8 to 10 hours (approx.)
Daily Tour
4 people
English
Make the most of your Florida visit with this ultimate tour bundle featuring tours of the Florida Keys, the Everglades, and Big Cypress. Cruise through paradise on your way to Key West. Venture into the unknown in the deep, lush Everglades. Discover the rich, forgotten culture of Big Cypress. As you explore each of these astonishing locales, your audio guide will point you to the must-see spots, give you crucial tips, and relay the fascinating history of south Florida. After booking, check your email to download the separate Audio Tour Guide App by Action, enter your unique password, and access your tour. These steps require good internet/Wi-Fi access. From there, follow the audio instructions and the route. New, extra validity — now yours for an entire year! Use multiple times over multiple trips! This isn't an entrance ticket. Check opening hours before your visit.
John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park protects America’s only living coral reef. The reef is over 5,000 years old and is home to nearly 1,400 different species of marine flora and fauna.
Note: In this bundle, each tour is 30+ mile-long and takes 2-3 hours to complete.
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Originally built over a hundred years ago, this historic riverboat once ferried mercenaries and explorers through the rivers of the African Congo. Then, in 1951, it became a movie star! Today, it’s open to the public.
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Plantation Key has a pretty exciting history. During the 1920s, rum runners used this key as a haven to avoid the authorities while smuggling alcohol from the Caribbean into the US!
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
This was once the site of the Rustic Inn, which sold turtle meat, gasoline, and alcohol during Prohibition. While its rum-running days are over, you can still find turtle-based delicacies here.
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Robbie’s is one of the most popular tourist destinations on the keys. Here, you’ll find seafood aplenty, boat rentals, and the crowd-favorite activity of feeding tarpon.
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
This is undoubtedly one of the more picturesque relaxation spots in the Florida Keys. Not only is it one of the few natural sandy beaches here, but it’s also completely free. It’s also got public restrooms, pavilions with picnic tables, and a 1,300-foot boardwalk.
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Long Key is home to one of the most gorgeous state parks in the area. The park’s shallow lagoons are a haven for fish and other marine life, and folks flock from all over to fish, hike, and lounge here.
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
The Seven Mile Bridge is exactly what it sounds like: seven straight miles of driving over the beautiful blue ocean. It’s the longest bridge in Florida and one of the most iconic spots in the keys.
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Pigeon Key is home to a haunting ghost town, which is accessible via ferry and visible from the highway. During the construction of the overseas railroad, this was home to workers building the rail. Now, it’s totally abandoned.
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
This remarkably resilient tree has survived hurricanes, development, and all sorts of trials and tribulations. As a result, the locals gave it a name and made it into a sort of local icon.
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Little Duck Key is the first of the Lower Keys and serves as a gateway to this more remote region of the state.
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Missouri Key was named by the railroad workers building the Overseas Railroad. It got its name from homesick Missourians who building the Seven Mile Bridge.
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
The park features hiking trails, a natural lagoon, spots for picnicking and fishing, and a two mile long shore once rated as the #1 beach in the entire United States. It also has a wide variety of wildlife and plants, including some that are only native to this one island.
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
This striking feat of engineering was constructed by Henry Flagler as part of the original Overseas Railroad. Despite its historical significance, it hasn’t been well maintained, so chances to see it may be running out.
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
No Name Key, visible from your route, feels almost like frontier territory. It’s remote, mostly undeveloped, and the residents were totally off the grid all the way until 1991!
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
This unusual key is host to pine trees which break up the pattern of palm trees you’ll find on most of the other keys. Surprisingly, these trees actually do great in the sandy soil.
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
This refuge is an 8,500-acre home for endangered Key deer. These particular deer are a lot smaller than the ones you might be used to, measuring only two to three feet in height.
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Little Torch Key is the site of Little Palm Island, the country’s only private island resort. However, the key’s true claim to fame is as former President Harry S. Truman’s favorite fishing spot.
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
For most of its history, Ramrod Key had only a single building: a post office. It also had only one single resident!
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
This key hosts a couple of incredible seafood restaurants, as well as a hearty helping of history. It was once home to the eccentric figure of Jonathan “Happy Jack” Thompson, who you’ll hear all about as you drive.
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Top Gun fans will love getting a glimpse of this air combat training station. Here, pilots hone their skills and practice on the most cutting-edge tech.
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Stock Island is the last key before Key West. It’s also considered by many locals to be the last holdout of “old” Key West. It’s a little more laid back, less built-up, and less crowded.
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
This is the last key on your tour, and easily the most popular. Folks flock here from all over for its incredible ocean views, phenomenal seafood, and countless fun activities for the whole family.
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Visible from the coast of Key West, Dredgers Key is a fully human-made island built by the US Navy in the 1940s.
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
In the 1930s, famous author Earnest Hemingway lived in this house. As the author of books like The Old Man and the Sea, For Whom The Bell Tolls, and The Sun Also Rises, Hemingway is an essential part of the American canon.
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
This lighthouse may no longer function, but it has been restored to its original beauty and is absolutely worth a visit. It’s open to the public almost every day of the year.
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
A red buoy marked the southernmost point in the continental US. It’s here where your tour will conclude, giving you ample space to continue exploring the shops and restaurants of Key West.
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Welcome to your tour of the Everglades! This unique, delicate ecosystem is unlike anywhere else on earth. Get ready to explore this remarkable place, learn about its history, and find out what the future may hold for the Everglades.
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Coming up soon is the Everglades Outpost, a wildlife rescue where you can meet over 200 exotic animals. In 1991, Bob and Barbara Freer took it upon themselves to rescue and rehabilitate animals which would otherwise be put down. They started with small birds and raccoons, but soon expanded to camels, lemurs, big cats, and more! Most of these animals were kept as illegal exotic pets before entering the Freers’ care, and the goal is always to release them back into their original habitats.
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
The Everglades is, of course, known for its diverse wildlife. But it was also home to humans as far back as 15,000 years ago! The most prominent tribe, the Calusa, formed around 1,000 BCE. They were hunter-gatherers, but these were no isolated, roving bands. The Calusa lived within a highly organized, politically complex society.
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
In 1517, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León made contact with the Calusa. He told them he wanted to trade, but the tribe knew something he didn’t. In the preceding years, the Calusa had taken in refugees from Cuba. And who were those refugees fleeing?
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Just ahead is the Everglades entrance station. Here’s a quick run-down of the prices: If you only plan on visiting the Everglades this year, I recommend the $30 pass. It’s valid for 7 days. But if you’re planning on visiting at least three parks in the next year—any three parks at all—get the $80 “America the Beautiful” pass. This is valid for 12 months and allows you access into any national park across the country.
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Coming up is a short detour to the Gumbo Limbo Trail. Gumbo Limbo is only a half-mile long. It’s paved, shaded, and winds through a thick grove of hardwood trees and lush ferns. It is easy and can be completed in about 15 minutes.
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Coming up is a short detour to the Anhinga Trails, the park’s most popular hikes. Anhinga is a mile-long boardwalk that loops through a robust sawgrass marsh. If you’re hoping to see some wetlands wildlife, this is the trail for you.
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
As more Americans and Europeans settled Florida through the 1800s, they began looking for ways to expand the agricultural potential of the state. Their eyes fell on the Everglades. What if they could convert this seemingly useless marshland into profitable farmland?
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Just ahead is Pineland Trail, where you can get up close with the most endangered ecosystem in the Everglades. This half-mile, paved loop runs through a forest of lush green pines, palmettos, and wildflowers. It feels like strolling through a primordial rainforest!
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Throughout the early 1900s, large swaths of the Everglades were drained, filled in, and turned into agricultural or residential land. Hunting of the local wildlife was rampant and unchecked. It seemed only a matter of time before the entire wetland would be wiped off the face of the earth.
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Earnest F. Coe may be called the Father of the Everglades, but he didn’t create this park all by himself. He had help, especially from Marjory Stoneman Douglas. Douglas worked as a columnist for the Miami Herald and was known for her fiery advocacy for women’s rights, racial justice, and conservation. She joined Coe’s fight in the 1920s and put her facility with language to work in defense of the Everglades. She wrote columns to capture the public imagination and wrote letters to Congress making her case.
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Coming up soon is Pa-Hay-Okee Lookout Tower. Accessible via a short boardwalk, this observation platform affords visitors panoramic views of the “river of grass” that makes up much of the Everglades. It’s a quick, 5-minute detour, and well worth a stop.
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Just ahead is a quick detour to the Mahogany Hammock Trail. This boardwalk trail winds a half-mile through a dense jungle of hardwood trees, and takes about 10 minutes to complete. But there’s more than just lush greenery on display here. The trail is also home to the largest living mahogany tree in the entire United States!
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Up ahead is Nine Mile Pond Trail. One crucial thing sets this trail apart from others: It’s not on land! This is a canoe trail. Visitors with boats can paddle the 5-mile loop through shallow, grassy marsh, not just taking in the natural scenery from a distance, but actually passing through it! The water levels are generally high enough in the fall and winter, though conditions can vary in the case of a drought.
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Coming up is West Lake Trail. This half-mile boardwalk leads out to West Lake and offers clear views across the water. It takes about 10 minutes to walk, and is a great stop for anyone hoping to see some of the park’s marine wildlife. The water isn’t particularly clear, but see if you can spot the telltale ripples of an alligator or crocodile swimming across the lake! If you were a deer, would you be able to see it approaching in time to escape?
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Up next is Snake Bight Trail. Don’t let the name scare you. That’s B-I-G-H-T, not B-I-T-E. A bight is a kind of bay, and that’s exactly what you’ll find here. This 3.6-mile out-and-back trail ventures through lush, shaded jungle before opening out onto a scenic bay. It takes about an hour to walk on average, but it’s also open to bikes with the exception of the brief boardwalk portion at the end.
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Coming up soon is Christian Point Trail. If you’re looking to get away from the crowds a little, this might be the trail for you, as it’s not one of the more popular ones in the park. It’s slightly more challenging than some other trails in the park, but still ranks only at a moderate difficulty. The whole thing is four miles round trip, and leads to another wide-open view of the shoreline accessible from Snake Bight Trail.
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Looking for a glimpse of civilization? You’ll find it just ahead, at the Flamingo Visitor Center. This comprehensive visitor center has all the usual trappings you’d expect, like snacks, restrooms, and an information booth, but it also offers quite a bit more. Want to rent a canoe or kayak? They’ve got them! How about a bicycle? That too!
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Just ahead is the Eco Pond Trail. If you’ve been dying to see more Everglades wildlife, this is the perfect stop for you. This half-mile trail loops around a small pond that’s almost always packed with wading birds, ducks, songbirds, and more. Plus, keep an eye on the waters for softshell turtles and alligators!
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Welcome to your tour of Big Cypress National Preserve! Your tour begins at 29701 Southwest 8th Street in Miami. You should see Buffalo Tiger’s boat shop on your right. If you aren’t already there, head there now.
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Coming up shortly will be a chance to visit Miccosukee Indian Village. This village, run by members of the Miccosukee tribe, sells Native arts and crafts and features a museum about their history. The tribe has a long history in southern Florida. During the Indian Wars in the 1800s, 100 of them fled into the Everglades and hid to avoid being captured.
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Continue straight. The Miccosukee were far from the only tribe to call this region home. Over the centuries, South Florida was home to numerous distinct tribes, including the formidable Calusa. One of the last tribes to form in the region were the Seminole, descendants of the Creek tribe in Georgia.
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Coming up soon is a short trail with a very special attraction. It’s the Tree Snail Hammock Trail, a quarter-mile loop through hardwood forest which takes only five minutes to complete if you only want to stretch your legs. But most folks will want to linger a little longer. That’s because this is a great place to spot the elusive tree snail.
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Continue straight. You’re cruising along what’s called the Loop Road. It might be easy to drive, but it certainly wasn’t easy to build. Back in 1915, Miami businessman James Jaudon had an idea. He envisioned a highway which cut across the South Florida swamp, allowing for easy transport of goods.
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
So how did this place end up becoming a national preserve anyway? Well, it actually started with plans to build an airport. See, when the Everglades became a national park in the 1940s, the federal government wasn’t able to purchase this land from private owners, so it wasn’t included. That left it vulnerable to development. In the 1960s, the government unveiled a plan to build the Big Cypress Jetport within the area. At the time, it would have been the largest airport in the world.
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Up ahead is Gator Hook Trail, an experience like no other. This moderately challenging, 5-mile round trip hike starts on dry land but doesn’t stay there for very long. Hikers will soon find themselves stepping into ankle-deep water, then wading in deeper until it reaches their knees or, on shorter travelers, their hips!
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Coming up shortly is Kirby Storter Roadside Park, one of the most iconic attractions in Big Cypress. The main draw of this park is the mile-long boardwalk which winds through lush hardwood and cypress trees. The trail is strikingly green and pleasantly shaded. If you want to be surrounded by some of the most striking natural scenery Big Cypress Swamp has to offer, this is a must-see trail.
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Just ahead is H.P. Williams Roadside Park. If you’ve been hoping to see plenty of wildlife, this is the spot for you. A boardwalk runs along a waterway which is a favorite among alligators, turtles, and the occasional snake. It’s also a great place to see herons and egrets wading in the water, as well as hawks perching in the trees above.
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Keep an eye out up ahead for a little white shack. That’s the Ochopee Post Office, the smallest post office in North America! If you’d like to stop in and get something postmarked, they’re usually happy to do so. It’s the kind of souvenir you just can’t get anywhere else!
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Coming up in a minute is the Nathaniel P. Reed Visitor Center and the end of our tour. At this visitor center, you can find all the usual amenities, as well as some of the paintings by famous Everglades artist Sam Vinikoff. But it’s also an interesting facility in its own right, as the whole thing was carefully designed with energy conservation in mind.
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Big Cypress Bend Boardwalk, located about ten miles from the Nathaniel P. Reed Visitor Center, features some truly iconic Big Cypress scenery. This half-mile boardwalk weaves through an old-growth cypress grove, which is every bit as lush and green as it sounds.
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
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