Full day in Fort Lauderdale-what to do?

[danzur]

We're going in Thursday night for a Saturday cruise and will have all day Friday in Fort Lauderdale. We'll have our 15 yo son with us as well. Any thoughts on something nearby for a family of 3?

[LMaxwell]

The beach is right there and free! Good eats at 15th Street Fisheries.

 

I'd also suggest a water taxi pass to get all around Fort Lauderdale

 

Or a dinner cruise on the Jungle Queen (narrated tour of high end homes and new river with a BBQ dinner and some cheesy family friendly variety show). Approx $40 per adult, not sure of kids price or of age 15 is adult charges.

[Big_G]

Take the water taxi. It's great transportation with a tour guide. We hopped off on Las Olas Blvd. and had lunch at American Social but there are other great places for breakfast, lunch, and/or dinner.

[Darkwolfe]

If you want to do something relatively campy, but fun, try the Jungle Queen cruise on the Intercoastal Waterway. They poke a lot of fun at people with too much money.

 

There's a stop at a little "island" in the cruise. Some critters, alligator wrestling, and a snack bar are on site there.

 

Not a bad way to burn up a few hours puttering around.

[ktfelder]

Our flight home doesn't leave until 3:30 on the day we return. Not interested in any of the excursions, and will need to eat a lunch - and will probably not want to spend a lot of money. Any suggestions how to kill a few hours? We don't know our way around the area.

[time4u2go]

Our flight home doesn't leave until 3:30 on the day we return. Not interested in any of the excursions, and will need to eat a lunch - and will probably not want to spend a lot of money. Any suggestions how to kill a few hours? We don't know our way around the area.

 

Beach.

[Ourusualbeach]

We had a couple days to relax in FLL last week before our cruise and spent part of one day on the water taxi and went to Sawgrass recreation park and did the airboat Everglades tour. Both very interesting, enjoyable and relatively inexpensive.

[help04me]

We're going in Thursday night for a Saturday cruise and will have all day Friday in Fort Lauderdale. We'll have our 15 yo son with us as well. Any thoughts on something nearby for a family of 3?we

we went to holiday everglades park home to "gator boys" from the animal planet series was good time

[Big_G]

We had a couple days to relax in FLL last week before our cruise and spent part of one day on the water taxi and went to Sawgrass recreation park and did the airboat Everglades tour. Both very interesting, enjoyable and relatively inexpensive.

 

Loved the airboat tour. Probably would do it again if the opportunity arose.

[danzur]

Thanks...I think I like the sound of the Everglades/Airboat tour...I'll Google this....

[capriccio]

See suggestions for transportation, attractions and restaurants on Fort Lauderdale's website: http://www.sunny.org.

[kdawg954]

The main thing to consider is "Will you have a car or not?"

 

If you plan on doing anything in regards to the Everglades or airboating . . . you will need a car. These activities are often suggested as "Fort Lauderdale" activities but the places to do these activities are pushing 45 minutes to an hour away from the downtown Fort Lauderdale area.

 

With a car, you can do whatever you want.

 

If you won't have a car, I cosign the Water Taxi. You can literally make a day out of it . . . from the Galleria (shopping), to the beach, to restaurants . . . plus they give you a nice "tour guide" experience as well. It's a great way to spend a day in Fort Lauderdale.

[c-cruise]

The Museum of Discovery and Science is definitely worth checking out. We went there last month before our evening flight home. Nice way to kill half a day or so. It's right by the riverwalk so afterwards you could stroll down and catch the water taxi and tour around on that for a while as well.

[BlueHerons]

Our flight home doesn't leave until 3:30 on the day we return. Not interested in any of the excursions, and will need to eat a lunch - and will probably not want to spend a lot of money. Any suggestions how to kill a few hours? We don't know our way around the area.

 

The water taxi is such a good deal. You can ride from 9AM until midnight daily. The big difference between that and the Jungle Queen is that the Jungle Queen is a set tour that has a start and end and the wate taxi is a tour that is basically hop on hop off.

 

The main thing to consider is "Will you have a car or not?"

 

If you plan on doing anything in regards to the Everglades or airboating . . . you will need a car. These activities are often suggested as "Fort Lauderdale" activities but the places to do these activities are pushing 45 minutes to an hour away from the downtown Fort Lauderdale area.

 

With a car, you can do whatever you want.

 

If you won't have a car, I cosign the Water Taxi. You can literally make a day out of it . . . from the Galleria (shopping), to the beach, to restaurants . . . plus they give you a nice "tour guide" experience as well. It's a great way to spend a day in Fort Lauderdale.

 

This is great advice. The Everglades tours are, well, way out in the middle of the Everglades and you pretty much have to get there.

 

Also, avoid the Everglades June through October. Nothing but a sticky, hot, muggy mess.

[Algebralovr]

We enjoyed Hollywood Beach, but you'll likely need to rent a car to get there.

 

For after the cruise, ID say the same, but next time I plan to use Luggage Valet for my bags.

[GrrlMeetsWrrld]

We also spent a full day in Fort Lauderdale before embarking on a cruise a few years ago. One of our most memorable days in all of our many travels turned out to be this one:

 

Toured thru Bonnet House, a quirky, magical estate, once owned by two artists. It fronts on the beach and1A, but the entrance is a few blocks inland. It's all painted in primary colors and is full of imaginative mural, carousel animals, orchids, and wooden carvings. Fun, kicky discoveries at every turn and beautiful grounds, too. Take a peek at bonnethouse dot org. I'm hoping to get back there some day!

 

Then take the evening dinner cruise on the Jungle Queen. Tour thru the canals and see all the beautiful homes, then have a BBQ on a little island that has a small zoo and a corny after dinner show. The canals on the return trip at night are beautiful.

 

 

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[GrrlMeetsWrrld]

Also spent a fun morning at the end of our cruise floating thru the Everglades and visiting the animals at Sawgrass Recreation Center. This was a post-cruise excursion booked thru the ship. Saw many alligators and birds in the wild and at the Center.

 

 

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