Things to Do in Fort Lauderdale: A Local's List (2026)
Most "things to do in Fort Lauderdale" lists are written from a hotel on the beach. This one is written from a brewery in Progresso Village, a mile inland, by people who live here and get asked for recommendations every night. It covers the classics that are actually worth it (the beach, the Water Taxi, the Everglades), the free stuff the city does well (a monthly jazz brunch, an art walk, a state park for six dollars a car), the museums, the neighborhoods, and what to do tonight or this weekend. Everything on it was open as of September 2026; seasonal events are marked. Prices are given as a signal rather than a number, because they change.
Fort Lauderdale Beach and the Wave Wall — free
The beach is the reason the city exists, and the stretch of A1A between Las Olas Boulevard and Sunrise Boulevard is the part to walk: wide public sand on one side, the low white Wave Wall and promenade on the other, and the bars and hotels behind it. Metered parking along A1A fills by late morning on weekends, so go early or at sunset. Swim between the lifeguard towers; dogs are only allowed at Canine Beach at the north end on weekend afternoons with a permit.
Las Olas Boulevard — free to walk
Las Olas runs from downtown to the beach and is the city's main street for restaurants, galleries and shops, with the tree-lined blocks between SE 6th and SE 15th Avenues the ones to stroll. The Las Olas Art Fair takes over the boulevard twice a year; the fall 2026 edition is October 17 and 18. Louie Bossi's and Luigi's, two of the best pizzas in the city, are on the east end, and NSU Art Museum is at the west end.
Riverwalk Fort Lauderdale — free
The Riverwalk is two and a half miles of brick path along both banks of the New River through downtown, from the Broward Center to Las Olas, with Esplanade Park at 400 SW 2nd St as its center. Yachts pass at eye level, the free LauderGO! water trolley runs on the river, and the Himmarshee bars and restaurants are a block north. It is the best free walk in the city that is not the beach.
Sunday Jazz Brunch on the Riverwalk — free, first Sunday of the month
On the first Sunday of every month from 11 AM to 2 PM the city puts three stages of live jazz along the Riverwalk and in Esplanade Park, and thousands of people bring chairs, picnics and dogs. It is free. The 2026 season runs through December, with October 4, November 1 and December 6 remaining.
Water Taxi — mid
The Fort Lauderdale Water Taxi is a hop-on, hop-off boat service on the Intracoastal and the New River, daily from 10 AM to 10 PM, with stops at the Riverside Hotel and Stranahan House, Las Olas, Bahia Mar and the beach, and a route south to Hollywood. An all-day pass is the standard ticket and there is a cheaper evening pass after 5 PM. It doubles as a sightseeing tour of the waterfront mansions and megayachts, which is what most people ride it for.
Hugh Taylor Birch State Park — cheap
Hugh Taylor Birch State Park, at 3109 E Sunrise Blvd, is 180 acres of coastal hammock, lagoon and trails wedged between the Intracoastal and the beach, with a pedestrian tunnel under A1A to the sand. Entry is a few dollars per car and it is open from 8 AM to sunset. The Park & Ocean concession rents kayaks, canoes and paddleboards and runs a Friday sunset paddle and a monthly full-moon kayak tour, and it has a dog-friendly garden bar with its own small brewery.
Bonnet House Museum & Gardens — mid
Bonnet House, at 900 N Birch Rd just behind the beach, is a 1920 estate on 35 acres of gardens, coastal habitat and an orchid house, with resident monkeys and swans. It is open Tuesday through Sunday until late afternoon, with self-guided admission, a discount for Broward residents, and a cheaper gardens-only ticket. Guided house tours run a few mornings a week.
NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale — cheap, free first Thursdays
NSU Art Museum, at 1 E Las Olas Blvd, is the city's modern and contemporary art museum. Admission is modest, visitors 17 and under are free, and on the first Thursday of the month it is free for everyone and stays open until 7 PM. Closed Mondays. It is the best rainy-day option downtown.
Museum of Discovery and Science — mid
MODS, at 401 SW 2nd St on the Riverwalk, is a hands-on science museum with live animal demonstrations, a HoloTheater and the AutoNation IMAX, all included in the Discovery Pass. It is open daily and it is the single best thing to do in Fort Lauderdale with kids under twelve; see our kids guide for the rest.
Historic Stranahan House — cheap
Stranahan House, at 335 SE 6th Ave on the New River, is a 1901 trading post and home, the oldest surviving structure in Broward County, and a good hour of local history. Self-guided admission is modest, guided tours cost more and should be booked ahead, and the schedule varies by day, so check before you go.
Broward Center for the Performing Arts — mid to splurge
The Broward Center, at 201 SW 5th Ave on the river, hosts the Broadway in Fort Lauderdale season and hundreds of concerts, comedy and dance shows a year. The 2026-27 Broadway season includes Hamilton in November 2026, Mamma Mia! in February 2027 and Beauty and the Beast in April 2027. Park once and eat on Himmarshee Street before the show.
Jungle Queen Riverboat — mid
The Jungle Queen leaves Bahia Mar, 801 Seabreeze Blvd, for a 90-minute narrated cruise up the New River past the waterfront estates, with sailings in the early and mid afternoon daily, and an evening dinner cruise to a private island with a barbecue and a Polynesian show. It has been running since 1935 and it is exactly as touristy as it sounds, which is the appeal.
Everglades airboat tour — mid
The Everglades are forty minutes west. Sawgrass Recreation Park, at 1006 N US-27 in Weston, runs airboats every half hour through the afternoon plus an animal sanctuary, and on Wednesday and Saturday nights it runs after-dark Gator Nights tours with spotlights. Everglades Holiday Park, at 21940 Griffin Rd, runs hour-long airboat tours with a gator show and closes in the late afternoon. Either one is the most un-Fort-Lauderdale thing you can do from Fort Lauderdale.
Flamingo Gardens and Butterfly World — mid
Two half-day trips west. Flamingo Gardens, at 3750 S Flamingo Rd in Davie, is a botanical garden and wildlife sanctuary with a tram ride and wildlife shows included, open daily until 5 PM. Butterfly World, at 3600 W Sample Rd in Coconut Creek inside Tradewinds Park, is the largest butterfly park in the world, with lorikeet feeding; tickets are sold in person only and the last entry is 4 PM.
Flagler Village Art Walk — free, last Saturday of the month
The Fort Lauderdale Art Walk fills the warehouse blocks around NW 1st Avenue and NE 4th Avenue in Flagler Village on the last Saturday of the month, roughly 7 to 11 PM, with open studios, galleries, food trucks and music, rain or shine, dogs welcome, and a free trolley from the Sears Town lot. The old FATVillage block has been redeveloped, but the walk continued through 2026 across the MASS District and neighboring blocks; confirm the date on the organizers' social channels the week of. Our taproom is a few minutes' walk west.
Thrive Art District murals — free
The Thrive Art District, at 710 NW 5th Ave in Progresso Village, is a 5.3-acre open-air gallery of more than a hundred murals framed in white borders, with a record shop, a vintage store, a matcha bar, a kava bar, a capybara cafe and our brewery among its tenants. Parking is free. Walk the courtyards and passageways in the last hour of daylight, then get a beer. Flagler Village's Mockingbird Trail, a two-mile self-guided public art walk, starts a few blocks east.
Brewery crawl — cheap to mid
Fort Lauderdale has seven breweries and three of them, Uncommon Path, Orchestrated Minds and Invasive Species, are within about a mile of each other just north of downtown. Add Tarpon River Brewing downtown, then Gulf Stream and Funky Buddha to the north or LauderAle to the south. We wrote a full guide with addresses, food and dog policies: see Breweries in Fort Lauderdale.
Wilton Drive — cheap
Wilton Drive in Wilton Manors, ten minutes north of downtown, is a walkable strip of bars, restaurants and shops with drag, karaoke, trivia and live music most nights, and the center of South Florida's LGBTQ community. Saturday nights are the busiest. Dolce Salato on the Drive is the pizza stop.
Las Olas Oceanside Park Market — free, Saturdays
Every Saturday from 9 AM to 4 PM, Las Olas Oceanside Park at 3000 E Las Olas Blvd, right at the beach, hosts a farmers and artisans market with live music and free fitness classes. In winter and spring the same park hosts the free Friday Night Sound Waves beach concert series.
Snyder Park — free
Snyder Park, at 3299 SW 4th Ave near the airport, is 93 acres of lakes, trails and picnic areas, free on weekdays with a small parking fee on weekends. It has the city's main off-leash dog park, Bark Park, with a lake where dogs can swim. Open from 7 AM until early evening.
Florida Swap Shop — free
The Swap Shop, at 3291 W Sunrise Blvd, is an enormous indoor and outdoor flea market open Wednesday through Sunday, with a collection of Ferraris and other exotic cars on display. Entry is free. The drive-in theater that used to share the site closed after a fire in 2023, so do not plan on a movie.
Hollywood Beach Broadwalk — free
Twenty minutes south, the Hollywood Beach Broadwalk is a two-and-a-half-mile oceanfront promenade with a bandshell that hosts free concerts most evenings and a free marine environmental education center. It is flatter, older and more relaxed than Fort Lauderdale Beach and better for a bike ride.
Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show — splurge, late October
The Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show is the largest in-water boat show in the world, spread across the Convention Center, Bahia Mar, Las Olas Marina and Pier Sixty-Six. The 2026 show runs October 28 through November 1. Hotels and restaurants book out that week; plan around it if you are not going.
Tonight: the short list
A sunset walk on the Wave Wall, then dinner on Las Olas. Or Riverwalk, then the Himmarshee bars. On a Tuesday, free Jeopardy! Bar League trivia at our taproom at 7 PM; on a Friday, live music there. On the first Thursday of the month, NSU Art Museum is free until 7 PM. On the last Saturday of the month, the art walk. Savor Cinema at 503 SE 6th St shows independent films every night but Monday.
This weekend: the short list
Saturday morning at the Las Olas Oceanside Park market, the beach until lunch, the Water Taxi in the afternoon, and Wilton Drive or Flagler Village at night. Sunday, if it is the first of the month, the Jazz Brunch on the Riverwalk; otherwise Hugh Taylor Birch State Park and a paddle. If it rains, MODS and NSU Art Museum are ten minutes apart downtown. Our date night guide has twenty more ideas from free to splurge.
What is there to do in Fort Lauderdale for free?
Walk Fort Lauderdale Beach and the Wave Wall, the Riverwalk and Las Olas Boulevard; the first-Sunday Jazz Brunch on the Riverwalk; the last-Saturday art walk in Flagler Village; the murals of the Thrive Art District; NSU Art Museum on the first Thursday of the month; the Saturday market at Las Olas Oceanside Park; and Snyder Park on weekdays.
What is Fort Lauderdale known for?
Its beach, its canals and yachts (it is called the Venice of America and hosts the world's largest in-water boat show), Las Olas Boulevard, the Riverwalk, and easy access to the Everglades. More recently, the Flagler Village and Progresso Village arts districts and a growing brewery scene.
What can I do in Fort Lauderdale tonight?
Sunset on the beach then Las Olas; the Riverwalk and the Himmarshee bars; a film at Savor Cinema; trivia on Tuesdays or live music on Fridays at Uncommon Path Brewing; free entry at NSU Art Museum on the first Thursday of the month; or the art walk on the last Saturday.
Is Fort Lauderdale worth visiting?
Yes, especially if you want a beach city that is quieter than Miami, with a walkable downtown river district, real museums, a state park on the beach, and the Everglades forty minutes away.
What is there to do in Fort Lauderdale when it rains?
Museum of Discovery and Science with its IMAX, NSU Art Museum, Stranahan House, a show at the Broward Center, Savor Cinema, the Swap Shop indoor market, or a brewery afternoon; Uncommon Path Brewing has indoor seating and wood-fired pizza.
How far is the Everglades from Fort Lauderdale?
About 30 to 40 minutes by car. Sawgrass Recreation Park in Weston and Everglades Holiday Park on Griffin Road both run airboat tours.
Uncommon Path Brewing — 710 NW 5th Ave, Suite 1071, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33311.
- Address
- 710 NW 5th Ave, Suite 1071, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33311 (Progresso / Flagler Village (Thrive Art District))
- Hours
- Mon–Thu 12 PM–10 PM, Fri–Sat 12 PM–11 PM, Sun 12 PM–8 PM (America/New_York)
- Phone
- (954) 765-6016
- Price range
- $$
- Parking
- Free street parking on NW 5th Ave and the surrounding Progresso Village blocks
- Seating
- Indoor taproom plus open-air patio seating
- Dogs
- Dog-friendly patio
- Families
- Family welcome — kids can order from the food menu
- Food
- Wood-fired kitchen on site: pizza, wings, salads, handhelds and shareable plates
- Live music
- Live local music every Friday night
- Trivia
- Jeopardy! Bar League every Tuesday at 7 PM, hosted by Geeks Who Drink — free to play
Call Uncommon Path Brewing at (954) 765-6016 or email events@uncommonpathbrewing.com.