South Florida

Warm weather, beautiful outdoor locations and exciting or relaxing pastimes await between the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico.

Enjoy South Florida’s sunshine and tropical breezes on some of the nation’s most famous beaches. Play golf year-round and appreciate pleasant weather while the rest of the country battles winter.

Come to Everglades National Park at the southern tip of Florida to see crocodiles, alligators and croaking frogs on a wildlife trek. Colorful flamingoes and white ibis parade in this great birding space. Hike, bike, camp, fish or participate in ranger-led activities to appreciate this unique experience in a subtropical wilderness.

Drive to the Florida Keys and along the Seven Mile Bridge (11 kilometers) extending to Key West. Enjoy the colors and grace of 50 to 60 butterfly species in the Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory. Explore homes of Ernest Hemingway and Harry Truman. From here, take a boat to Dry Tortugas National Park. Tour the large hexagonal Fort Jefferson built in the 1800s as protection against enemy naval advancement into the Gulf of Mexico.

Miami offers an exciting cosmopolitan city with two excellent zoos, street art at Wynwood Walls, shopping in Coconut Grove and smooth sands of Miami Beach. Fort Lauderdale has more great beaches as well as the Riverwalk Arts and Entertainment District’s cultural attractions and restaurants.

West Palm Beach offers sandy shores along the Atlantic Ocean. See musicals, plays and comedy at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts. Continue south to Boca Raton, one of the earliest Florida tourism spots. Bring kids to the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center to watch sea turtles and walk among butterflies. The city has many activities to provide entertainment, including a ballet theater, philharmonic symphony, arts center, children’s museum, golf and beaches.

On the west coast, tour the Edison and Ford Winter Estates in Fort Myers. Ride a bike to see wildlife at the Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve. Find more watersports around Naples and Sanibel Island.

If you need a beach vacation, come to South Florida to swim, snorkel or dive in beautiful blue-green waters full of varied fish.