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Old Town Trolley vs City View Trolley


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I booked the Conch Train Tour with Celebrity but I see now they also offer Old Town Trolley which is best? Are both a HOHO? It seems I read some negative things about the Conch Tour but can't seem to find it now. Should I switch to OTT? Both Conch and Old Town are $25.

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  • 2 months later...

My husband and I will be renting a car post cruise in December and traveling for the day to Key West from Miami. It looks like we should take the City Tour, buy our tickets online thru Groupon . Thanks for this great info. My next questions is...

Where would be the best place to park our rental car when we get to Key West?

Looking forward to your sound advice:):)

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My husband and I will be renting a car post cruise in December and traveling for the day to Key West from Miami. It looks like we should take the City Tour, buy our tickets online thru Groupon . Thanks for this great info. My next questions is...

Where would be the best place to park our rental car when we get to Key West?

Looking forward to your sound advice:):)

 

My advise is that Key West is too far for a daytrip. It is 3.5-4 hours from Miami with no stops or traffic. Now that the drive has become so popular, you are likely to see backups. Last week it took me 3.5 hours to get to Key Largo from here (usually 2 hours.) In my opinion, you should come when you can spend a couple nights and take your time on the drive seeing the Keys and Key West. Daytrips here are pretty miserable.

 

If you come anyway, there is a public parking lot at 300 Grinnell Street that is easy and convenient.

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Thanks everyone! After reading more, we have decided to stay for 3 days:)

I took locals advise from previous posts and we are staying at La Te Da! Thanks so much for your recommendations. Some were even years ago haha!!

 

Great decision!

 

You will not regret your stay at LaTeDa. Their staff excels at all levels and will make your visit something to remember.

 

Mike:)

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You can buy tickets for any of the 3 HOHO for $19.99 per person from the Carnival excursions page. I think we are doing the City one, the Old Town looks like it goes way out of the way to hotels across town which I think would be a waste of time. If someone has been on the Old Town Trolley, please let me know if there are any sites across town that are interesting that we would be missing by taking the City Trolley.

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  • 2 months later...

Just to update this thread: there's a new free bus/trolley called Duval Loop. It goes within two blocks of most of the places tourists usually want to visit - Butterfly House, Southernmost Buoy, Duval, Hemmingway House, Lighthouse, Cemetery, museums, pier B where many cruise ships dock, etc. Just google Duval Loop Key West and you'll find it. Just keep in mind that I don't think there's any narration on what you'll see, so if you want that, the various trolleys are probably best. Also, if you want to visit the new part of Key West, you'll need to take one of the trolleys/trains. But back to Duval Loop: On the map on their website, you'll see the dates the bus runs (for example, starting in December, daily), times, frequency, and stops. Between a look at the info on the Conch Train/Old Town Trolley website and a look at the Duval Loop map, you can figure out which stops might interest you. If you want to visit attractions that are not really close to the loop (for example, Fort Zachary and the beach below there) you can determine closest stop and then walk from there.

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  • 1 month later...
Just to update this thread: there's a new free bus/trolley called Duval Loop. It goes within two blocks of most of the places tourists usually want to visit - Butterfly House, Southernmost Buoy, Duval, Hemmingway House, Lighthouse, Cemetery, museums, pier B where many cruise ships dock, etc. Just google Duval Loop Key West and you'll find it. Just keep in mind that I don't think there's any narration on what you'll see, so if you want that, the various trolleys are probably best. Also, if you want to visit the new part of Key West, you'll need to take one of the trolleys/trains. But back to Duval Loop: On the map on their website, you'll see the dates the bus runs (for example, starting in December, daily), times, frequency, and stops. Between a look at the info on the Conch Train/Old Town Trolley website and a look at the Duval Loop map, you can figure out which stops might interest you. If you want to visit attractions that are not really close to the loop (for example, Fort Zachary and the beach below there) you can determine closest stop and then walk from there.

Thank you!!

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Thank you!!

You're welcome. I took it a couple weeks ago. We docked at what I think is pier B, which is close to Front Street. If you dock at the pier that's attached to the naval area (where many very large ships dock) you may have to walk a bit more to get the bus - not sure. To find a stop, I didn't really use a map at first, but wandered past the Truman Winter White House area. Then I pulled out my Duval Loop map (found onliine), and found the stop near the post office. Stop was marked with a sign. I sat on the concrete ledge near there to wait. It was before 10 AM, so I had to wait almost the whole half hour before the bus came. (They're more frequent later.) If you're at same point I was, you may see a few "trains" and whatnot come, but look for an actual bus - blue, I think. The driver was very helpful, so if you want to get off near a particular stop, just tell him/her. Mine didn't announce many stops, or give any commentary like the paid tours do, but the driver was certainly very willing to help find what you wanted to see if you asked! There's one place where there is a sign indicating a particular stop that is NOT correct. Some of us noticed, and driver told us hurricane tore down some of the signs and one was not put up at the right place! If you want off, pull the cord.

 

I made the full circle once, then stayed on until the driver told me where to get off for the Butterfly Conservatory. It was less than a block away from the stop, within view. After that, I got back on the bus and went to see the cemetery where there are tombstones like "I Told You I Was Sick." It's maybe a two block walk from the closest Duval Loop, but there's only one entrance open, so make sure you know where that is if you're interested in going. There was a small box of cemetery maps near the entrance. When done, I got a little confused trying to go back to the bus, but eventually found where I needed to go after almost reaching the coast guard station (which was pretty off track). I'm really bad with directions and maps, so probably most people will navigate this a lot better than I did! I ended up just walking back to the ship rather than taking the bus back. However, most people will probably want to take the bus back - just ask the driver to drop you off at the stop closest to where your ship is docked.

 

There was a stack of tear-off maps of the historic area of Key West on the bus, sitting on top of a place where parcels or bags can be placed. I found it to be better than the maps I had, and it has the stops marked as well. Ask the driver if you don't see it.

 

Our cruise line offered a free tour on one of the paid tours of the city. I forget which company it was, but it was NOT a train. After touring the historic area it went out to the newer parts of Key West - mildly interesting, but no big deal. It did pass a decent beach, however, so if you want that, it might be worth using that particular company - IF, of course, you can hop on hop off. Our tour didn't allow any stops, but perhaps that was just because the cruise line had purchased it for all of us. We got on and off near the Custom House, big World War II (I think) kissing couple statue, shipwreck museum and tons of vendors.

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