The Vice City IRL road trip: 7 days, Miami to the Keys to the Gulf, beach by beach

Quick answer: what does the 7-day Vice City loop look like?

Days 1–2 in Miami for Vice City itself; days 3–4 driving the Overseas Highway down to Key West and back up to a Keys base; days 5–6 crossing to the Gulf coast (Naples/Marco or up to Sarasota) for the clear, calm water; day 7 back to Miami to fly out. It is a loop, not an out-and-back, so you rarely repeat a road, and it samples all three real regions behind the game.

If you have fewer days, cut the Gulf leg first (it is the longest detour) and keep Miami plus the Keys. If you have more, add the Space Coast (Cocoa Beach, Cape Canaveral) on the Atlantic side for a rocket launch.

Days 1–2: Miami (Vice City)

Base in or near Miami Beach. Day 1 is the classic Vice City day: a morning swim on Key Biscayne (Bill Baggs or Crandon, the calm local water), the art-deco strip along Ocean Drive in the late afternoon, and the neon at dusk. Day 2 goes wider — Wynwood's murals, Little Havana's Calle Ocho, and the downtown skyline from the Rickenbacker Causeway at night. Atlantic water here is 26–29 °C in summer, rarely below 22 °C in winter.

Practical notes: do not drive to South Beach (use the free trolley or rideshare); treat the summer UV index of 9–11 as the main hazard; and if it is the rainy season, plan beach mornings before the afternoon storm.

• Day 1: Key Biscayne swim + Ocean Drive art-deco + dusk neon.
• Day 2: Wynwood, Little Havana, downtown skyline from the Rickenbacker Causeway.
• Skip the car for South Beach; the free Miami Beach Trolley is easier.

Days 3–4: the Overseas Highway to Key West (Leonida Keys)

Day 3, drive south down US-1 onto the Overseas Highway. Stop at John Pennekamp in Key Largo for a reef snorkel, Anne's Beach in Islamorada for a wade, and — the essential one — Bahia Honda State Park, which has the best natural beach in the entire Keys. Cross the Seven Mile Bridge and reach Key West by evening for the Mallory Square sunset. Day 4 is Key West itself: Fort Zachary Taylor for the best local beach, a reef snorkel trip or the Dry Tortugas day-trip if you have booked it, and Duval Street.

The drive is 113 miles across 42 bridges — 3.5–4 hours without stops, a full day with them. Book Key West accommodation well ahead; the island is small and sells out, especially in the winter high season.

Days 5–6: across to the Gulf coast (Port Gellhorn territory)

Drive back up the Keys and cross the state to the Gulf coast — the clear, calm, white-sand water that is the opposite of the Atlantic. The efficient target from the Keys is the southwest Gulf: Naples and Marco Island (calm, upscale, with Everglades access) about 2.5–3 hours from Miami across Alligator Alley (I-75). With more time, continue north to Sarasota for Siesta Key's famous quartz sand, or to Sanibel for world-class shelling.

Day 5 is the crossing and an afternoon Gulf swim; day 6 is a full Gulf beach day plus, if you are near Naples/Marco, a Ten Thousand Islands or Everglades boat trip. Gulf water is warmest April–October (mid-to-high 20s °C) and cooler in winter.

Day 7: back to Miami

Drive back to Miami to fly out — about 2 hours from Naples across Alligator Alley, longer from Sarasota. If your flight is late, squeeze in a final Miami beach morning or the Everglades' eastern entrance (Shark Valley) on the way in, which sits right on the cross-state route. Returning the car to the same Miami airport you collected it from avoids the hefty one-way drop fee that a Miami-out, Tampa-in routing would incur.

That symmetry — fly into Miami, loop, fly out of Miami — is what keeps the trip's logistics and cost simple, and it is why the loop beats a point-to-point route.

Season, cost and packing

November is the sweet spot for a launch-timed trip: Atlantic water still 24–26 °C, the Gulf still swimmable, crowds thinned after summer, and Atlantic hurricane season ending on 30 November. Summer brings the warmest Gulf water but peak heat, afternoon storms and hurricane risk (peaking August–September). Winter is dry and pleasant but the Gulf leg cools into the low 20s °C.

Budget-wise, the Keys are the priciest leg (limited rooms), Miami the second, and the Gulf towns cheaper (except upscale Naples). Pack reef-safe sunscreen (required in some Keys areas), a mask for the reef and springs, and layers for cooler winter Gulf evenings. Above all, book the Keys nights first — they are the constraint the whole loop plans around.

A note on the game reference (disclaimer)

BeachFinder is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to Rockstar Games or Take-Two Interactive. Grand Theft Auto VI is a trademark of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. This is an independent travel guide to the real-world places that inspired the game's fictional Leonida setting.

Every location described here is a real, publicly accessible Florida place, and all game references rely only on publicly confirmed information (official trailers and Rockstar's own website). Game details appear solely as cultural context to help visitors plan a real trip; the practical facts — water temperatures, distances, seasons, prices, access — are real-world travel information.