Key West cruises

The southernmost city in continental USA, this is the biggest of the Florida Keys – a chain of islands stretching out into the western Caribbean.

Compact and relaxed, it is a lovely city that is worth exploring. For such a small town, there is a surprising number of museums, including the home of one of Key West's most famous residents, Ernest Hemingway, where he wrote novels in the 1930s. Another is the Little White House, where President Harry S. Truman spent winters during his term in office.

The Aquarium has been open since the 1930s and provides an excellent opportunity to experience the indigenous marine life of the Florida Keys. The Butterfly and Nature Conservatory is worth seeing, as is the quirky Key West Cemetery. Here the tombs are stacked on top of one another, since the rocky ground made it impossible for early settlers to dig graves. It's something of a tradition to have irreverent and funny epitaphs: one of the most famous is "I told you I was sick!"