Ernest Hemingway's Key West Years: Self-Guided Audio Walking Tour

This self-guided audio walk follows Ernest Hemingway's years in Key West, 1928 to 1939, at seven stops. Every stop comes with two to four links to its sources, among them clippings from the Key West Citizen of his years and his own letters. He landed in April 1928 and sailed for Havana on December 24, 1939. The walk opens in your phone's web browser, with no app to install, and each stop is told from the public sidewalk or a public park. At each stop you get a short narration to hear, the same words to read, and two to four links to its sources. The sources include the Key West paper of the day, a letter of his from April 1928 and a federal survey of the house. Where a story comes from a later teller and not from a record of the time, the narration names the teller. The route is about 2.1 miles (3.4 km) on foot. Walking takes about 45 minutes and the narration about 16 minutes. With time at each stop, allow up to 2 hours. It starts at Simonton and Caroline Streets.

1. 1

   Stop 1

   5 min

   On the sidewalk at Simonton and Caroline Streets you hear who Ernest Hemingway was when he landed in Key West in April 1928. The census counted 18,749 people in Key West in 1920 and 12,831 in 1930.

2. 2

   Stop 2

   5 min

   From the sidewalk you look at number 314, where he and his wife Pauline lodged over a Ford dealership in the spring of 1928. A letter he wrote that April says he was working well and wanted to stay until the novel that became A Farewell to Arms was done.

3. 3

   The Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum

   5 min

   From the sidewalk outside the main gate you hear how the house became his: the deed is dated April 29, 1931, and the family moved in that December. Entry is not included, and the museum sells its own tickets at this gate.

4. 4

   Stop 4

   5 min

   At Thomas and Petronia Streets, the corner of the Blue Heaven restaurant, you hear about the boxing arena the town paper placed on this corner in 1938. A Key West fighter won here that June 17, and the next day's paper said Ernest Hemingway was the third man in the ring.

5. 5

   Truman Waterfront Park

   10 min

   On the quay of Truman Waterfront Park you stand at the old Navy Yard basin, where he kept his boat, the Pilar. You hear his own account, printed that month, of going down to her at midnight on the night of the hurricane of September 2, 1935.

6. 6

   Capt. Tony's Saloon

   5 min

   From the sidewalk at 428 Greene Street you look at Captain Tony's Saloon, whose signs date its years as Sloppy Joe's from 1933 to 1937. You hear about Joe Russell, Hemingway's boat captain, who opened a bar on Greene Street when Prohibition ended, and about the raid of January 7, 1937.

7. 7

   Stop 7

   5 min

   The walk ends on the sidewalk at Duval and Greene Streets, across the crossing from Sloppy Joe's Bar. You hear how the town paper announced the bar's grand opening here for Saturday, May 29, 1937, and how Hemingway sailed for Havana on December 24, 1939.

• Service animals allowed
• Public transportation options are available nearby
• Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.