To see the intricate network of waterways and islands lined with stately homes that gives this town the nickname "Venice of America," you can hit the water with several local cruise companies: Carrie B. You can of course tour Fort Lauderdale both via terra firma and water we especially recommend the latter. Hollywood, meanwhile, boasts the glitzy new Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. Other must-see attractions include the mammoth Sawgrass Mills and the natural Everglades/Big Cypress Seminole Reservation. Most of the attractions, along with the Intracoastal islands and canals, are concentrated in a core area east of Interstate 95, but if you're a golfer, for example, you may find yourself teeing off in towns such as Dania, Hollywood, and Pembroke Pines to the south Plantation, Sunrise and Lauderhill to the west and Pompano Beach, Coconut Creek, and Coral Springs to the north. The 33-square-mile city of Fort Lauderdale proper is the central element of a Broward County patchwork of 31 municipalities sprawled across 1200 square miles, extending from Hallandale and Miramar along the Miami-Dade County line northward to Deerfield, abutting Palm Beach County (specifically, Boca Raton). Shorter stays are doable without your own wheels, but if you're coming for a stay of five to seven days, a rental car will be a must to get out to attractions like Sawgrass Mills, the Everglades, Butterfly World, area golf courses, Baltimore Orioles spring training, and more. 7th Street besides sea and sand, this includes much of the best shopping and dining as well as some historic homes, a nature preserve, and the museum district.
If you have three days, you'll be more than entertained within the "backwards L" extending down Route A1A along the strip of beachfront from Sunrise Boulevard to East Las Olas Boulevard, then westward along Las Olas to "Sailboat Bend" around S.W. In many ways, Fort Lauderdale could be called Florida's premier "city of the future" – but we highly recommend you come enjoy it now. Meanwhile, also in Broward and just south of Lauderdale proper, Port Everglades provides a haven for the ever-increasing numbers of colossal cruise ships (indeed, if a Caribbean cruise is in the offing, you may well find yourself passing through this area anyway), and the cities of Hollywood and Dania also contribute nicely to the area's outdoorsy allures. The lodging experience ranges from some holdover mom-and-pops to gigantic resort spreads, with a sprinkling of upscale bed-and-breakfasts and a pool of small, fine-quality gay resorts outclassed only by Palm Springs and perhaps Provincetown. Besides some 23 miles of seashore, you'll find something like 300 miles worth of canals (one of Lauderdale's monikers is "America's Venice"), the Intracoastal Waterway (much of it lined with the fancy mansions of "Millionaires Row" and plied by everything from jet skis to monster yachts), and of course the mighty "river of grass," the Everglades. But Lauderdale's appeal to vacationers is undeniable, starting with a beautiful new beach promenade and strand of sand which we in some ways prefer to that of Miami Beach, continuing with some irresistible shopping (two highlights are the lovely, walkable Las Olas shopping district and the gargantuan, growing Sawgrass Mills mall) historic Old South homes superb international dining a surprisingly sophisticated arts and museum scene and one of America's top gay and lesbian scenes.Īnd then there's water, lots and lots of it. In the 21st century, it has come of age as a booming, revitalized business and vacation magnet, one of the fastest-growing in America in fact, Fort Lauderdale and other Broward communities, already largely awash in suburban tracts and strip-mall sprawl, continue to grow so fast that parts of them are threatening to turn into "condo canyons" to match its increasingly high-rise downtown. Since the 1990s, though, spring-break madness has largely become a thing of the past in Fort Lauderdale and popular surrounding parts of Broward County, as changing tastes and municipal and business efforts both expanded and raised the level of offerings.