The room decides the trip. A night on South Beach in February can cost more than three nights in Ocala, and no other line moves the total the way lodging and season do. Budget the bed first, then the car, then everything else.
Everything here is per person, in US dollars, as a range, and it will rot. Florida runs from cheap to absurd depending on the month, the neighborhood and whatever event is in town, so treat these as the shape of the cost, not a quote, and check before you go. Where we are unsure we widen the range rather than guess.
Flights
There is no honest number; a fare from the East Coast in shoulder season and one from Europe at Christmas are different products. Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Orlando have the most competition; Key West and Panama City Beach are small and usually cost more. Price the flight separately and add it to the totals below.
Where you sleep
Per room per night; halve it if two of you share, as the worked budgets assume.
- Hostel, motel or chain hotel off the beach: $40-80 for a hostel bed on Miami Beach; $100-180 for a room on the Miami mainland, in Marathon, in Panama City Beach outside spring break and summer, or in Ocala and Clewiston.
- Mid-range hotel, Mid-Beach or a Keys resort outside Key West: $180-320.
- South Beach or Key West in season: $300-600, and the good rooms go months ahead. Add the resort fee (see below) before you compare.
Summer, May to October, can take a third off beach prices; you pay in heat, storms and hurricane watching.
Getting around
- Rental car: $40-90 a day for an economy car with taxes and airport fees, more at Christmas and spring break. Insurance and a toll transponder are extra. Vice City alone needs no car; the Keys, the Everglades and anything inland do.
- Fuel: a tank in an economy car is $40-60. A Keys round trip from Miami is about 320 miles and the Everglades loop about 200: a tank for each.
- Tolls: Miami’s expressways and causeways are cashless, so rental companies charge $5-15 a day for a transponder plus the tolls themselves, a few dollars on a driving day. Card Sound Road and Alligator Alley have small tolls too.
- Parking: the line people forget. Miami Beach is $20-40 a day in the public garages and $30-60 a night for hotel valet on South Beach. Key West is $20-40 a day in Old Town. Panama City Beach and the inland towns are mostly free.
- Without a car in Miami: the beach trolley and the Metromover are free, Citi Bike is a few dollars a ride, and a rideshare from the beach to downtown or Wynwood is $15-30 each way.
Food
Per person per day.
- Careful: $35-60. Cuban coffee and a sandwich from a window counter, a grocery breakfast, one casual sit-down meal.
- Middle: $60-110. Two sit-down meals at the $20-40-a-head places the trip pages name, plus a drink somewhere with a view.
- Ocean Drive and Key West dining: $120-200 and up. The Ocean Drive terraces add an automatic service charge, usually 18 to 20 percent, so read the menu before you sit down.
The things the trailers make you want
Per person unless stated.
| Activity | Range |
|---|---|
| Airboat on the Tamiami Trail, 30-60 minutes | $25-60 |
| Biscayne Bay cruise from Bayside, about 90 minutes | $30-60 |
| Stiltsville boat trip or a private bay charter | $100-200 |
| Everglades National Park entry, per car, seven days | $30-40 |
| Shark Valley tram | $25-40 (bike rental $15-30) |
| State park entry: Bahia Honda, St. Andrews, Silver Springs, Rainbow Springs | under $10 per car; $2-8 on foot or bike |
| Pigeon Key ferry and tour from Marathon | $10-25 (walking the old bridge is free) |
| Glass-bottom boat at Silver Springs | $15-30 plus park entry |
| Wynwood Walls admission | $10-20 (the streets around it are free) |
Three worked budgets
Per person, two sharing a room, flights excluded. Careful means an off-beach room, counter food and the free versions of things. Comfortable means a beach or Old Town hotel in season, restaurants and the paid tours.
3 days: Vice City only
Follows Three days in Vice City. No car.
| Line | Careful | Comfortable |
|---|---|---|
| Room (your half) | $60-100 | $140-220 |
| Getting around | $10-25 | $25-45 |
| Food | $35-60 | $80-130 |
| Activities (averaged) | $15-30 | $50-90 |
| Per day | $120-215 | $295-485 |
| Three days | $360-650 | $900-1,450 |
Careful sleeps in Mid-Beach or on the mainland and takes the bay cruise. Comfortable sleeps on South Beach and adds Stiltsville and a night in the clubs. The trip page’s $200-400 a day sits between them.
5 days: Vice City and the Keys
Two nights in Miami, then the Keys road trip: Islamorada, Key West and back. Car for the three Keys days.
| Line | Careful | Comfortable |
|---|---|---|
| Room (your half) | $80-130 | $130-220 |
| Car, fuel, tolls, parking (averaged) | $25-45 | $35-60 |
| Food | $35-60 | $80-130 |
| Activities (averaged) | $15-35 | $35-70 |
| Per day | $155-270 | $280-480 |
| Five days | $775-1,350 | $1,400-2,400 |
Careful stays in Marathon or Big Pine instead of Key West and walks the old bridge. Comfortable takes the backcountry boat and a reef trip.
7 days: adding the Everglades and a day inland
The five days above, plus a day in Grassrivers and a day through the cane fields to Clewiston, the Ambrosia half of the Mount Kalaga loop. Car for five days in the careful column, all week in the comfortable one.
| Line | Careful | Comfortable |
|---|---|---|
| Room (your half) | $75-125 | $120-200 |
| Car, fuel, tolls, parking (averaged) | $30-55 | $50-85 |
| Food | $35-60 | $80-130 |
| Activities (averaged) | $15-35 | $30-70 |
| Per day | $155-275 | $280-485 |
| Seven days | $1,100-1,950 | $1,950-3,400 |
The two added days are the cheapest of the week: the Everglades day lands at $100-200 all in, and the inland day is fuel and lunch. A Port Gellhorn weekend is a separate trip, nearly 600 miles from Miami, and cheaper than any of the above at $150-300 a day.
Where the money goes wrong
Season. Christmas week, Art Deco Weekend in January, Miami Music Week in March and spring break can double a room. Panama City Beach in March is spring break itself.
Resort fees. Many Miami Beach hotels add a mandatory daily fee, typically $20-50, that is not in the headline rate. Ask before you book.
Parking. A car you never drive on South Beach still costs $30-60 a night to park. Three nights of valet is a bay cruise for two.
Tolls. With some rental companies, one toll switches the transponder fee on for every remaining day of the rental, whether you pay another toll or not. Read the program’s terms at the counter, and ask whether you can opt out.
Ocean Drive. Dinner on a terrace with the service charge and a drink is $80-150 a head. Walk it after 10pm for free and eat a block back.
Where to save without losing the trip
The Everglades are nearly free: the Big Cypress boardwalks cost nothing, the Ochopee post office costs a stamp, and Shark Valley on a rented bike is $30-50 a head with your share of the park entry. The sugar belt costs fuel. The old Seven Mile Bridge walk is free, and it is the view. State parks are under $10 a car and have the best beaches in the Keys and the Panhandle. Stay off the beach and drive or ride in (Mid-Beach, the mainland, Marathon instead of Key West) and it is the same trip at half the lodging. Eat at counters at lunch and sit down for dinner. Go in May or early June, when the beach is quieter and cheaper and the water is already warm.
A note on our links
Some booking and tour links on this site are affiliate links, as our disclosure explains. Book through one and we may earn a commission; you pay the same as booking direct. The ranges above do not depend on where you book, and nothing here is a nudge to book: the cheapest version of most of these days needs no booking at all.
Updated September 21, 2026. All guides