South Florida's East Coast.
Palm Beach down to Miami.

Palm Beach area. The island of Palm Beach is where Americas ultra rich class have chosen to make their homes. Exploring here you will find many palatial homes with fabulous gardens and ultra clean streets. Summer is the quietist and the cheapest time to visit here. During the winter months the well off leave the cold of the north and come down here to enjoy a season of fund-raising dinners, charity galas and a chukka or two of polo. Have a look around Worth Avenue with it's designer stores and high class art galleries before going up to Lake Worth to admire the many ocean going yachts belonging to the rich and famous which are moored there. As you walk around this area you will notice the Mediterranean style of architecture which is common across Palm Beach thanks to the flamboyant architect Addison Mizner.

As you travel south from Palm Beach you will find it's theme extends down to Boca Raton with more examples of Mizner's work to be found amongst the executive homes and smart shopping centres. There are some nice little beaches and parks along this stretch of coastline which you could easily miss if you weren't looking for them.

Continuing south brings you to a more well known name Fort Lauderdale. During the 60's and 70's Fort Lauderdale became well known as the US's number one Spring Break venue for hundreds of thousands of students. They would come here to party as excessively as possible for six weeks along the 7 miles of beach before returning to do their exams. Because of the chaos this caused, the town realised it was losing tourist trade and took positive steps to get the students to go elsewhere ( lucky Daytona ). Since then Fort Lauderdale has emerged as an affluent historical, cultural and business centre and another area for wealthy American retirees to settle in.

Downtown Fort Lauderdale has it's fair share of modern glass fronted buildings but it also contains a number of older restored buildings and museums which are of interest. The town has spent a good deal of money on smartening up this area and making it more visitor friendly.

Miami has a population of around 2 million people with around half of those being Hispanic so it's not really surprising that Miami has a somewhat different culture to most US cities. The majority of these are Cubans but there are also many Latin Americans and those from the Caribbean. Unfortunately ethnic divisions are very evident in the city and this has led to some terrible social problems. Care does need to be exercised therefor when visiting here to ensure that your stay is both enjoyable and safe.

If you are flying into Miami you will arrive at Miami International Airport which is about six miles west of downtown Miami. Most of the car rental depots are off the airport and transport is provided by the companies to take you there to collect your car. Some of these depots however are located in areas which are not too safe, especially after dark and if it's your first visit here it is easy to get confused as you make your way across the city. If your flight arrives later in the day it may well be worth spending your first night at an airport hotel and collect your car the next day.

I don't want to dwell on the negative aspects of Miami too much but you should always make sure that you know where you are going and which roads to take when travelling around the city. There are areas that you must not enter for your own safety and it is quite easy to miss-read a sign on the highway or take a wrong turn off a main road, as we all do in unfamiliar surroundings, and suddenly find yourself in an area that you should not be in. Get yourself a good map and before you travel make sure you know your route well. A few minutes studying the map could save you a lot of time and possible grief later on.

Click here for a general map of Miami.