"Palm Beach shopping is absolutely fabulous. The boutiques are unique, the shopping centers are brilliant…even the thrift shops are posh! ..." Samhara V., Birmingham, England Read more
Palm Beach
Norton Museum of Art Palm Beach County CVB
North of Fort Lauderdale, the coast continues with a stimulating metropolitan dynamic, but the level of exclusivity, wealth and cultural offerings jump up a notch. Perhaps that’s how it earned its nickname as the Gold Coast. Or perhaps it’s the golden sands that line 75 kilometres of beach.
Palm Beach, in the centre of all this, epitomises the social climate as a centuries-old playground of the rich and celebrated. Ever since railroad mogul Henry Flagler brought his railroad to town and erected fabulous hotels for his passengers, the town has been synonymous with luxury. One of the favourite pastimes for modern-day visitors is to simply drive around the island and gaze at the magnificent mansions, then head to one of its landmark restaurants to try and spot a star or government somebody.
For a succinct picture of the wealth that wrought this kingdom visit Whitehall, Flagler’s Gilded Age mansion and monument to opulence. Downtown Palm Beach, along famed Worth Avenue, is celebrated for its Mediterranean-style architecture and fabulous shops. Theatres, museums and galleries create an aura of high-brow culture that continues onto the mainland at West Palm Beach.
Once the residential area for Palm Beach’s work force, today West Palm has developed a distinctive personality all its own. Its downtown Clematis Street District keeps lively with jolly clubs and restaurants, shops and street festivals. Norton Museum of Art sets a high standard for the artistic. For families, there’s a nice-sized zoo, a hands-on science museum, and, on the western edge of town, Lion Country Safari, where visitors drive through while lions, elephants, giraffes and other African animals run free.
Inland and to the north, the region offers two other great attractions. First, the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge protects the native animals that thrive in an Everglades environment. Then, a different breed thrives on the unparalleled selection and quality of golf courses for which the Palm Beach area is highly renowned. Great resorts and clubs host PGA pros and tournaments, and just regular golfers who love
Palm Beach Palm Beach County CVB
to play year round.
As you head north, Palm Beach County adopts a stronger environmental consciousness in areas developed later. Peanut Island preserves a nature sanctuary in the middle of the Intracoastal Waterway, along with a bunker that was built for President John F. Kennedy, whose family owned a home on Palm Beach during the Cuban missile crisis. John D. MacArthur Beach State Park is an example of pristine shoreline, with a nature centre and environmental programmes to keep it that way through education. In Juno Beach, Loggerhead Park and The Marinelife Centre of Juno Beach are committed to nesting sea turtles during the summer months and host turtle walks and exhibits. In Jupiter, fish at the jetty beach park, catch a charter for deep-sea fishing, visit an art museum, and climb the lighthouse dating from 1860.
Jupiter Island and Hobe Sound are yet more removed from the metropolitan world and more entrenched in nature. Environment’s champions include Blowing Rocks Preserve, Jonathan Dickinson State Park and Hobe Sound National Wildlife Refuge, which conducts late-night sea turtle patrol walks to look for and mark nests.
South of Palm Beach, the beachfront stretches to encompass a litany of upmarket communities new and old including Lake Worth, Manalapan, Boynton Beach and Delray Beach. Even the scuba diving in these parts is upmarket, including the “wreck” of a Mercedes-Benz. Luxury name-brand resorts grace these privileged sands, along with some small inn gems. Delray Beach, in particular, exudes yesteryear charm that shows in its accommodations as well as its downtown shopping district and new cultural loop. Its Delray Affair festival celebrates its strong sense of community. On its outskirts, the history of its Japanese immigrant population is told at The Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens, a superbly serene oasis. A developing orchid garden nearby provides still more sanctuary for the soul.
This road to riches ends at Boca Raton, a beach community with much to offer families as well as lovers of the fine pleasures of shopping and dining. Visit the Gumbo Limbo Nature Centre, Coconut Cove Water Park, Little Palm Family Theatre and Children’s Museum. Try Mizner Park shopping and Boca Raton Museum of Art for something more grown-up.
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