Destination: Florida Keys

Where to stay

Many of the islands are well geared-up for tourists and there are plenty of places to stay. You'll find the usual hotels and motels, but if you're travelling as a family you might want to rent a holiday home.

Tranquility Bay in Marathon has 87 purpose-built two and three-bedroom houses, arranged around a central pool and restaurant. All the units have a view of the sea and are comfortably furnished, although the third bedrooms are small and only the master bedroom has an en suite.

Other self-catering options include Dove Creek Lodge at Key Largo where you can rent a one or two-bedroom apartment, either with a full kitchen or with fridge and coffee making facilities. This also has a pool and restaurant attached.

In Key West, you can stay at various guest houses. We stayed at the Old Town Manor which has basic rooms with en suite bathrooms. It's a fairly strange place. Reception is only open between 9am and 6pm and if you should lock yourself out of your room after these times, you?ll be fined $100 to call out a locksmith. They are also strict about breakfast times (from 8.30am until 10am). Requests for a cup of coffee ten minutes earlier than this were met with a 'rules are rules' response, despite obvious activity in the kitchen.

Need to know

From March 2008, foreign visitors to the US will be required to give all ten fingerprints on arrival, which will then be stored on a biometrics database. Since 2004, the Homeland Security Department has been collecting index fingerprints from foreign visitors aged from 14 to 79 and now has 90 million sets of prints on record. It is hoped collecting additional fingerprints will improve security and make it harder for people to travel on forged passports.

Virgin Holidays offer a Miami Flydrive holiday
Seven nights fly drive from £399 per person, includes free car hire. Includes return international flights with Virgin Atlantic from Heathrow direct to Miami, car hire included for the full duration with basic insurance. Prices may be subject to a fuel surcharge and an increase in Air Passenger Duty, prices from 01 Nov - 08 Dec. To book - www.virginholidays.com 0844 5573 860

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