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Skip the trolley. Rent the little car.
Key West sells you two sit-down tours at published prices. We did our own instead, on our own clock, and I would do it that way every time.
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Key West is flat and compact, and the Duval Loop bus is free for tourists and residents. The Conch Tour Train starts at $40.80 and the Old Town Trolley at $50.30 for a one-day ticket. Fort Zachary Taylor charges $6 per vehicle for up to eight people, or $2.50 on foot.
Key West is flat, small, American, and English-speaking. Your phone works, your money works, and if something goes wrong there is a US hospital. That combination makes it the easiest port day on most itineraries — and it also makes it the port where you least need to buy a guided tour.
We rented a little electric car — a GEM — and did our own city tour.
We went to the fort. We went to the cemetery, which is stranger and better than it sounds. We drove around downtown. And of course we went to the Southernmost Point.
We loved it. No timetable, no commentary, no waiting for twenty other people to get back on. When we wanted to stop, we stopped.
What the organised options cost
Both publish their prices, which is fair of them.
| Conch Tour Train | From $40.80 for a 60-minute loop |
|---|---|
| Old Town Trolley | From $50.30 for a one-day hop-on hop-off ticket, 13 stops, first tour 9am, last departure from Mallory Square 4:30pm |
| Duval Loop bus | Free. Free for tourists and residents alike. |
| Other city buses | $2, or $1 reduced, with a one-day pass at $4 |
For two people, a trolley day is over a hundred dollars before you have bought a drink. That is the number worth holding in your head when you price a rental.
Which Key West day is yours
- You like driving and want to roam: rent the little electric car. Best day, most freedom.
- You want to be told what you are looking at: the trolley earns its money on commentary, and it is hop-on hop-off.
- You want to spend nothing: the Duval Loop is genuinely free and Old Town is genuinely walkable. This is a real option, not a sad one.
- You have limited walking range: Monroe County publishes that Key West Transit, the Conch Tour Train and the Old Town Trolley all provide accessible options.
Where I would point the car
Fort Zachary Taylor. $6 per vehicle for up to eight people, $4.50 for a single occupant, $2.50 on foot or by bicycle, plus a county surcharge. Open 8am to sundown, though the fort itself closes at 5pm — so go early rather than late if the fort is the point.
The cemetery. Free, quiet, and full of headstones with a sense of humour. It is the part of our day I still talk about.
The Southernmost Point. Yes, there will be a queue for the photograph. Go anyway, it takes ten minutes.
Higgs Beach if you want sand: a county beach, 7:30am to sunset, with restrooms, playground, volleyball, tennis and pickleball.
Manage your expectations about the beaches
Key West is a town day. The beaches are pleasant rather than spectacular, and people who step off expecting the Caribbean are routinely disappointed. If sand is what you came for, this is the wrong port to spend it in — go and look at the town instead, which is the actual attraction.
A note on renting
These little electric cars are everywhere in Key West and they are not fast, which is the point. Rules on licences, minimum age, deposits and where you may drive are set by the rental company and by the city, and they are not something I can publish a reliable figure for — so ask when you book rather than assuming. Leave yourself a comfortable margin to get back to the ship, because there is no arguing with all-aboard.
Questions I get asked
Do I need a car at all?
No. Old Town is walkable and the Duval Loop is free. The car buys you range, not access.
Is the trolley a rip-off?
No, it is a fair price for what it is, and the commentary is the product. It is just not what I want from Key West.
Can I take the little car to the fort?
Fort Zachary Taylor charges per vehicle, and the published rate is $6 for up to eight people, so a shared vehicle is the cheap way in.
How far is town from the ship?
Nobody official publishes the walking distances from the piers, which is why I will not give you a number. What I can tell you is that the island is flat and compact.
The full sourced detail, including the three docking facilities and the bus timetable, is in the Key West port guide.
Where these facts come from
Ports change their rules and their prices. Check the official pages above before you sail.
Independent tours usually cost less than the ship's, and are often run by the very same local operator. For the most peace of mind, book with Shore Excursions Group. It does nothing but cruise excursions and publishes a Return-to-Ship Guarantee: if a delay on one of its tours ever makes you miss the ship, it gets you to the next port and covers your hotel and meals. Want more choices? Viator lists far more tours. There, pick one tagged Worry-Free Shore Excursion, which carries its "Back to Ship Guarantee."
- Shore Excursions Group: 4,500 excursions in 300+ ports; non-refundable from 14 days before the tour
- Viator: 400,000+ experiences; full refund on most if cancelled 24 hours ahead
- Viator's Back to Ship Guarantee covers Worry-Free tagged tours only
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If stairs, gangways and tenders are a problem, there is a whole section of this site for you. Sails Anyway covers accessible and limited-mobility cruising properly instead of squeezing it into a paragraph: what each pier actually asks of you, which tender ports are a problem and why, the special-needs forms and the deadlines that catch people out, and how to choose a cabin you can move around in.
About the "I" on this page. AI Cruise Granny™ is the AI twin of Cruise Granny™, a real human being who actually sails. Every experience written here in the first person is hers. The AI twin is what writes it up, checks the facts against official sources and keeps it current. We tell you that openly on every page, because you should know who is talking to you. More about how this works.