rental car

we are a family of 4 coming for 5 days in feb. (2 kids, age 11 and 8). i have just looked into rental car rates for all 5 days. it%26#39;s a lot! we are driving in from FLL. i%26#39;m wondering if we need a car in KW? can we walk or take a taxi to most places? i was thinking it might make more sense for us to get the rental for one day, drive in, and drop of in KW. what do you guys think?

rental car

Lots of people do the drive in, drop off with the rental car. If you are staying in old town, you won%26#39;t need a car. There are several places to rent bicycles which may make sense for your family.

rental car

It depends on where you are staying. Some places you can walk everywhere, some places you can bike, and some places you need a car, taxi, or shuttle. Are you staying in Old Town?

Limey

check the drop off fees, we have sometimes found it to be cheaper to keep the car. we also checked with different car companies to find one that doesnt have a drop off fee. ithink budget and if you call direct to the car place enterprise. it is quite a decision, depends on where you stay, what you want to do. you may want to have a bit more leisure on your way to or from key west and stay over in a couple of places like key largo or marathon. there are some great things to see along the way

You can check this link for good rates in Florida: http://www.rentalcarmomma.com/

I think you will find with the kids you will want to keep the car. Taking a cab every time can get even more expensive. I will depend on where you are staying and what you want to do.

A car with kids will give you more freedom and you won%26#39;t be walking home after dinner with a tired and cranky 8 year old.

The down side to a car is where do you park it?

I was about to write ';do two one-way rentals'; and then I see you have two kids. Hmm, that%26#39;s a tough call. There really is no place to park in Key West, I know of a public ramp across the street from the electric utility office. My wife and I usually do the one-way rentals. For late Feb 09, we are driving from FLL airport, $66 for a midsize on the way down and $52 for the return rental. Includes all taxes.

Let us know where you are staying, where you are going, and what you are going to see, THEN and only then can we be certain we are giving you a good answer to your question.

Where will you be staying? If its right in Old Town no need to have a car, UNLESS you are going to do some sight-seeing up the keys.

Do you have free parking where you are staying? Makes a BIG difference.

Will you be sitting at the pool at the hotel and not going anywhere? If you%26#39;ll be using the car every day, AND you are staying far from everything, you%26#39;ll probably end up paying more for taxis that for you to keep the car.

Then again, as was said, parking SUCKS. If you plan to drive 3/4 of a mile, then have to find a place to park. You%26#39;ll be spending more time with the stupid car than you want.

Its hard to give a good answer when we have no specifics about your situation.

For what its worth, I rented my car for my upcoming trip through Hotwire.com, and it was a lot cheaper than the going rate- under $200 for the whole week. we are staying at the BW Hibiscus, so we have a place to park which makes life easier...

If you%26#39;re staying in old town and your children are of healthy walking age.. then i can%26#39;t recomend enough dropping off the car.

I come down about once a year at least... every other trip we seem to drive down and not once have we kept the car... And if you use Alamo/National.. they have shuttles that will take you to your hotel/bandb.

As the others said... some more details can provide a clearer picture.

yes, it also depends if the place you%26#39;re staying has free (and available) parking. Some places (most B%26amp;B%26#39;s) don%26#39;t, so you can spend well over $10/ day just to park the car.

Or if you drive anywhere, like maybe to the Southernmost Point, and then come back your free or street parking space might be gone!

If you%26#39;re coming straight to KW maybe look into a shuttle or bus for FLL and then spend the money you%26#39;ll save on bikes, scooters or those small electric cars they have. A bus ride down might be much nicer and you%26#39;ll be able to enjoy all the wonderful ocean and gulf views.