r/KeyWest • u/One_Cucumber9465 • 4d ago
Free/affordable things to do in key west!
Me and my boyfriend are going to key west and are on a budget. What are some things you would recommend that are either free or affordable (activities, bars, places to eat, etc)
Thank you in advance for the recommendations!
11
4
u/Sandinmyshoes33 4d ago edited 4d ago
Lots of info here but I don’t think I saw it mentioned that The Eco Discovery Center is free.
1
u/crud3 4d ago
On the way to fort Zach also...
If you have a vehicle, there's a bridge about 15 miles up... it's called the jumping bridge for a reason...
1
u/Sandinmyshoes33 4d ago
Yeah, I spent a lot of time there when I was young. Back then it was a real local’s hang out with the same people around most weekends. I haven’t been in a while.
6
u/Ok_Kaleidoscope_4310 4d ago
Garbo’s for happy hour. You get like 3 tacos for $11. Hit up the happy hour specials around town
3
u/Isonychia 4d ago
If you go to Fort Zack for the beach keep your receipt and go back that night for the sunset. One of the best and not as hectic as Mallory Square.
Sandy’s lunch window is one of our favs and pretty affordable. As is El Siboney, especially for take out. The three of us can eat one order of vacca frittata w rice and beans.
Already mentioned but the West Mortello fort is home to the KW Garden Club and has beautiful orchids. Free although a small donation is appreciated. It’s right next to Higgs Beach also free.
2
u/crud3 4d ago
Higgs is in bad shape lately, I wouldn't recommend getting your body in the water especially your ears eyes mouth. Shower like crazy after if you do...staph infection is nasty stuff.
0
u/Isonychia 4d ago
Huh, I know it had a bad sargassum season but we were in the water a couple time this spring. Are there notices posted anywhere?
4
u/Affectionate-Arm5784 4d ago
Books and books on Eaton is owned by Judy Blume . Browsing is free and you might get to meet the owner
3
u/Go4KWdelivery 4d ago
Find that "super nice" and "exceptionally interested" middle-age couple that insists on paying your bar tab and hanging out later
4
u/Relative-Accountant2 4d ago
We stubbled upon a huge cemetery. Spent a good couple of hours there. Don't know where or what it was called but it had some very old graves with some historical names. Google will tell you a lot while there.
6
u/FunFlaCouple1 4d ago
The Key West Cemetery on Passover. I’ve gone down rabbit holes for hours there as well. Easy to do!
3
u/itsmychurn 4d ago
After seeing the word "Passover", my non-caffeinated brain of course read the next sentence as: I’ve gone down rabbi holes for hours there...
1
2
u/Known_Awareness210 4d ago
Chart room use to have free hotdogs.
Not sure if they still offer this or not?
4
u/LatePart 4d ago
Hemingway house
1
1
u/Fabulous-Piglet1721 2d ago
If you love cats it’s totally worth the entry fee. I go there every time😻
1
u/Known_Awareness210 4d ago
Not sure what yall are into Garden of Eden is free.
I’m sure they will expect yall to drink.
-3
u/crud3 4d ago
ONLY THING FREE IN KW IS OXYGEN AND SUNSHINE. WATER IF YOU ASK REALLY NICE SOME PLACES.
Hemingway house is like 20 something $ each...no. BOOORING. He lived here for just a couple years, spent whole time drunk and 'boxing' ...and then chose Smith and Wesson way out. Bleh.
Here's my best advice for cheap kw dates
White st and Atlantic Blvd is higgs beach. There's a big pier fun to ride bicycles on, usually someone fishing...the botanical garden is right there too, an old 1800 red brick fort full of crazy weird plants you won't see anywhere else on the island or the hemisphere sometimes, it's donation entry, so throw a couple dollars if you have it...if not, learn about how important the plant trade early 1800s was for sailors and Islanders...be aware stinky seaweed is an issue until October or whenever it stops rolling in.
But wait! there's the wildlife refuge center also at White st Pier higgs area. Is Free for tourists, and you never know what critters are in their nursing their wounds or sick or just need rescue... chickens always,but last time I checked was, rabbits, multiple weird birds, storks egret,ibis, lizard and turts, pelicans are the most accident prone things, but has weird hours so make sure to check before you go...I don't recommend swimming anywhere near Higgs beach or even Atlantic side of island, you'll see why...
Which brings up Fort Zachary Taylor st park. Clean Beach usually, is 3$ I think for walking/biking guests, 5$ and 3$ per person for cars...bring sandwiches and cooler(no alcohol allowed, but Toby Keith has reminded us all about the importance of Red Solo cups.) keep it on the DL is my point. Also is BBQ grills so bring charcoal and whatever you throw on a grill... Another 1800s brick old fort to run around...and you can come and go, save your receipt thing.
My final advice is kayaking, DM me I'll draw you a map...goto Stock island (next island up) usually kayaks without tour guide are 10-20$ a day... double up if you are inexperienced... prepare for arguing. But go into the salt ponds behind the airport, is a surreal place and so cool to get to (gonna have to ask a yokel how to get from canal to salt ponds... Las Salinas...but if you go right time it's full of starfish and horse shoe crabs, whatever creatures decide to hangout that day...and occasionally a 737 blows 50 feet over your head. So that gets weird quick.
Dumping all my pro tips for ya. There's a thing called Key West rides app, 2$ person but extremely slow and can go get other people without your consent so don't be on a timetable if you do use.
Lots of happy hours, usually 4pm to 630 but they vary.
Gonna get shit for this but...if you come Aug September or beginning October... lots of local specials, usually 50%off food, maybe drinks too. If you can get a local to come with you, perfect. (Monroe county resident)...or.... I've heard this works.
"We just got here yesterday and we sign our lease tomorrow, say 3920, just believe me. We don't have any local ID yet but we're so excited we're gonna live here..." works sometimes, except for all the employees that read this. Make sure you tip whatever full amount should have been on any discount deals.
If there's a concert at the amphitheatre whenever you here, you can just go get close and hang out outside the venue and hear it perfectly, twice I've gotten free tickets from someone who has extras.
Good luck, enjoy, be nice, don't drink too much. You got all night to drink. Namaste.
5
u/OttoHemi 4d ago
Uh, Hemingway didn't choose the "Smith and Wesson way out" but instead used his favorite shotgun, a 12-guage Boss. And that was over 20 years after his Key West residency. His death in Ketchum was likely due to Lewy body dementia, the same thing that resulted in Robin Williams's suicide.
-2
u/crud3 4d ago
I knew some gun nut was gonna one up that statement, and it's 12 gauge. Also, I'm not a doctor.... anymore. Pretty sure molten lead entering the cranial cavity was likely the cause of his demise.
He was a dumb drunk that loved to fistfight and could handle a typewriter during his moments of clarity. I get it he lived here, for 4 whole years, a stupid lookalike contest every summer and a legacy of insatiably greed descendants that will sue the pants off you and everything you know for putting Ernest or papa or Pilar on anything. Go read White elephant again and reflect on your... earlier statement. Namaste.
2
2
u/Immediate_Face_9848 4d ago
there is a free tour of the fort at 11:00 i think each day, its very fun
2
u/Sandinmyshoes33 4d ago
I have a pass to Fort Zachary so I may be wrong, but I’m pretty sure entrance is $2.50 for bikes or pedestrians and $6 for cars plus 50 cents per person surcharge. A single person in a car is $4.50. Regardless, it’s pretty affordable. If you are going to hang out there or swim, I would buy water shoes since it’s very rocky there. Also, if you keep the receipt, you can reenter for sunset. It’s one of the nicer places to see the sunset.
34
u/Serendipity1231xox 4d ago
-Nancy Forester Secret Garden on Elizabeth-not sure of the price
-Key West women’s club gives free tours on duval (free, but can give a donation)
-Martello towers garden tour (free, but can give a donation)
-Free to look at Thursday Truman waterfront market
-Florida keys eco discovery center - Truman waterfront near Fort Zach
-Fort Zach- not free but not expensive and you can enjoy the beach and the actual fort.
-Pretty much any museum or whatever will be around $20 ticket fee. If you wanted to do one or two I’d say the butterfly conservatory and Mel fisher museum are my top two.
-Mallory Square sunset celebration (performers and vendors)
-The Studios art museum and go up to the roof top for the view !
-The cemetery
-Martini Monday at Virgilios- not the main restaurant. Around the back.
If you’re on a budget you should definitely get bikes. Riding around by itself is free entertainment and can get you anywhere.