For a fascinating glimpse into Key West's complicated history, pay a visit to this popular museum near the waterfront. It's best known for its collection of gold coins, rare jewels and other treasures scavenged from Spanish galleons by Mel Fisher and crew. More thought-provoking is the exhibition devoted to the slave trade, with artifacts from the wreck of the Henrietta Marie, a merchant slave ship that sank in 1700.
Mel Fisher Maritime Museum
Key West
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
Museum of Art & History at the Custom House
0.03 MILES
This excellent museum, set in a grand 1891 red-brick building that once served as the Customs House, covers Key West's history. Highlights are the…
0.15 MILES
Take all those energies, subcultures and oddities of Keys life and focus them into one torchlit, family-friendly (but playfully edgy), sunset-enriched…
-
Nancy Forrester’s Secret Garden
0.4 MILES
Nancy, an environmental artist and fixture of the Keys community, invites you into her backyard oasis where chatty rescued parrots and macaws await…
18.86 MILES
Dry Tortugas National Park is America's most inaccessible national park. Reachable only by boat or seaplane, it rewards you for your effort in getting…
Fort Zachary Taylor State Park
0.77 MILES
‘America’s Southernmost State Park’ is home to an impressive fort, built in the mid-1800s that played roles in the American Civil War and in the Spanish…
0.72 MILES
A darkly alluring Gothic labyrinth beckons at the center of this pastel town. Built in 1847, the cemetery crowns Solares Hill, the highest point on the…
Fort East Martello Museum & Gardens
3.27 MILES
This old fortress was built to resemble an old Italian Martello-style coastal watchtower (hence the name), a design that quickly became obsolete with the…
0.61 MILES
Key West’s biggest darling, Ernest Hemingway, lived in this gorgeous Spanish Colonial house from 1931 to 1940. Papa moved here in his early 1930s with his…
Nearby Key West attractions
1. Museum of Art & History at the Custom House
0.03 MILES
This excellent museum, set in a grand 1891 red-brick building that once served as the Customs House, covers Key West's history. Highlights are the…
0.15 MILES
This is where President Harry S Truman used to vacation when he wasn’t molding post-WWII geopolitics. It's beautifully preserved and open only for guided…
0.15 MILES
Take all those energies, subcultures and oddities of Keys life and focus them into one torchlit, family-friendly (but playfully edgy), sunset-enriched…
0.22 MILES
Opened in 2013 by a kitesurfing pioneer, this distillery makes some mighty fine rums, which are made with Florida sugarcane and infused with coconut,…
0.22 MILES
This former hotel (known as the Trev-Mor), built in 1919, was where Hemingway and Pauline first stayed after returning from Paris in 1928.
0.24 MILES
This nonprofit showcases about a dozen artists’ studios in a three-story space, and hosts some of the best art openings in Key West on the first Thursday…
0.25 MILES
Displaying work by more than three dozen artists, this is one of Key West's best art galleries. The collection focuses on artists in Southern Florida or…
0.31 MILES
Founded in 1871 by Cuban exiles, the San Carlos is a gorgeous building constructed in classical Spanish mission style. The current structure dates from…