 SW 328th Street (Sir Lancelot Jones Way) in Homestead. The park’s directions say you can reach it from the Florida Turnpike by taking exit 6 (Speedway Boulevard) south to SW 328th Street, then following it about four miles to the end of the road, or from US 1 by turning onto SW 137th Avenue in Homestead. Its page for directions was last updated in 2021, so confirm the route before you drive.

Costs show up at the water’s edge. The park lists day-use docking at Boca Chita and Elliott Key at $25 Friday through Monday and federal holidays, and $60 per night for overnight camping and docking. I couldn’t pull current boat tour prices from the park’s own pages, so call 786-335-3620 or check the park before you plan around a tour. Since the park itself says the water is the best way to experience it, I wouldn’t make the drive without a boat or a booked tour.

Key Largo and John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park

This is the Keys day trip I’d actually do. Key Largo covers mile markers 108 to 90 of the Overseas Highway, the first stretch after Florida City, so you reach it without committing to the whole 113-mile highway. John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park is at 102601 Overseas Highway, is open 8 a.m. until sunset 365 days a year, and charges $8 plus 50 cents per person, up to eight people, for a multiple-occupant vehicle. A single-occupant vehicle costs $4.50, pedestrians and bicyclists pay $2.50 each, and each person beyond eight adds $2.50. The state also posts a construction notice effective July 22, 2026: one of the two boat ramps and the boat sewage pump-out station are closed and boat-trailer parking is significantly reduced, with no end date given. That matters more to people towing a boat than to visitors on a booked snorkel tour. If you’re launching your own boat, budget an additional $10 per vessel for the day-use boat-ramp fee, and check the park’s construction notice before you leave. The park’s tour operator site, pennekamppark.com, lists a 2.5-hour round-trip snorkel tour with about 1.5 hours of water time, and a 65-foot catamaran that carries up to 130 passengers. It points to an online booking site and (305) 451-6300 for prices and times, so book before you drive down. The Florida Keys tourism site warns that traffic on US 1 can build during peak travel times, so I’d leave early and plan on returning against the same traffic.

Homestead and Coral Castle

Coral Castle, at 28655 S. Dixie Highway in Homestead, lists $25 for adults, $10 for ages 5 to 12 and free admission for ages 4 and under. Tickets include a 30-minute documentary and a professionally led tour. The website lists two sets of hours: open daily 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. with the last tour at 7 p.m., and open daily 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. with the last tour at 6 p.m., so I’d assume the earlier closing time. I’d treat it as a stop on the way to or from Biscayne National Park or the Keys, because Homestead is on the same southern route, not as a day trip by itself.

Key West: I wouldn’t do it in one day

The Florida Keys tourism site describes the Overseas Highway from Key Largo to Key West as a 113-mile route crossing 42 bridges. The mile markers start farther north, near Florida City at 127, and count down to 0 in Key West, so the 113 miles is not the whole drive from Miami. Key West is mile markers 4 to 0, which means it is the far end of that road. Add the drive from Miami to Florida City before you reach mile marker 127, and the trip is long in both directions before you’ve seen anything. The tourism site also says Key West Express offers a high-speed ferry from Southwest Florida, not from Miami. My rule: if you want Key West, I’d stay at least one night. If you only have one day for the Keys, I’d spend it in Key Largo.

The Bahamas: close, but not from Miami

The Bahamas works as a day trip, but the ferry and the seaplane both leave from Fort Lauderdale, and there is no regular passenger ferry from PortMiami. My full guide to a day trip to the Bahamas from Miami covers the Baleària ferry to Bimini and Freeport, the seaplane, passports and the 6 a.m. check-in. The short version: it’s a very early day, so I’d only choose it if a passport and a 5:30 a.m. alarm don’t bother you.

What I’d choose

• Wildlife and an easy day: Shark Valley in the Everglades. Book the tram first.
• Water and a boat: Biscayne National Park, but only with a boat or a booked tour.
• The Keys in one day: Key Largo and John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, with the snorkel or glass-bottom boat booked ahead.
• A half day or an add-on: Coral Castle in Homestead, paired with Biscayne National Park.
• Another country: The Bahamas from Fort Lauderdale, with a passport.
• Key West: Plan it as its own trip, not a day trip.

Day trips from Miami: frequently asked questions

For a full day, I’d pick Everglades National Park’s Shark Valley, Biscayne National Park or Key Largo, because each stays within one direction from Miami. Coral Castle in Homestead works as a half day. The Bahamas is possible as a day trip but leaves from Fort Lauderdale, not Miami. Key West is possible but a very long day.

It is possible, but I wouldn’t choose it. The Overseas Highway from Key Largo to Key West is about 113 miles long and crosses 42 bridges. The mile markers start near Florida City at 127 and count down to 0 in Key West, so the drive from Miami includes the extra stretch to Florida City before you reach the Keys, and you spend most of the day driving. Key West Express ferries serve Southwest Florida, not Miami. Key Largo is the better single-day Keys option.

Everglades National Park charges $35 per private vehicle, good for 7 consecutive days at all park entrances, or $20 per person for visitors arriving on foot, by bicycle or paddling. Visitors 15 and younger are admitted free. Non-U.S. residents 16 and older pay an additional $100 per person unless they have an annual or America the Beautiful pass. Shark Valley tram tours cost extra: $36 for adults, $27 for seniors and $19 for children.

The National Park Service says the park has no entrance fees. Overnight camping and docking costs $60 per night, and day-use docking at Boca Chita and Elliott Key is $25 Friday through Monday and on federal holidays. About 95 percent of the park is water, so most visitors need a boat or a boat tour to see it.

No. There is no regular passenger ferry from PortMiami to the Bahamas, and the Key West Express ferry serves Southwest Florida, not Miami. The Bahamas day-trip ferry leaves from Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale.

Plan on roughly an hour and 20 minutes from Downtown Miami, which is my own estimate, since the official pages I checked don’t list a drive time, so check live traffic before you leave. Key Largo is the first stretch of the Overseas Highway after Florida City, covering mile markers 108 to 90 of a road that begins at mile marker 127. John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park is at 102601 Overseas Highway and is open 8 a.m. until sunset, 365 days a year, with admission of $8 plus 50 cents per person for up to eight people in a multiple-occupant vehicle, $2.50 for each additional person, $4.50 for a single-occupant vehicle and $2.50 for pedestrians and bicyclists.

Coral Castle at 28655 S. Dixie Highway in Homestead lists $25 for adults, $10 for ages 5 to 12 and free admission for ages 4 and under. It works best as a half-day stop combined with Biscayne National Park or the Everglades, not as the only reason for a day trip. Its website lists two sets of closing hours, so check before you go.