One day 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

      Head north towards Sunrise Boulevard and beyond for more space; the stretch near Las Olas is the busiest. Allow Half a day.

   3. Late morning

      Jungle Queen Riverboat

      Choose the shorter sightseeing cruise for children; the evening dinner cruise is longer. Allow 1.5–4 hours.

   4. Lunch

      Lunch: Stone crab claws

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

   5. Afternoon

      Bonnet House Museum and Gardens

      Take the guided house tour, then walk the nature trails; it is a cool, shaded break from the beach across the road. Allow 2 hours.

   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.

Before you go

If it rains

• Swap in Museum of Discovery and Science (Las Olas and Downtown): Use it as your rainy-afternoon or hottest-hour plan; it is on the Riverwalk next to a Water Taxi stop.
• Swap in NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale (Las Olas and Downtown): Combine it with lunch on Las Olas, two minutes' walk away.
• 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

Pace and daylight

The sights in this plan add up to roughly 9–13 hours of visiting over one day, before meals and getting between them. Daylight runs from about 10.5 hours in December to 13.8 hours in June.

Getting between stops: Boat. The Water Taxi runs hop-on, hop-off routes along the New River and the Intracoastal between downtown, Las Olas, the beach hotels and other stops, doubling as a sightseeing tour.

More or fewer days

• 2 days in Fort Lauderdale
• 3 days in Fort Lauderdale
• 5 days in Fort Lauderdale

Questions travellers ask