Orlando to Florida Keys and back..

[ZeeBabar]

Flying in to Orlando with about 8-9 days with spouse and 18 year old son. Have seen Zorlando before but nothing else. Plan on renting car and heading to the Keys.

A scenic route and places to stay overnight or for a night or two is what I am looking for. Interested in National Parks and such.

Your advice is appreciated.

[DonnaR57]

I was reading an article about the shortages of rental cars, due to the Pandemic. Many car rental places sold off much of their fleet and are finding it difficult to replace said fleet with the newer cars. The article suggested getting your car rental lined up FIRST, and THEN your airline reservations. Some areas aren't as hard hit as others, and they weren't really specific about anything in Florida.

Florida has Everglades National Park, plus Biscayne National Park.. Then there is Dry Tortugas National Park, which will require a boat reservation to get to it, or a charter flight.


Donna

[AZBuck]

My wife and I are currently trying to set up our first post-COVID trip, and finding Donna's caveat to be true. While rental car availability is not the issue in our case, price is. It's nearly double what we're used to seeing, even though we've moved our plans to 'shoulder' season where we're going. The same goes for lodging: little availability and high rates. There's a lot of pent up demand and businesses that rely on tourist travel have to make up a lot of lost revenue. So make sure that ALL of your needs, flights, car and lodging, are available and affordable before proceeding any further in your planning.

Besides Everglades NP, there's also Three Lakes Wildlife Management Area, Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park, and Big Cypress National Preserve on your way to the Keys. Personally, I'd try to come down through central Florida, avoiding the Atlantic coast, which is highly urbanized for most of its length, and concentrate on getting my 'beach time' along the Overseas Highway (US-1) through the Keys.

AZBuck

[DonnaR57]

I cited a few of the articles about the rental car issue in this thread.

We are moving to an area this summer that is highly touristy. We are going to have to stay in a hotel for about a week before our stuff arrives. We didn't find lodging rates to be inflated in that particular area, no higher than they usually are. We found a few places that had no vacancies -- but on the 4th of July weekend, that is not in the least bit surprising!


Donna

[travelingman]

When are you going?