Why go
Miami, Jacksonville, the Panhandle and Key West occupy very different parts of Florida's outline. Grouping them by region gives a clearer starting point than treating every attraction as nearby. The Atlantic coast, Gulf coast and Keys also face different bodies of water, making geographic orientation useful before choosing bases or linking coastal stops.
The full story
Florida projects southeast from the continental United States, bordered by the Atlantic to the east and the Gulf of Mexico to the west. Georgia and Alabama meet its northern edge. The Panhandle extends west from the peninsula, while the Florida Keys continue south and then west toward Key West. The Keys form a chain of islands connected by bridges, so a journey along them follows a narrow corridor rather than a mainland grid. Key Largo and Key West belong to the same island chain but occupy different ends of a substantial trip. The Panhandle creates another distinct region instead of simply continuing the Atlantic coast. Beneath the peninsula lies the broader Florida Platform, much of it underwater. Porous limestone helps explain its groundwater and surface features. Together, the state outline and this underlying structure account for a landscape organized around coasts, islands and water rather than high mountains.