Ft. Lauderdale and surrounding areas, things to do, places to go & people to see

[LuvOrlando]

Contemplating a snowbird lifestyle and with family already living in a very fancy part of North Miami we are poking around in other areas close by but not quite as $$$$$$$$ as the rich and famous. When we were in Ft Lauderdale 2 years ago we thought it was a beautiful area so we are looking to spend Christmas (and the last day of Hanukkah) in the area with the whole family. Most of what I am seeing on here and elsewhere is focused on a quick passthrough of the town to the cruise ships and now I'm wondering if we should go to another town for Christmas or town hop. Anyone out there very familiar with Ft Lauderdale and the surrounding areas? Are there any amazing restaurants? Is there enough to do to stay occupied for a week within driving distance?

 

[White Cat]

Yes
Yes
Yes

 

[princesscinderella]

There are tons of great restaurants of all kinds of cuisines in both Broward and Dade counties. There’s definitely enough to do to fill a week vacation. Beach day, Everglades boat ride day, visit Vizcaya and beautiful property and gardens and one of the older ones in Miami. You could go to a Heat game, panthers game or dolphins game depending on their schedules. Go to one of the many nice malls - Aventura or Bal Harbor for luxury, Dolphin mall or the giant outlet mall Sawgrass mills. Sawgrass has a Disney character premiere store that you can get all the parks merchandise typically half off or less. There are two performing arts theaters Broward Center and Arsht Center in Miami that usually have a Broadway show during the holidays. It’s Les Miserable at Broward center at the end of December. You can get a day pass for the water taxi and bar hop too all the restaurants along the route. You can do a variety or water sports, charter fishing, jet skis, paddle boarding etc. The Jungle queen has a nice tour of all the mansions along the intracostal and you can do an evening cruise that has a show and bbq on their island. Mai Kai is tiki bar and restaurant with a Polynesian show that just reopened after a huge renovation. You can ride the brigtline or drive up to west palm and check out Mar-a-lago too if you want.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

My parents live Ft. Lauderdale area.

The first things coming to mind are food related. Everyone always enjoys a trip to Jaxson's for ice cream. Lester's Diner is also a HUGE hit with us. Croissan'Time French Bakery is also a big fave with us. There's also a place really close to my parents (edge of Plantation, technically in Davie I believe) called Vienna Cafe and Wine Bar that's been a fave with us for years.

Beyond that, if we pop over to the beach Dania Beach is usually our go-to just to walk in the sand for a little bit as it's less crazy than Ft. Lauderdale beach and not too far. We also have had a few different Everglades experiences. We've been down to the actual National Park a couple of times but last time we stayed a bit closer to home and did an airboat tour. The kids enjoyed the Museum of Discovery & Science on one of our visits and I just like walking around the Las Olas area, especially along the water. Just be mindful of the iguanas. We also went to Butterfly World one year, which was pretty nice. My parents live really close to Sawgrass and there's a Disney Character Warehouse in there, so that's usually a must at least once. The prices are usually worth the visit if you want parks merch. A bit more of a drive, but we've been known to hit the Keys, especially the upper ones, on our visits. My brother used to live in South Beach, so we had several years where we'd park down there and take in the spectacle and eat at some of the trendy places, but so much of that changes over the years. Still, it's an iconic area to visit. There are also lots of boat tour, fishing, snorkel, scuba, etc. options. I seem to recall several trips where we just rode the water taxi to get the beachy vibes.

 

[mikehn]

In my opinion the 'greater' ft lauderdale area goes all the way up to palm beach county. That's a huge strip of real estate. Lauderdale by the Sea, Delray are just a couple popular beach towns up the road from ft Lauderdale. Are there amazing restaurants, is there enough to do for a week? Yes. Each of those is a topic by themselves. It really depends what you like, what you're looking to do, how much driving you want, ect.