2024 Palm Beach Visitors Guide
A small island town of palatial homes and gardens, and streets so clean you could eat your dinner off them, PALM BEACH has been synonymous for nearly a century with the kind of lifestyle only limitless loot can buy. The nation’s nobs began wintering here in the 1890s after Henry Flagler brought his East Coast railroad south from St Augustine and built two luxury hotels on this then-secluded, palm-filled island. Since then, tycoons, sports aces, aristocrats, rock stars and CIA directors have flocked here, eager to become part of the Palm Beach elite and enjoy its aloofness from the mainland, and mainstream, life. Joe Kennedy – father of John, Robert, and Edward – bought the so-called Kennedy Compound here in 1933.
Summer in Palm Beach is very quiet, and the least costly time to stay. The winter months, from November to May, see a whirl of elegant balls, fundraising dinners, and charity galas, as well as the polo season.
Worth Avenue, close to the southern tip of the island, is filled with designer stores, high-class art galleries, and ultra-formal restaurants, and cruised by Rolls Royces, Mercedes, and Jaguars. Its most appealing aspect is its architecture: stucco walls, Romanesque facades, and passageways leading to small courtyards where miniature bridges cross nonexistent canals and spiral staircases climb to the upper levels.
Where Cocoanut Row and Whitehall Way meet, the white Doric columns fronting Whitehall are those of the Flagler Museum (Tues-Sat 10am-5pm, Sun noon-5pm; $8), the most overtly ostentatious home on the island – a $4 million wedding present from Henry Flagler to his third wife, Mary Lily Kenan. As in many of Florida’s first luxury homes, the interior design was lifted from the great buildings of Europe: among the 55 rooms are an Italian library, a French salon, a Swiss billiard room, a hallway modeled on St Peter’s, and a Louis XV ballroom. All are stuffed with ornamentation, but they lack aesthetic cohesion. Informative 45-minute guided tours depart frequently from the 110ft hallway and provide a background for Flagler’s fascinating rise to success and a glimpse of the Gilded Age in which he flourished.
Built in 1926 in the style of an Italianate palace, The Breakers hotel, on South County Road off the main strip (tel 561/655-6611 or 1-888/273-2537; $250+), operates as the last of Palm Beach’s swanky resorts. Its design includes elaborately painted ceilings and huge tapestries. Take the free guided tour on Wednesday at 3 pm (call 561/655-6611 ext 7560 for information).
Addison Mizner – Architect of Palm Beach
A former miner and prizefighter, Addison Mizner was an unemployed architect when he arrived in Palm Beach in 1918. Inspired by the medieval buildings he’d seen around the Mediterranean, Mizner built the Everglades Club, at 356 Worth Ave – the first public building in Florida in the Mediterranean Revival style. The success of the club and the house he subsequently built for society bigwig Eva Stotesbury won Mizner commissions all over Palm Beach as the wintering wealthy decided to swap suites at one of Henry Flagler’s hotels for a “million-dollar cottage” of their own.
Brilliant and unorthodox, Mizner designed loggias and U-shaped interiors that made the most of Florida’s pleasant winter temperatures, while his twisting staircases to nowhere became legendary. Mizner sprayed condensed milk onto walls to create an impression of centuries-old grime and fired shotgun pellets into the wood to imitate wormholes. By the mid-1920s, Mizner had created the Palm Beach Style, and he later fashioned much of Boca Raton
Palm Beach Attractions
CityPlace
Boasting of mainly Mediterranean and Venetian elements, CityPlace – is a high-end lifestyle center located in West Palm Beach in Florida. Being comprised of several blocks, it is highly credited for the county’s urban rebirth.
Since opening its doors to the public in 2000, it has been a melting pot of shopping, dining, and entertainment. The work-related activities conducted within the area became fused with the recreation and the normal activities of daily living of the residents nearby. Not only is the center characterized by the presence of high-end boutiques, posh restaurants, and state-of-the-art entertainment facilities. There are also spaces allotted for offices and residences. There are several condo units within the premises making it a mixed-use zone where private residences are adjacent to business establishments.
Palm Beach Zoo
The Palm Beach Zoo & Conservation Society is a non-profit zoological organization located at Dreher Park in West Palm Beach. The zoo houses more than 550 animals (190 species), many of them endangered, within 23-acres of lush tropical habitat. The Palm Beach Zoo & Conservation Society is a member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums. The zoo is open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily with the last admission at 4:15 p.m. Palm Beach Zoo is closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas days.
Rapids Water Park
Enjoy a day packed with fun in the sun’s excitement for all ages! Rapids Water Waterpark is a 7- acre blast of wet and wild fun. Beautiful Attractions like the Tropical Splash, Typhoon, Waddleland Splashpad, Grand Falls Racer and Wipe Out will thrill any waterslide enthusiast. Rapids Water Park additions, AquaTWIST and FreeFALL are sure to delight any thrill seeker.
If it’s relaxation you are looking for, then take a relaxing float. There’s plenty to do at Rapids Water Park so bring the whole family!
We have covered facilities designed to serve the needs of any size group!
Mounts Botanical Gardens
Mounts Botanical Garden of Palm Beach County is the oldest and largest public botanical garden in the Palm Beaches. The origin traces back to the University of Florida’s Cooperative Extension Service, providing free and low-cost agricultural education to the broad local community. The Garden exhibits and evaluates materials environmentally suitable for home, commercial, and public landscapes while providing opportunities for people of all ages and backgrounds to learn the art, science, and joy of gardening.
Palm Beach Outlets
Palm Beach Outlets is a 440,000 square foot outlet shopping center in West Palm Beach, Florida. Opened on February 14, 2014, it was developed on the site of the former Palm Beach Mall. Palm Beach Outlets features over 100 stores including Saks Fifth Avenue OFF 5TH, Ann Taylor, Banana Republic, Brooks Brothers, J.Crew, Kenneth Cole, Nike, Tommy Hilfiger, Under Armour, and Vera Bradley. Palm Beach Outlets is located directly off Interstate 95 on Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard in West Palm Beach, Florida. The site also includes Marketplace at the Outlets, a 300,000 square foot regional center that features approximately 20 stores, including Bed Bath & Beyond, DSW Shoe Warehouse, Nordstrom Rack, Old Navy, PetSmart, Pier 1 Imports, T.J. Maxx, Ulta Beauty, and Whole Foods Market.
Peanut Island
Peanut Island is a 79-acre (0.32 km2) island at the mouth of the Lake Worth Inlet in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The island was created by dredging-related projects in 1918 which also created the inlet and the Port of Palm Beach. Originally named Inlet Island, the island was renamed Peanut Island for a planned peanut oil-shipping operation that failed in 1946. A $13 million USD renovation on the island in 2005 resulted in Peanut Island Park including campsites, a pier, and a man-made reef. The island also features a blast shelter built in secret for President John F. Kennedy shortly after his 1960 election.
Kennedy often spent winters in nearby Palm Beach, Florida. The shelter, Detachment Hotel, is operated by the Palm Beach Maritime Museum and is open to visitors as an example of Cold War-era concerns for the president’s safety.
Mar-a-Lago
Mar-a-Lago is a resort and National Historic Landmark in Palm Beach, Florida, built from 1924 to 1927 by cereal-company heiress and socialite Marjorie Merriweather Post. The 126-room, 62,500-square-foot[4] house contains the Mar-a-Lago Club, a members-only club with guest rooms, a spa, and other hotel-style amenities.
It is located on the Palm Beach barrier island, with the Atlantic Ocean to the east and Florida’s Intracoastal Waterway to the west.