Fort Lauderdale, with its well-known strip of beaches, restaurants, bars and shops, has undergone a major transformation. Once famous (or infamous) for the annual mayhem it hosted during spring break, the Florida city now attracts a more affluent, better behaved crowd. Its 300 miles of navigable waterways and innumerable canals permit thousands of residents to anchor boats in their backyards. On land, institutions like the Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale and Museum of Discovery & Science give the city cultural resonance.
Things to Do in Fort Lauderdale
Plan to spend at least an afternoon or evening cruising the Fort Lauderdale waterways by water taxi. Stroll the Hollywood Beach Boardwalk for a people-watching parade of young hipsters, big families and skaters and for rows of tacky souvenir shops, game rooms and snack bars. Head to peaceful Fort Lauderdale Beach to sun and swim in the unusually clear waters or hike the nature trails at Lloyd Beach. Get in 18 holes of golf at Emerald Hills or see multicolored sponges on a dive off Pompano Beach.
Shopping in Fort Lauderdale
Bargain hunters bring suitcases to Sawgrass Mills, an outlet mecca west of Fort Lauderdale in Sunrise featuring over 350 stores. Called the antiques capital of the South, Dania Beach’s Antique Row has a collection of galleries and antiques shops, many housed in turn of the 19th century buildings. For upscale boutiques, Las Olas Boulevard, a tree-lined thoroughfare located between Fort Lauderdale Beach and downtown, has a mix of chain and boutique stores as well as art galleries.
Nightlife and Entertainment in Fort Lauderdale
Over the years, Fort Lauderdale has vastly improved the quality of its nightlife by welcoming earthy and sophisticated bars and clubs, especially downtown and on Las Olas Boulevard. Then there’s the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, as well as some less flashy, but still lively casinos. For a quieter night out, consider Hollywood.
Restaurants and Dining in Fort Lauderdale
Fort Lauderdale can finally boast the presence of a number of fine restaurants, and authentic ethnic eateries. They now join the legions of surf-and-turf joints in Pompano Beach and downtown. Las Olas Boulevard, especially, is packed with good eateries, from Caribbean restaurants, to seafood joints, to those that serve sophisticated fusion fare.
Visiting the Rest of Broward County
Even with the shine of Fort Lauderdale, the city’s home county of Broward is still less well known and a lot calmer than highly hyped Miami-Dade County. According to some, it’s much friendlier, too. In fact, a bit of a rivalry exists between residents of both counties. Miamians consider themselves more sophisticated and cosmopolitan than their northern neighbors, who, in turn, dismiss the alleged sophistication as snobbery and actually prefer their own county’s gentler pace.
With more than 23 miles of beachfront and 300 miles of navigable waterways, Broward County is also a great outdoor destination. Scattered amid the shopping malls, condominiums, and tourist traps is a beautiful landscape lined with hundreds of parks, golf courses, tennis courts, and, of course, beaches.
The City of Hallandale Beach is a small, peaceful oceanfront town just north of Miami Dade County’s Aventura. Condos are the predominant landmarks in Hallandale, which is still pretty much a retirement community.
Just north of Hallandale is the more energetic city of Hollywood. A bustling community with a noted arts and culture scene and a walkable downtown, it has a much younger, more bohemian vibe than you’ll find on Fort Lauderdale’s Las Olas Boulevard. A spate of redevelopment has made the pedestrian-friendly center along Hollywood Boulevard and Harrison Street, east of Dixie Highway, a popular destination for travelers and locals alike. Prices are a fraction of those at other tourist areas, but a gritty undercurrent prevents it from becoming too trendy. The behemoth Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, shaped like a giant guitar looms over the city. It opened in 2019, and is illuminated with an LED light show most nights.
