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Travel guide
Fort Lauderdale
4 days · 8 things to do
Best time to go: December to April
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Welcome
Fort Lauderdale, in a few days
A city of canals where yachts are parked in front of the houses the way cars are elsewhere, best explored by water taxi, from one waterside restaurant to the next. On the ocean side, a long beach lined with a wavy white wall, an artists' villa hidden in the dunes and reefs you can swim out to from the sand.
- Day by day
- D1 Day 1 1 thing
- D2 Day 2 2 things
- D3 Day 3 3 things
- D4 Day 4 2 things
- Worth sorting before you go
- Words that help
- The practical page
- Packing checklist
The trip
Day by day
Map of the sights (numbers follow the suggested order). It prints with the base map.
D1
Day 1
1 thing to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Fort Lauderdale Beach free · half a daySeveral kilometres of pale sand behind a wavy white wall and palm-lined promenade, lively at Las Olas and calmer towards Birch park, where sea turtles nest from May to October.
🛏️ Where to sleep · The Westin Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort ↗ · All places to stay by budget →€250 a night
D2
Day 2
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Water Taxi on the canals · half a dayA hop-on, hop-off water bus through the "Venice of America" and its 250 km of canals, linking downtown, Las Olas, the beach and waterside restaurants, with the captain's commentary on villas and superyachts.
- Late afternoon · Bonnet House Museum & Gardens · about 1 h 30An artists' villa built from 1920 on 14 hectares of dune and mangrove, with trompe-l'oeil walls and carved animals, orchid collections and squirrel monkeys living freely in the trees.
🛏️ Where to sleep · The Westin Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort ↗€250 a night
D3
Day 3
3 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Hugh Taylor Birch State Park · 2 to 3 hA coastal forest park between the beach and the Intracoastal, with a freshwater lagoon to follow on foot, by bike or by kayak among mangroves, turtles and iguanas, and a tunnel to the sand.
- Afternoon · Las Olas Boulevard free · 2 to 3 hThe boulevard linking downtown to the beach, lined with shops, galleries and shaded terraces, then crossing the 1920s Las Olas Isles where every house has its dock and often a yacht.
- Late afternoon · Riverwalk and Stranahan House · 2 to 3 hA brick promenade along both banks of the New River downtown, ending at the 1901 Stranahan House, Broward County's oldest building, once a trading post visited by the Seminoles.
🛏️ Where to sleep · The Westin Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort ↗€250 a night
D4
Day 4
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Lauderdale-by-the-Sea reefs free · 2 to 3 hThree lines of coral reef starting about a hundred metres from the sand at the end of Datura Avenue, with a snorkel trail of cannons and an anchor, and the SS Copenhagen wreck offshore.
- Afternoon · Flamingo Gardens · half a dayA 1927 botanical garden on the edge of the Everglades with over 3,000 tropical plant species, a sanctuary for injured Florida wildlife and a walk-through aviary of more than 250 wading birds.
Before you go
Worth sorting before you go
📶 eSIM data
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
🛡️ Travel insurance
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
💳 Fee-free card
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
🚐 Airport transfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
Some links are partner links: we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.
Good to know
Flavours & local habits
🍽️ Worth tasting
- Burgers and barbecue: brisket and ribs cooked low and slow, done differently in every state.
- Clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl: the classic lunch on the San Francisco waterfront.
- Mexican food: tacos from a truck in Los Angeles, a Mission burrito in San Francisco.
- Pancakes and weekend brunch: a national habit, generous to the point of excess.
- Craft beer, and California wine from Napa and Sonoma.
⚠️ Best avoided
- Tipping is not optional: add 15 to 20% in restaurants and bars.
- Prices on menus and in shops exclude sales tax, which is added at the till.
- Do not plan more than four or five hours of driving a day: the distances are larger than they look on the map.
- Never travel without health insurance. A night in hospital can cost thousands of dollars.
- In summer, do not hike down into the Grand Canyon in the heat of the day: the climb back out is where people get into trouble.
Getting by
Words that help
🗣️ English is the main language here, so there is nothing to learn by heart.
The essentials
The practical page
CurrencyUS dollar (USD, $)
BudgetAbout €180 a day, mid-range
Best seasonDecember to April
PlugA/B · 120V
Tap waterSafe to drink
Tipping15 to 20%, expected
Emergency911
EntryUK, Australian and most EU passports need an ESTA, applied for online before departure, for stays of up to 90 days; a few EU countries sit outside the Visa Waiver Program and need a full visa. Canadians need neither, only a passport. Anyone who has been to Cuba since January 2021 cannot use an ESTA and must apply for a visa.
HealthNo vaccination required. Keep tetanus, diphtheria and polio up to date; hepatitis A is worth considering if you eat well off the tourist trail. In the desert parks, the heat is the real risk.
Scan to open this guide online, always up to date.
https://offwegooo.com/en/guides/fort-lauderdale
Don't forget
Packing checklist
Have a good trip.
Guide made on offwegooo.com · Photos via Pexels · Details are indicative, check before you leave.