Explore Local Key West Attractions: We're Near the Hemingway House, Southernmost Point & More
Key West is a small island, but there are plenty of attractions to visit during your stay at the Gardens Hotel Key West. Whether you're a history buff interested in visiting all the local museums or you want to spend your time walking through beautiful gardens, Key West has something for everyone. Be sure to stop by famous tourist spots like the Southernmost Point and Mile Marker 0, but also make time to explore attractions that are just steps away like the Hemingway House and the Key West Aquarium. Our hotel is located conveniently close to all these attractions and many more. Just ask our helpful staff for suggestions on the best things to do.
The Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum, 1000 steps
Experience how famous author Ernest Hemingway lived during his Key West days at the Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum. The house was the first on the island to be fitted with indoor plumbing, to have an upstairs bathroom with running water and to have a swimming pool. Prominent features you’ll see during a tour of the beautiful home and gardens include the dining room's Murano glass chandelier, Hemingway's upstairs book collection, his second-floor writing studio and a few six- and seven-toed cats that are descendants of the original cats Hemingway owned during his time there.
Key West Lighthouse & Keeper's Quarters, 1100 steps
Standing 65' tall, the Key West Lighthouse was built to ensure the safe arrival of vessels navigating the waters off the Florida Keys. Erected in 1843, it features 15 lamps in 15" reflectors and is 88 steps to the top—well worth the effort to enjoy a beautiful view of the surrounding area. Visit the Lighthouse & Keeper's Quarters Museum to learn about it and the previous lighthouse Keepers, the first of which was a woman, nearly unheard of in the 19th Century.
Voted #1 Key West Attraction by People's Choice Awards, the Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory is home to 50-60 different species of live butterflies from around the world. Walk through a magical, inviting environment filled with hundreds of these beautiful winged creatures, as well as an impressive collection of flowering plants, more than 20 exotic birds, cascading waterfalls and trees.
No visit to Key West is complete without a trip to the Southernmost Point Buoy, located at the corner of South and Whitehead Streets. Grab your picture with the brightly painted concrete buoy that marks one of the extreme points of the U.S. You can even see what's happening right now at the buoy with the Southernmost Webcam, live from Key West!
Additional Nearby Attractions:
- Mile Marker 0, 0.3 mile
- Key West Cemetery, 0.3 mile
- Oldest House & Garden Museum, 0.4 mile
- USCGC Ingham Maritime Museum, 0.5 mile
- Harry S. Truman Little White House, 0.5 mile
- Florida Keys Eco-Discovery Center, 0.5 mile
- Ripley's Believe It or Not!, 0.6 mile
- Audubon House & Tropical Gardens, 0.6 mile
- Mel Fisher Maritime Museum, 0.6 mile
- Custom House, 0.6 mile
- Key West Museum of Art & History, 0.6 mile
- Key West Shipwreck Museum, 0.6 mile
- Dry Tortugas Museum, 0.6 mile
- Mallory Square, 0.7 mile
- Waterfront Playhouse, 0.7 mile
- Key West Aquarium, 0.7 mile
- Tortugas National Park, 0.7 mile (ferry to the island, which is 70 miles away. 2 weeks or more advance booking is recommended)
- Cannery Museum, 0.7 mile
- Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park, 0.8 mile
- Key West Garden Club / West Martello Tower, 1.3 miles
- Sonny McCoy Indigenous Park, 1.5 miles
- Key West Wildlife Center, 1.6 miles
- Fort East Martello, 3.6 miles
- The Key West Tropical Forest & Botanical Garden, 4 miles
- Aids Memorial, 1.5 miles
- Key West Veterans Memorial at Bayview Park, 1 mile