Flights to Key West (EYW)

Key West International Airport operates with two passenger terminals and a single runway. Starting in 2006, the airport underwent major renovations, including a new terminal, which doubled its size. The airport’s single runway holds the record for the shortest runway in all of North America used regularly by 737s. Though small, the airport has traveler amenities including ATMs, free WiFi and Mamava nursing suites for mothers. There are also a restaurant, two bars and a few gift and souvenir shops.

HISTORIC SITES

Despite its tiny size, the island of Key West is chock full of Florida historical structures and points of interest. It was on this tropical island that Ernest Hemingway penned his A Farewell to Arms, and in fact, two of the writer’s former homes and gardens, Casa Antigua and the Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum are available for tour. At the latter, you’ll find more than 40 cats, many of them descendants of his beloved original felines.

At Fort Zachary Taylor, “America’s Southernmost State Park,” the fort walls of this Civil War outpost are still standing. As a bonus, the park’s white sand beach is one of the most beautiful on the island.

ART AND SHOPPING

The island of Key West has long been an artists’ haven and an important center of the art movement. You’ll find a number of studios and boutiques, including a large concentration along the mile-long stretch of Duval Street. Don’t miss the non-profit Studios of Key West, which showcases about a dozen artists’ work and hosts concerts, readings and literary and visual art workshops frequently.

NIGHTLIFE AND ENTERTAINMENT

Key West is not a sleepy island that shuts down in the wee hours. Revelry and drag shows at bars go on long into the night. The most famous pub crawl, the “Duval Crawl,” takes place along the aforementioned stretch, with guided tours on an almost nightly basis.

The Florida Keys are one of the only mainland U.S. locations known to never have had a frost or freeze. With that kind of record, it goes without saying that Key West offers an agreeable climate in any season. In the coolest month of January, the average high is 75°F and in the warmest month of July it’s 89°F. Even in the summer months, prevailing easterly trade winds and sea breezes help tamp down the heat. And though it does technically have a rainy season from May to October, Key West is the driest city in Florida with an average of 39.17 inches of annual rainfall.