Fort Lauderdale Travel Guide
Fort Lauderdale Florida is at its most beautiful. The beaches of Fort Lauderdale offer a calmer alternative to the hectic atmosphere of Miami. Read Rantapallo’s destination guide and plan your own holiday.
The beaches of Fort Lauderdale are perfect for sun worshipers
Located on the Florida coast just off Miami, the best of Fort Lauderdale is its long and wide beaches, good hotel offerings and excellent restaurants. The holidaymaker can count on finding everything they need here and maybe a little more.
In Fort Lauderdale, with a population of about 178,000, tourism is a major industry and the city also has an abundance of lavish holiday homes. The landscape is characterized not only by wide beaches, but also by special canals or intracoastals. In these areas, the plots are located on multi-branched embankments and each has its own fine strip of beach. In the large canal areas, boats move smoothly. Tourists can also take a peek at the luxury life of the canal residents by renting a boat or taking part in an organized cruise.
The canals of Fort Lauderdale create a special living and holiday environment. Each resident of the canal areas has their own personal beach.
In addition to beach life, Fort Lauderdale offers great shopping and, perhaps a little surprisingly, cultural experiences in the form of many galleries and the Bonnet House artist’s home. Nature experiences are also close by here. For example, alligators, snakes and also sympathetic manatees are at home in the Fort Lauderdale area. Alligators can be encountered in the Everglades Natural Park area, manatees on the coast and even in the canal areas of the city.
Fort Lauderdale, due to its diverse nature, is well-suited as a destination for family vacationers, but also for honeymooners or couples looking for a two-time stay.
The sun shines all year round, the most interesting travel time is the turtle season
Florida summers are hot humid and the warmest months are between May and September. The temperature then rises steadily above 30 degrees and rarely drops below 20 degrees even for the night. Showers are coming, but they tend to pass quickly. The coolest season is from December to February, but even then the gauge often shows over twenty degrees.
Fort Lauderdale can be considered a year-round resort, but the best travel time is during the summer season. From March to October, the area also has the opportunity to experience something rare as sea turtles rise to nest on the shores of the area.
The same beaches where people swim and sunbathe during the day turn into a kingdom of turtles at night. Large turtles rise in the darkness of the night to nest on the shore and about eight weeks later the offspring hatch. The turtles, on their instincts, head straight for the sea as soon as they hatch.
Sea turtle eggs are waiting to hatch under this little sand dune. All nests are listed and accurately marked.
Sea turtles are very rare and prized animals, and on Florida beaches, all nests are marked and cataloged. A small fence is being built around them and people are strictly forbidden to disturb the nesting. All lights on Fort Lauderdale’s boardwalk are turned off during the nesting season for the evening so that the delicate instincts of sea turtles don’t interpret the extra lights as stars. Turtles navigate to the sea based on the stars and the chicks die if they make a mistake. You can move on the beaches in the evenings, but it must be done respecting the nests. For this reason, turtle bongars charge with red lamps that, like a regular flashlight, do not disturb the animals ’senses. Flash photography is strictly prohibited.
The restaurant and shopping offer is wide
The best restaurants in Fort Lauderdale can be found along Fort Lauderdale Beach Boulevard and at Las Olas Boulevard, the city’s main street. It offers everything from American fast food chains to fine dining restaurants. Nightlife and bars can also be found, but if you’re looking for the wild Florida spirit of music videos, you might want to head to Miami’s South Beach.
The city’s most diverse shopping opportunities can also be found on the same streets. For example, clothes, accessories and household items are available in large quantities and at reasonable prices. The offerings of The Galleria shopping center are also worth exploring. However, the best shopping can be found in the outlet village of Sawgrass Mills, just a short drive from the heart of Fort Lauderdale. Sawgrass Mills ’more than 350 branded stores sell quality merchandise at discounted prices.
THE BEST OF FORT LAUDERDALE
Alligators live in the wild in Florida. Sawgrass Recreation Park is a great place to explore them in their own habitat.
The best beaches in the area
- Fort Lauderdale Beach
- Deerfield Beach
- Hollywood Beach
- Lauderdale-by-the-Sea
- Hillsboro Beach
The most interesting nature bongas
- Sea turtles
- Manaatit
- Alligators
- Flamingo
- Monkeys
The best day trip destinations from Fort Lauderdale
- Sawgrass Recreation Park
- Lauderdale-by-the-Sea
- Miami Beach
- Key West – you can make a day trip, but you can get the most out of it by staying a day or two
