3 days in Fort Lauderdale

Day by day

1. Day 1: Fort Lauderdale Beach and the A1A promenade and Jungle Queen Riverboat

   Fort Lauderdale Beach and the A1A promenade, Jungle Queen Riverboat and Bonnet House Museum and Gardens, then Las Olas Boulevard in the evening.

   1. Breakfast

      Breakfast: Cafecito and pastelitos

   2. Morning

      Fort Lauderdale Beach and the A1A promenade

      The city's main beach runs for several kilometres along A1A, with lifeguard towers, showers and a promenade behind a curving white wave wall.

   3. Late morning

      Jungle Queen Riverboat

      Choose the shorter sightseeing cruise for children; the evening dinner cruise is longer.

   4. Lunch

      Lunch: Stone crab claws

      Seafood restaurants in season, roughly mid-October to early May.

   5. Afternoon

      Bonnet House Museum and Gardens

      Artist Frederic Clay Bartlett built this colourful plantation-style winter home in 1920 on a barrier-island estate between the ocean and the Intracoastal.

   6. Snack

      Snack: Smoked fish dip

   7. Evening

      Las Olas Boulevard

      Walk the boulevard in the early evening, then cross to the Isles for sunset over the canals.

2. Day 2: Water Taxi and Hugh Taylor Birch State Park

   Water Taxi, Hugh Taylor Birch State Park and Riverwalk and Stranahan House, then Fort Lauderdale Beach in the evening.

   1. Morning

      Water Taxi

      Buy a day pass and use it as your transport between the Riverwalk, Las Olas and the beach; sit outside on the upper deck.

   2. Late morning

      Hugh Taylor Birch State Park

      A rare patch of protected coastal hammock and mangroves squeezed between A1A and the Intracoastal Waterway.

   3. Lunch

      Lunch: Grouper or mahi-mahi sandwich

      Beach bars on A1A, marina restaurants and dock-and-dine spots on the Intracoastal.

   4. Afternoon

      Riverwalk and Stranahan House

      Time your walk for a drawbridge opening, when megayachts squeeze up the narrow river.

   5. Snack

      Snack: Conch fritters

   6. Evening

      Fort Lauderdale Beach

      Open-air bars facing the sand on A1A, often with live music, busiest on weekend nights.

3. Day 3: Museum of Discovery and Science and NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale

   Museum of Discovery and Science, NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale and Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson State Park, then Las Olas Boulevard in the evening.

   1. Morning

      Museum of Discovery and Science

      Downtown's science museum has hands-on galleries on the Everglades, the sea and space, a large gravity clock in the atrium and a giant-screen theatre.

   2. Late morning

      NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale

      Combine it with lunch on Las Olas, two minutes' walk away.

   3. Lunch

      Lunch: Jamaican jerk chicken and beef patties

      Family-run Caribbean restaurants and bakeries in Lauderhill and Lauderdale Lakes, west of downtown.

   4. Afternoon

      Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson State Park

      A barrier-island state park with a quiet beach, picnic shelters and mangrove-lined paddling on Whiskey Creek.

   5. Café break

      Café break: Key lime pie

   6. Evening

      Las Olas Boulevard

      Wine bars, cocktail lounges and late restaurants along the main strolling street.

Before you go

If it rains

• Swap in Sawgrass Mills (Sunrise): Pick up a map and plan by section; the mall is far too big to walk end to end in one go.

Where to stay for this itinerary

With 3 nights, Fort Lauderdale Beach keeps most of this route within easy reach. For a calmer or cheaper base, Las Olas and Downtown ($$$) suits couples, food lovers, shopping and first-timers. Compare every area.

Pace and daylight

The sights in this plan add up to roughly 19–28 hours of visiting over 3 days, before meals and getting between them. Daylight runs from about 10.5 hours in December to 13.8 hours in June.

More or fewer days

• One day in Fort Lauderdale
• 2 days in Fort Lauderdale
• 5 days in Fort Lauderdale

Questions travellers ask