Key West RV Trip
Reviewed by Ben Kiser, RV rental operator and fleet consultant.
Key West by RV: a site on Stock Island or just up the road, Duval Street by evening. The RV stays at the campground, so the choice is a towable whose tow vehicle drives you into town, or a motorhome plus a car. The towable is cheaper only if you tow it yourself.
How this trip works
People rent an RV for Key West to have a base at the end of the road. The base works. The RV just stays at it, so you need a second set of wheels for town, and the two ways to get them cost very different amounts.
Tow it yourself and the trailer wins. The median travel trailer that can reach the Keys rents for $110 a day, $770 for a week. Unhitch at the site and your own truck is the car for Duval Street. A median Class C is $256 a day, $1,792 for the week, and you still need a car on top.
Have the trailer delivered and the sum changes. Key West is 137 road miles from the Princeton rental lots, the nearest mainland pickup. At the median $4.00 a mile that is $548 one way and $1,096 both ways. Counted both ways, the delivered trailer week comes to $1,866, more than the Class C week before its car. Most hosts keep their RVs further north in Miami, so the real fee is the host's quote. Ask whether it runs one way or both before you compare.
Supply leans the same way. Of the 43 listings whose hosts can reach Key West, 23 are travel trailers and 6 are Class C.
Key West keeps RVs off its streets. City code bars any RV, or RV and car together, over 20 ft long or 7 ft wide from parking on any street, occupied or not. Nobody may sleep in a vehicle on any public street, lot or park. The city's own parking page lets oversized vehicles use designated lots by day, never overnight.
The median RV that can reach the Keys is 30 ft, 10 ft over that limit before anything is hitched to it. So the RV sleeps at a campground. At Bluewater Key the park bars driving the RV at all once you have checked in, Class B excepted.
Worked out from the published rules
The fact that decides it
- What the source says
- Key West Code Sec. 70-462 bars any RV, or RV and motor vehicle combination, over 20 ft long from parking on any city street, so the RV stays at the campground and town needs another vehicle. Among RVs that can reach the Keys, the median travel trailer rents for $110 a day and the median Class C for $256. Hosts who price delivery charge a median $4.00 a mile, and Key West is 137 road miles from the Princeton rental lots.
- What to do about it
- Towed by your own truck, a trailer week is $770 and the truck is your car for town. Delivered and counted both ways, it is $1,866, above a $1,792 Class C week. Ask the host whether delivery runs one way or both before you pick the towable on its day rate.
- If you do not
- $1,096 of delivery you did not count, or a motorhome with no car, parked at the campground all week.
What the RV gets you here
- A full-hookup base at the bottom of the Keys: Boyd's at MM 5 on Stock Island, Leo's on Suncrest Road, Geiger Key at MM 10, Bluewater at MM 14.
- Boyd's rents its own RVs already set up on site, if you would rather not move one at all.
- A tow vehicle that is also your car for Duval Street, Mallory Square and the beaches.
What to rent for this trip
Travel Trailer
A travel trailer is the RV most Keys renters never tow. The host brings it down US-1 to your site and takes it away again, and you keep your own car for the run into town. It is also the cheapest way to stay in an RV here, around $110 a night in the middle of the market.
Fifth Wheel
A fifth wheel is the big towable with a raised bedroom over the hitch, built for a family that wants room to spread out on one site for a week or more. In the Keys there is almost no choice: one is listed, at $160 a night.
Class C RV
A Class C is the motorhome with a bed over the cab, the usual pick for a family of four to six who want a bathroom and a kitchen in something that drives like a big van. 20 can serve the Keys, from $165 to $399 a night.
Before you book
- 1Book the site before the RV. Leo's opens its winter season after April 1, and Boyd's may require weekly stays from October 15 to April 30.
- 2Leo's measures length with bumpers and bike or motorcycle racks included, and caps it at 42 ft.
- 3Boyd's allows one camping unit and one vehicle per site, and lists a $50 charge for double and triple axle trailers on its rate sheet.
- 4Bluewater Key admits RVIA-certified RVs only, refuses late arrivals, and closes check-in at 5 p.m. Monday to Saturday, 4 p.m. on Sunday.
- 5Over Christmas, New Year's and Fantasy Fest, Boyd's sets a 4-night minimum.
Questions people ask
Can I drive an RV around Key West?
You can drive one in, but you cannot park it on a city street if it is over 20 ft long or 7 ft wide, counting anything it tows. The city lets oversized vehicles use designated lots by day only, and never overnight. Most visitors leave the RV at the campground and go into town by car.
Can I sleep in my RV in Key West?
Only at a campground. Key West Code Sec. 70-130 makes it unlawful to lodge in any vehicle on a public street, park, right of way, parking lot or other public property in the city, and Sec. 70-463 bans overnight parking in public lots.
Which RV parks are closest to Key West?
Boyd's Key West Campground at MM 5 on Stock Island, and Leo's Campground on Suncrest Road in Key West. Further up, Geiger Key Marina RV Park sits at MM 10 and Bluewater Key RV Resort at MM 14. Delivered rentals are not addressed by any of them, so ask the office before you book the RV.
Is a towable or a motorhome better for Key West?
A towable, if you already drive a vehicle that can pull it. You unhitch at the site and drive the tow vehicle into town. A motorhome stays at the campground unless you bring a car as well, and Bluewater Key bars driving the RV once checked in.
Site booked? Now pick the RV
Choose from RVs whose hosts can reach the Keys. The rate, the delivery fee and the cancellation policy are on each listing.