Discover 20 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Key West (United States). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Ernest Hemingway House, Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park, and Southernmost Point. Also, be sure to include Key West Aquarium in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Key West (Florida).
Table of Contents
Ernest Hemingway House
Museum in Key West, Florida. The Ernest Hemingway House was the residence of American writer Ernest Hemingway in the 1930s. The house is situated on the island of Key West in Florida. It is at 907 Whitehead Street, across from the Key West Lighthouse, close to the southern coast of the island. Due to its association with Hemingway, the property is the most popular tourist attraction in Key West. It is also famous for its large population of so-called Hemingway cats, many of which are polydactyl.
The residence was constructed in 1851 in a French Colonial style by wealthy marine architect and salvager Asa Tift. From 1931 to 1939, the house was inhabited by Hemingway and his wife Pauline Pfeiffer. They restored the decaying property and made several additions. During his time at the home, Hemingway wrote some of his best received works, including the non-fiction work Green Hills of Africa (1935), the 1936 short stories "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" and "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber", and the novels To Have And Have Not (1937) and Islands in the Stream (1970). After the Hemingways' divorce and deaths, the house was auctioned off and subsequently converted into a private museum in 1964. On November 24, 1968, it was designated a National Historic Landmark.[1]
Address: 907 Whitehead St, 33040-7473 Key West
Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park
Beach recreation area with historic fort. The Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park, better known simply as Fort Taylor, is a Florida State Park and National Historic Landmark centered on a Civil War-era fort located near the southern tip of Key West, Florida.[2]
Address: 601 Howard England Way, 33040 Key West
Southernmost Point
Tourist attraction in Key West, Florida. The Southernmost Point Buoy is an anchored concrete buoy in Key West, Florida, marking the southernmost point in the continental United States, the lowest latitude land of contiguous North American states. It is 18 feet above sea level. The large painted buoy was established as a tourist attraction in 1983 by the city at the corner of South Street and Whitehead Street. It is one of the most visited and photographed attractions in the United States.
The southernmost point was originally marked with a small sign, before the City of Key West erected the now famous concrete buoy in 1983. The concrete buoy has overall withstood several hurricanes and is a gathering place for photographs and tourists. The paint job was damaged by Hurricane Irma in September 2017, but it was refurbished later that year by the original artist. Cuba is roughly 90 miles south of this point in Key West, although this was not originally on the marker, but rather on a smaller sign next to marker.[3]
Address: South St & Whitehead St, 33040 Key West
Key West Aquarium
Aquarium in Key West, Florida. The Key West Aquarium is the only public aquarium in Key West, Florida, United States. It is located at 1 Whitehead Street and is marked by Historic Marker 52.[4]
Address: 1 Whitehead St, 33040-6634 Key West
Old Post Office and Customshouse
The Custom House and Old Post Office is a historic site located at 281 Front Street, Key West, Florida, United States. On September 20, 1973, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.[5]
Address: 281 Front St, 33040 Key West
Harry S. Truman Little White House
The Harry S. Truman Little White House in Key West, Florida was the winter White House for President Harry S Truman for 175 days during 11 visits. The house is located in the Truman Annex neighborhood of Old Town, Key West.[6]
Address: 111 Front St, 33040 Key West
Mallory Square
Tourist attraction in Key West, Florida. Mallory Square is a plaza located in the city of Key West, Florida, U.S.
It is located on the waterfront in Key West's historic Old Town, adjacent to the cruise ship port. It is located just west of the northern end of Duval Street, facing the Gulf of Mexico. It runs the entire length of Wall Street. Adjacent to the square are the Key West Shipwreck Historeum Museum and the Old Post Office and Customshouse.[7]
Address: 400 Wall St, 33040-6633 Key West
Audubon House and Tropical Gardens
Museum in Key West, Florida. The Audubon House & Tropical Gardens is located at 205 Whitehead Street, Key West, Florida.
Brick-pathed gardens offer a lush 1-acre (4,000 m2) view of orchids, bromeliads, and other tropical foliage, an herb garden and 1840-style nursery.
The house has many antique furnishings purchased from estate sales and auctions in Europe.
The house contains 28 first-edition works of the famous ornithologist John James Audubon. Audubon visited the Florida Keys and Dry Tortugas in 1832 and left Key West having sighted and drawn 18 new birds for his "Birds of America" folio. It is believed that many of those drawings were conceived in the Audubon House garden. Also, Audubon's painting of the white-crowned pigeon features the Geiger tree found in the front yard of the house.
The Audubon House Gallery, separate from the main house features a unique collection of 19th century original Audubon art and a comprehensive selection of John James Audubon's images.[8]
Address: 205 Whitehead St, 33040-6522 Key West
Key West Butterfly & Nature Conservatory
Garden in Key West, Florida. The Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory located at 1316 Duval Street, Key West, Florida, United States is a butterfly park that houses from 50 to 60 different species of live butterflies from around the world in a climate-controlled, glass-enclosed habitat.
The conservatory includes flowering plants, cascading waterfalls and trees. There are also several species of free flying "butterfly friendly" birds, such as American flamingoes, red-factor canaries, zebra finches, cordon-bleu finches and "button" or Chinese painted quail.
There is a learning center where guests can get a close up view of a variety of live caterpillars feeding and developing on their host plants.[9]
Address: 1316 Duval St, 33040 Key West
Western Union
Ship. Western Union is a historic schooner located in Key West, Florida, United States. She is berthed at the Key West Bight at 202 William Street. Western Union is the last surviving authentic working tall ship built in Florida. On May 16, 1984, Western Union was added to the US National Register of Historic Places. She is also the official flagship of the State of Florida and the flagship of the city of Key West.[10]
Address: 648 William St, Key West
Key West Shipwreck Museum
Museum in Key West, Florida. The Key West Shipwreck Museum is located in Key West, Florida, United States. It combines actors, films and actual artifacts to tell the story of 400 years of shipwreck salvage in the Florida Keys. The museum itself is a re-creation of a 19th-century warehouse built by wrecker tycoon Asa Tift. Many of the artifacts on display are from the 1985 rediscovery of the wrecked vessel Isaac Allerton, which sank in 1856 on the Florida Keys reef and turned out to be one the richest shipwrecks in Key West's history, having resulted in the Federal Wrecking Court's largest monetary award for the salvage of a single vessel. Also included are relics from Spanish galleons, including a silver bar salvaged from the Nuestra Senora de las Maravillas that guests are encouraged to try to lift.
The museum guide portraying Tift tells the story from his point of view as he explains how this unusual industry provided for the livelihood for the entire island of Key West at a time when it had the largest population in the state.
Guests can climb the 65' lookout tower.[11]
Address: 1 Whitehead St, 33040-6634 Key West
Key West lighthouse
Lighthouse in Key West, Florida. The Key West Lighthouse is located in Key West, Florida. The first Key West lighthouse was a 65-foot tower completed in 1825. It had 15 lamps in 15-inch reflectors.[12]
Address: 938 Whitehead St, 33040 Key West
Captain Tony's Saloon
Captain Tony's Saloon is a bar in Key West, Florida, United States, located at 428 Greene Street.
The bar has been patronized through the years by many well-known artists, writers and celebrities. When a celebrity visits, a barstool is added that is painted with that patron's name. The bar includes barstools painted with the names of Ernest Hemingway, Truman Capote, Jimmy Buffett, Shel Silverstein, John Prine, John F. Kennedy and Harry Truman, among others.
Above the sign outside the building is a large Jewfish that Captain Tony caught and had preserved. It is said that if you throw a quarter into the mouth of the fish, good luck will follow you until you leave the island.[13]
Address: 428 Greene St, 33040 Key West
San Carlos Institute
Museum in Key West, Florida. The San Carlos Institute, also known as the San Carlos, is a Cuban heritage center and museum located at 516 Duval Street in Key West, Florida. The institute was founded in 1871 by members of the Cuban exile community with the goal of preserving and promoting the language, cultural values, and patriotic ideals of the Cuban people. Today, the San Carlos Institute is a multi-purpose facility that functions as a museum, library, school, conference center, theater, and art gallery for the Key West community. The institute maintains several permanent installations related to Cuban history and hosts a number of popular cultural and artistic events.[14]
Address: 516 Duval St, 33040-6553 Key West
Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Museum
Museum in Key West, Florida. The Mel Fisher Maritime Museum is located at 200 Greene Street, Key West, Florida. The museum contains an extensive collection of artifacts from 17th century shipwrecks, such as the Henrietta Marie, Nuestra Señora de Atocha and Santa Margarita. Also included are the shipwrecks and artifacts of The Santa Clara, a Conquistador-era galleon, The Guerrero & Nimble. A rotating gallery exists on the second floor of the museum and is currently displaying an exhibit or artifacts belonging to Cuban Rafters, Balseros, who arrive to Key West in hand-crafted vessels. Terrestrial archaeological sites include The African Cemetery of Key West, located on Higgs Beach. The museum is named for founder Mel Fisher and was created as a 5013 non-profit charity organization, thus Fisher's fortune is not financially linked to the museum. It is a museum, a lab, and a nationally recognized research facility.
Within the museum is a fully operating Conservation and Archaeology lab, where guests are allowed admittance during a daily private Lab Tour and are able to touch the artifacts while learning about the various stages of artifact conservation. Some artifacts, depending on type and density, can take anywhere from weeks to years for full conservation before they are placed on display in the museum.
As of December, 2015 the upstairs exhibits, in addition to the slave ship Henrietta Marie, included displays about a group of freed slaves in Key West in 1860, the preservation of items recovered underwater, and Caribbean piracy.[15]
Address: 200 Greene St, 33040 Key West
Key West Cemetery
Cemetery in Key West, Florida. The Key West Cemetery is a 19-acre cemetery at the foot of Solares Hill on the island of Key West, Florida, United States.
It is estimated that as many as 100,000 people are buried there, many more than the 30,000 residents who currently live on the island.
It is in the northwest section of the Old Town area of the island.[16]
Address: 701 Passover Ln, 33040 Key West
Martello Gallery-Key West Art and Historical Museum
Museum in Key West, Florida. The Martello Gallery-Key West Art and Historical Museum, is a historic site located at 3501 South Roosevelt Boulevard, Key West, Florida, United States. On June 19, 1972, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. It is the best-preserved example of the Martello style of military architecture in the country.[17]
Address: 3501 S Roosevelt Blvd, 33040-5209 Key West
USCGC Ingham
Treasury-class cutter. USCGC Ingham is one of only two preserved Treasury-class United States Coast Guard Cutters. Originally Samuel D. Ingham, she was the fourth cutter to be named for Treasury Secretary Samuel D. Ingham. She was the most decorated vessel in the Coast Guard fleet and was the only cutter to ever be awarded two Presidential Unit Citations.[18]
Address: Southard St, 33041 Key West
Key West Heritage House Museum and Robert Frost Cottage
Museum. The Key West Heritage House Museum and Robert Frost Cottage, also known as the Jessie Porter's Heritage House Museum and Robert Frost Cottage, was a museum located at 410 Caroline Street, Key West, Florida. The Key West Heritage House, purchased by Jessie Porter in 1934 and opened as a museum in 1995, closed on April 17, 2010.
Once the home of Key West hostess and preservationist Jessie Porter, the Heritage House contains hundreds of mementos from Key West's early days, when shipwreck salvaging made it the richest city per capita in the United States. Visitors learn about the property's role as a gathering place for writers including Thornton Wilder, Tennessee Williams, Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Frost.
Starting in 1945, poet Robert Frost spent 16 consecutive winters in the cottage behind the house, which now bears his name.[19]
Basilica of St. Mary Star of the Sea
Basilica in Key West, Florida. The Basilica of St. Mary Star of the Sea is a Minor Basilica of the Catholic Church located in Key West, Florida, United States. It is one of the oldest Catholic parishes in the state of Florida and the oldest parish in the Archdiocese of Miami. The church is a contributing property in the Key West Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places.[20]
Address: 1010 Windsor Ln, 33040 Key West