Water is Fort Lauderdale’s favorite mode of transportation, scenery, and conversation. Canals thread through downtown neighborhoods, yachts line the Intracoastal, and the Atlantic waits at the end of Las Olas Boulevard, making this South Florida city particularly good at vacation mode.

Start on Las Olas, where boutiques, galleries, cafés, and restaurants fill a walkable route between downtown and the beach. Near the New River, the Historic Stranahan House preserves the city’s oldest surviving structure, built in 1901 as a trading post. Continue along Riverwalk or board the Water Taxi for a narrated ride past waterfront homes, marinas, and boats.

Fort Lauderdale Beach offers broad sand and a palm-lined promenade for walking, biking, or finding a chair with an Atlantic view. Nearby, Hugh Taylor Birch State Park protects a quieter pocket between the ocean and Intracoastal Waterway, with shaded trails and opportunities to paddle through coastal habitat.

The city’s creative side is equally easy to find. The NSU Art Museum anchors the downtown arts district with modern and contemporary works. At Bonnet House Museum & Gardens, art, architecture, and tropical grounds share a historic estate created by artists Frederic and Evelyn Bartlett. Farther inland, an Everglades airboat ride trades manicured gardens for sawgrass and alligators in what author Marjory Stoneman Douglas called the River of Grass.

All those waterways lead to lunch. Try a blackened mahi sandwich, fresh ceviche, conch fritters, or stone crab claws when in season. Cuban coffee provides extra momentum, while key lime pie handles the more important work of reminding everyone they are in Florida.

Fort Lauderdale sets the vacay vibes for your Escape with EFFY Caribbean charter cruise: easy, engaging, and perfectly paced.