The stretch of coast north of Miami is not one destination but three distinct towns, each with its own character, and treating them as a single day trip is the most common way to shortchange all of them. Fort Lauderdale is a working boating city built around a network of canals; Hollywood, Florida is a low-key beach town with a paved oceanfront path; and Palm Beach, with its mainland neighbour West Palm Beach, is old-money Florida, built around villas, boutiques and a stricter dress code than anywhere else on this coast. This page covers the north shore on its own terms, separate from the Everglades and the Florida Keys, which have their own regions and their own logic.
Fort Lauderdale: canals, boats, and Port Everglades
Fort Lauderdale sits about 30 miles (48 km) north of Miami, and the honest travel time is 45 minutes to an hour by car in normal traffic, more during the weekday morning and evening commute on I-95. It is close enough to visit in half a day, but treating it as a quick stop undersells what it does well: this is a genuine boating city, laced with over 165 miles of navigable waterways, which is why locals call it the Venice of America, a comparison that oversells the architecture but not the amount of water.
The most distinctive way to see the city is from a boat rather than a sidewalk. Canal cruises run along the same waterfront that back the mansions south of Las Olas Boulevard, and if you want the private version rather than a shared tour boat, a chartered day on the water covers more ground and lets you set the pace. A private yacht cruise along Fort Lauderdale’s canals is the version worth the extra cost if you are set on being on the water rather than looking at it, and it also works as a straightforward way to see Port Everglades from outside the security perimeter.
Port Everglades itself is Fort Lauderdale’s cruise and cargo port, and it is a separate facility from PortMiami — a distinction worth getting right if you are catching a cruise, since the two ports are about 30 miles (48 km) apart and not interchangeable on a booking confirmation. Many of the same cruise lines sail from both, so read your documents rather than assume.
For a self-driven boat day without a captain, mini powerboats are rented by the hour along the New River and the Intracoastal Waterway, a workable option for a small group that wants to explore the canals independently rather than follow a set itinerary; see the things to do in Fort Lauderdale guide for how that compares to a guided cruise. Beyond the water, downtown Fort Lauderdale has Las Olas Boulevard for restaurants and shopping, and the beach itself runs wide and uncrowded compared with South Beach, without South Beach’s Art Deco density or its nightlife.
If Fort Lauderdale is only a stop on the way further north, a combined run down to Boca Raton adds a second town without a second full day: a guided day trip covering Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton from Miami handles the driving and the stops in one outing, which is a reasonable trade if you would rather not manage a rental car and parking in two downtowns in the same day.
Hollywood, Florida: the Broadwalk, not the film industry
Worth stating plainly, because visitors search for it every year and find the wrong city first: Hollywood, Florida is a distinct beach town roughly midway between Miami and Fort Lauderdale, named after the California city in the 1920s by a developer who liked the name, and it has no connection to the film industry. Its centrepiece is the Hollywood Beach Broadwalk, a wide paved path that runs along the oceanfront for about 2.2 miles, lined with cafes, hotels and rental shops for bikes and surreys rather than boutiques.
Hollywood works as a lower-key alternative to South Beach for a beach afternoon: fewer crowds, a flatter, calmer stretch of sand, and a walking path that is genuinely pleasant rather than a photo backdrop. It is not a nightlife destination and does not try to be one. Most visitors treat it as a stop between Miami and Fort Lauderdale rather than a full day on its own, which is a fair read of what it offers; see things to do in Hollywood, Florida for specifics if you want more than the Broadwalk itself.
Palm Beach and West Palm Beach: two towns, one bridge apart
Palm Beach is an island, not a neighbourhood of West Palm Beach, connected to the mainland by a handful of bridges across the Intracoastal Waterway — a structure that echoes Miami Beach’s relationship to Miami, and worth keeping straight for the same reason. The island itself is small, walkable, and built around Worth Avenue, a few blocks of boutiques and galleries that sit at the luxury end of Florida retail, along with the Flagler Museum, the preserved Gilded Age mansion of Henry Flagler, the railroad and hotel developer who effectively built this stretch of Florida’s coast as a winter destination for wealthy northerners in the 1890s.
West Palm Beach, across the water on the mainland, is the working city: more restaurants across a wider range of prices, more parking, and the train and bus connections that Palm Beach island itself mostly lacks. Most visitors base themselves in West Palm Beach and walk or drive across for an afternoon on Worth Avenue and around the Flagler Museum, rather than staying on the island, where accommodation prices are set for a different budget entirely.
Distance-wise, Palm Beach and West Palm Beach sit roughly 45 to 65 miles (72 to 105 km) north of Miami depending on which part of the metro area you start from, which works out to 1 h 15 to 1 h 45 by car outside peak traffic — noticeably further than Fort Lauderdale, not an extension of the same trip. Combining Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach in a single day from Miami is physically possible but means two long drives and a short visit to each; splitting them across two days, or basing one night in Fort Lauderdale, gives both towns a fairer amount of time. The Palm Beach day trip from Miami guide lays out timing options in more detail.
On the water, Palm Beach’s version of a canal cruise is quieter and more scenic than sightseeing-boat crowds elsewhere on this coast: a classic cruise along the Palm Beach waterway passes the same mansion-lined shoreline that the Flagler Museum sits on, seen from the water rather than the road. A little further north, in Riviera Beach, Phil Foster Park is a shallow, current-protected snorkel spot built specifically for beginners and families — a guided snorkel tour at Phil Foster Park is a reasonable half-day add-on if you are already in the Palm Beach area and want something in the water without a boat.
Brightline: the one real alternative to driving
For this specific corridor — Miami to Fort Lauderdale to West Palm Beach — the Brightline train is worth taking seriously rather than treating as a novelty. It connects downtown stations in all three cities (plus Boca Raton and, further north, Orlando), runs frequently through the day, and removes both the I-95 traffic question and the parking question in each downtown. The Miami-to-Fort Lauderdale segment typically runs 30 to 40 minutes; continuing to West Palm Beach adds another 30 to 45 minutes.
Where Brightline does not help: it does not reach the beach itself in any of these cities (stations sit downtown, a taxi or rideshare away from the sand), it has no stop useful for the Everglades or the Florida Keys, and it does not serve Hollywood directly, so a Hollywood stop still means a car or rideshare. For a Fort Lauderdale-only day trip, Brightline is close to the better option outright; for a two-town day covering Palm Beach as well, weigh the train’s fixed schedule against a rental car’s flexibility to stop along the way — see Brightline from Miami to Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach for current fares and schedules.
Fort Lauderdale vs Palm Beach vs Hollywood: which one, and when
| Fort Lauderdale | Hollywood, Florida | Palm Beach / West Palm Beach | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Distance from Miami | ~30 miles (48 km) | ~20 miles (32 km) | ~45-65 miles (72-105 km) |
| Typical drive time | 45 min-1 h | 35-50 min | 1 h 15-1 h 45 |
| Brightline available | Yes | No | Yes (West Palm Beach) |
| Best for | Boat days, canals, Port Everglades | A quieter beach afternoon | Boutiques, mansions, a slower pace |
| Minimum time to do it justice | Half a day | 2-3 hours | A full day |
Getting the order of towns right
A practical way to sequence a north-shore day, if driving: leave Miami early, stop briefly in Hollywood for the Broadwalk if the beach is the draw, continue to Fort Lauderdale for the main block of the day (boat time, Las Olas, lunch), and treat Palm Beach as its own trip on a different day rather than a late-afternoon add-on after Fort Lauderdale — the extra 45 minutes to an hour each way, on top of a day already spent, tends to compress Palm Beach into an hour of Worth Avenue and nothing else.
If Palm Beach and the Flagler Museum are the priority, flip that logic: give that day to Palm Beach and West Palm Beach alone, or pair it with the Miami to Palm Beach road trip itinerary for stops along the way. Travellers weighing whether to combine both towns at all can compare the trade-offs directly in Miami Beach vs Fort Lauderdale, which covers the wider question of whether to base a trip south or move north for a night.
Whichever order you pick, this stretch of coast rewards picking one or two towns properly rather than driving through all three. Fort Lauderdale’s canals, Hollywood’s Broadwalk and Palm Beach’s Worth Avenue are different trips wearing the same regional label — worth knowing before you build a single afternoon around all of them at once. For deeper detail on each town, the Fort Lauderdale day trip guide, things to do in Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale boat tours and cruises go further than this overview does, as does Palm Beach boat tours and cruises for the equivalent on the northern end.
Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach: your questions answered
How far is Fort Lauderdale from Miami?
About 30 miles (48 km) by road, which is 45 minutes to an hour by car outside rush hour, or roughly 30 to 40 minutes on the Brightline train. Traffic on I-95 or US-1 during weekday commute hours can add 20 to 30 minutes each way.
Is Hollywood, Florida the same as Hollywood, California?
No. Hollywood, Florida is a beach city between Miami and Fort Lauderdale, named after the California city but unrelated to it. Its landmark is the Hollywood Beach Broadwalk, a paved oceanfront path, not a film district.
Can you visit Palm Beach and West Palm Beach in the same day as Fort Lauderdale?
It is possible but rushed. Palm Beach and West Palm Beach sit roughly 45 to 65 miles (72 to 105 km) north of Miami, another 45 minutes to an hour beyond Fort Lauderdale, so combining all three towns in one day usually means seeing each one briefly rather than properly.
Is the Brightline train worth it for this route?
For the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach corridor specifically, yes: it skips I-95 traffic, drops you close to each downtown, and removes the parking question. It is not useful for reaching the Everglades, the Keys, or most beach neighbourhoods that sit away from its stations.
Is Palm Beach itself walkable, or do you need a car?
The island of Palm Beach, including Worth Avenue, is compact and walkable once you are there. West Palm Beach, on the mainland, is more spread out. Getting between the two areas and back to Miami is where a car, rideshare, or Brightline connection matters.
Is Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale or Miami?
Fort Lauderdale. Port Everglades is a separate cruise and cargo port from PortMiami, used by many of the same cruise lines, so double-check which port your cruise actually departs from before planning transport.
