Our 6-Day Itinerary to Florida’s 3 National Parks

Hannah | August 2026

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Why We Chose Florida’s 3 National Parks as Our Honeymoon Destination

When Dylan and I started planning our honeymoon, we knew we wanted a trip that felt like us. We love national parks and tend to be pretty active when we travel, but this was also our honeymoon – we wanted time to relax!

Florida ended up giving us the perfect combination. Everglades, Biscayne and Dry Tortugas National Parks are all located in South Florida, which meant we could visit three national parks in one trip while still spending some time relaxing in the Florida Keys!

We planned six days between Fort Lauderdale, Everglades National Park, Key Largo and Key West, with plenty of adventures mixed in: airboats, boat tours, a seaplane, snorkeling, kayaking and more. We also left ourselves enough time to sit and relax on the beach, read our books, watch the sunset, and do absolutely nothing.

Looking back, that balance was our favorite part of this trip. We came home feeling like we had made the most of our time without feeling like we needed a vacation from our vacation.

Our 6-Day Itinerary

Day 1 – April 28: Land in Fort Lauderdale, drive to Everglades NP and stay the night in Everglades City, FL

Day 2 – April 29: Explore Biscayne National Park and check into Kona Kai resort in Key Largo

Day 3 – April 30: Relax all day at Kona Kai Resort

Day 4 – May 1: Glass-bottom boat tour + check into Reefhouse Resort & Marina

Day 5 – May 2: Early drive to Key West for the seaplane to Dry Tortugas National Park, back to Key Largo

Day 6 – May 3: Return to Biscayne National Park and drive to Fort Lauderdale for hotel stay

May 4: Early flight home

Day 1: Fort Lauderdale + Everglades National Park

Our honeymoon officially started with an early morning flight to Fort Lauderdale. We landed in Florida at 8:35 a.m., picked up our rental car at the airport and made our way to Everglades National Park.

We chose to fly into Fort Lauderdale instead of Miami because it was more affordable for our dates, and I would absolutely do it again. Picking up our rental car at the airport was easy, and since we landed so early, we still had almost an entire day ahead of us to explore. Our first stop was the Shark Valley area of Everglades National Park!

Shark Valley at Everglades National Park

After grabbing breakfast at a local bakery, we headed straight to the Shark Valley entrance. Apparently, we weren’t the only ones with that idea! When we arrived, there was a long line of cars waiting to get into the park and the parking lot was full. Rangers were only letting one car in as one car left.

At one point, we had been sitting there for so long that I got out, walked ahead to use the bathroom and made it all the way back to the car before Dylan reached the entrance. Thankfully, an alligator hanging out nearby gave us something to watch while we waited.

This is one part of our trip I wish I had researched a little better. Shark Valley has a 15-mile paved loop that you can explore by tram or bike, with an observation tower along the route. We hadn’t realized either was something we should account for ahead of time, so we ended up exploring the area on foot instead. If we did this trip again, I would pack food and more water and leave ourselves enough time to do the full loop and make it out to the observation tower.

Airboat Tour in Everglades City

After leaving Shark Valley, we continued toward Everglades City, where we were staying for the night. Our Airbnb happened to be right around the corner from Captain Jack’s Airboat Tours, and I was so excited when I realized we could squeeze in an airboat tour our first day in Florida.

We cruised across the water and saw plenty of Florida wildlife along the way, including alligators and birds—but the biggest surprise for us was seeing a family of wild hogs! We had absolutely no idea there were wild hogs in Florida. I couldn’t even tell what the animal swimming in the water was until it reached a group of babies on shore.

After the airboat ride, we grabbed dinner at Camellia Street Grill and ended our first night in Florida watching the sunset from a nearby dock.

Day 2: Biscayne National Park + Key Largo

We woke up the next morning, checked out of our Airbnb in Everglades City and headed toward Biscayne National Park. Once we arrived, we purchased tickets for the Heritage Cruise boat tour at the visitor center and met our captain shortly afterwards. Our guide, Gary, was incredibly knowledgeable and made the experience even better.

If snorkeling at Biscayne National Park is high on your list, book it ahead of time! We had hoped to snorkel, but the tour was already booked by the time we visited. Since about 95% of Biscayne National Park is underwater, I would absolutely prioritize getting out on-or in-the water while you’re there. We still loved and recommend the Heritage Cruise tour if you prefer a non-swimming experience.

Captain Gary took us across Biscayne Bay to explore one of the islands, where we saw the lighthouse and spent some time walking around. I even brought my bathing suit and was fully prepared to jump into the water…until I looked down and saw sharks swimming nearby!

I later learned that they were nurse sharks and weren’t interested in nibbling on my leg, but in the moment, it was a quick ‘nope.’ Instead, we walked around the island and spotted lizards, birds and plenty of bugs before meeting back up with our tour and returning to the mainland.

Our First Night in Key Largo

After our boat tour, we got back in the car and headed south toward Key Largo. We checked into Kona Kai Resort and Botanical Garden, picked up takeout and settled in to watch the sunset from the beach.

The sunset was breathtaking and just steps outside our room. As we were sitting there, I started noticing fish jumping out of the water. I actually started to say out loud “That’s funny, usually when you see fish jump like that normally you’ll see – DOLPHINS!” Right on cue, dolphins started jumping out of the water in front of us.

Our first night in the Florida Keys ended with us eating pizza on the beach, watching a beautiful sunset and enjoying our own little dolphin show.

Day 3: A Much-Needed Resort Day in Key Largo

After two full days of traveling and exploring national parks, we intentionally left Day 3 completely open. It was also Dylan’s birthday, and his wish was to relax!

We spent the day at Kona Kai Resort, which was quiet, private and absolutely stunning. The resort had kayaks and stand-up paddleboards available for guests, a small beach on the water, a pool and hot tub, and iguanas wandering around freely. It felt like the perfect place to slow down for a day.

Looking back, leaving one day completely unscheduled was one of the best decisions we made. We had three national parks to visit and plenty we wanted to see, but we didn’t want our honeymoon to feel like one giant checklist. Having a day where we had nowhere to be gave us a chance to actually enjoy the beach.

If you’re recreating this itinerary, I wouldn’t fill every open day with excursions. Save some time to sit on the beach, read a book, take out a kayak or do absolutely nothing!

Day 4: Glass-Bottom Boat Tour + A New Resort

We spent our last morning at Kona Kai enjoying the beach and the resort before checking out and heading to our next activity: a glass-bottom boat tour.

The tour was a fun way to spend a few hours on the water, although looking back, I probably would have researched some other options before booking it. There was nothing wrong with the experience, but knowing what I know now, I think we would have enjoyed some of the other activities in the Keys more.

The excitement of the tour started before we even left the harbor however…while we were standing on the boat waiting to head out, we could see nurse sharks swimming in the water below us!

We saw a sea turtle and lots of fish and coral on the boat ride. Dolphins and sharks are sometimes spotted as well, so what you see really depends on the day!

We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring Reefhouse Resort & Marina, swimming and hanging out on the beach. At one point, a lifeguard on the dock told us there was a manatee swimming only about five feet away from us. We could see the ripples it was making in the water as it passed by—definitely not something we expected to see while swimming at the resort. Florida is WILD!

We finished the evening watching another Key Largo sunset, with exactly the mix of adventure and downtime we had hoped for when planning this trip.

Day 5: Dry Tortugas National Park by Seaplane

Day 5 was the day I had been looking forward to most: Dry Tortugas National Park! We booked the 8 a.m. half-day excursion with Key West Seaplane Adventures, which meant checking in at the Key West airport at 7:30 a.m. Knowing we had a VERY early morning ahead of us, we prepared as much as possible the night before, including getting breakfast ready to eat in the car. We were up around 4-4:30 a.m. to make the drive, and while it was completely doable, this is one part of our itinerary I would change if we did it over again.

If I planned this trip again, I would stay in Key West the night before visiting Dry Tortugas. It would have made the morning much less stressful and given us more time to enjoy Key West without having such a long drive before and after our seaplane excursion.

The early wake-up was absolutely worth it, though. Flying to Dry Tortugas was one of the coolest experiences of our entire trip. Between the views from the seaplane, exploring Fort Jefferson, snorkeling and having parts of the island almost entirely to ourselves, Dry Tortugas ended up becoming one of my favorite places I have ever visited.

If you’re considering making the trip, I wrote a complete guide to our Dry Tortugas seaplane experience, including our packing list, the flight and everything I wish I had known before we went!

An Afternoon in Key West

After flying back to Key West, we grabbed lunch before making the drive to Key Largo. Key West definitely had a different energy than what we had gotten used to-it felt much busier and livelier than Key Largo. I would have loved having a little more time to explore the area and popular attractions, but we had a long drive back.

By the time we returned to our resort, we were exhausted. Our thought was basically “if we’re going to nap, why not nap on the beach!” A few hours later, we woke up, went for a swim, grabbed dinner at the poolside bar and grill and called it a night.

Day 6: Back to Biscayne National Park + Return to Fort Lauderdale

For our last full day in Florida, we decided to head back to Biscayne National Park one more time before making our way north toward Fort Lauderdale.

Our first visit to Biscayne had been almost entirely focused on our boat tour, so we hadn’t spent much time exploring the park itself. Since Biscayne was relatively close to where we were staying, we decided to go back and see a little more before leaving South Florida.

This time, we slowed things down and walked along the waterfront before stopping inside the visitor center. I spotted a horse conch on display, which immediately caught my attention because we saw an enormous one while snorkeling at Dry Tortugas. I remember being shocked that a shell could actually get that big, so naturally, I had to ask a park ranger about it.

Sure enough, they really do get that big! The ranger even gave Dylan and me the chance to try blowing into the conch like a horn…we both failed miserably. I guess we’ll need to return to practice!

Back to Fort Lauderdale

After saying goodbye to Biscayne, we started the drive back to Fort Lauderdale. We returned our rental car at the Fort Lauderdale airport that evening and stayed at a nearby hotel for our final night, which made our next morning much easier. We took the hotel shuttle early to catch our 8:40 a.m. flight out, officially ending our honeymoon and trip through Florida’s three national parks.

We absolutely loved this trip and would do this itinerary again, but there are a few things we would change if we were planning today.

• Plan more time at Shark Valley – we didn’t plan ahead for the tram or biking the 15-mile loop, and I wish we had made it to the observation tower.
• Book Biscayne activities ahead of time – The Heritage of Biscayne Cruise that we took and the snorkeling can sell out quickly.
• Spend a night in Key West – Since we were already checking out of Kona Kai Resort, it would’ve been fun to spend at least one night in Key West and would have made the following morning easier.
• Choose a different activity in Key Largo – The glass-bottom boat tour was perfectly fine, but knowing what I know now, I would have researched some of the other things to do in the Keys instead.

Overall: Was 6 Days Enough to Visit All 3 Florida National Parks?

For us, absolutely! On our flight home, Dylan and I talked about the trip, and both agreed that it felt like the perfect amount of time. We visited Everglades, Biscayne and Dry Tortugas National Parks, took an airboat ride, went on multiple boat tours, flew in a seaplane, snorkeled, kayaked, swam and somehow still found time to sit on the beach, read our books, nap and watch the sunset each night.

That balance ended up being one of our favorite things about this trip. We tend to be pretty active when we travel and can easily fall into the trap of trying to squeeze as much as possible into every day. Since this was our honeymoon, we wanted plenty of time to relax too, and I think we found the perfect balance between adventure and vacation over the six days.

If you’re planning a Florida national parks itinerary and want to experience all three parks while still having time to actually enjoy the Florida Keys, I think six days is a really sweet spot. Plan the big-ticket activities ahead of time, leave yourself a little room to be spontaneous and most importantly, stay flexible. Weather can be unpredictable, and weather events and park closures can occur without notice. Check the NPS website while you plan.

We ended our Florida honeymoon happy, sun-kissed and already dreaming about our next national park adventure. Time to get planning!

Han & Dyl Rating

Han & Dyl Overall Trip Rating: 10/10

Scenery: 10/10

Experience: 10/10

Crowds: 10/10 (for lack thereof)

Would We Go Back?: ABSOLUTELY