What to see and do in Palm Beach and West Palm Beach—and where to stay
The pretty Vineta Hotel is down the block from the Brazilian Court Hotel near Worth Avenue.
by Irene Daria
Everything you need to know for a great visit to Palm Beach and West Palm Beach: where to stay (including hotels + the best neighborhood for an Airbnb), best beaches, restaurants, daytrips, shopping, biking, and a walking tour of Worth Avenue that takes you to its charming alleys and courtyards, lovely shops, the nearby waterfront, the Brazilian Court Hotel and more.
Getting oriented in Palm Beach and West Palm
Palm Beach is an extraordinarily upscale island bordered by the Atlantic Ocean on the east and the pretty Intracoastal Waterway—with its lovely yachts and marinas—on the west. The island runs parallel to West Palm Beach, which is directly across the Intracoastal Waterway. Four bridges connect the two Palm Beaches. To help you get oriented, here is a map of some points of interest. You can plot any sights or restaurants you want to visit into an interactive version of the map at this link. At the link, go to the list of sights on the left side of the map and type in your destination where it says “enter a destination.” You can type in several places of interest. It will make getting oriented so easy for you!
Best places to stay in Palm Beach or West Palm Beach
Best oceanfront resorts
If you want to be on the ocean (and are up for the splurge), the Four Seasons or the Breakers are your best bets since both are oceanfront. I have been lucky enough to stay at both places several times. Check out my post on this first-world question: Is it better to stay at the Four Seasons or The Breakers? to help you decide which hotel is best for your needs.
Best location for an Airbnb in West Palm Beach
Be VERY careful when choosing your Airbnb location. West Palm Beach is very large and has some less desirable areas. Choose a place east of Dixie Highway/US-1 for optimal safety and convenience. The first Airbnb I reserved (and, fortunately, canceled) was near Riviera Beach on Singer Island. Parts of Singer Island are very pretty, and parts are pretty iffy. We checked out the Airbnb we canceled to see if it was a possibility for future visits, and its outdoor area was like something from a third-world country. And Riviera Beach, although quite pretty, was too crowded and had too many radios playing for us.
This is where we almost stayed!
This is where we ended up staying. And it was in the price the same price range as the place in Riviera Beach!
The Airbnb we stayed in was a private suite attached to the owner’s home in the Southside neighborhood. (You can see its location on the map above.) We had exclusive use of the pool and backyard. The homes in our immediate area were pretty and well-maintained. The Intracoastal was a short walk away, and as we approached the water, the houses became more and more beautiful. We loved strolling past the gorgeous homes landscaped with bougainvillea north of Hunter Street and East of South Olive Avenue and along the wide pedestrian walkway paralleling the Intracoastal. Click here to see our Airbnb listing online.
Which neighborhood is best for an Airbnb rental in West Palm Beach:
Click here for an article that will help you decide which neighborhood is best for you in West Palm Beach.
The side streets in Southside were practically devoid of traffic, so it was very quiet. We were so grateful for our little oasis. It was peaceful and perfectly located for exploring all of the below…
Best things to see and do in Palm Beach and West Palm Beach
Explore the charming alleys and courtyards along Worth Avenue
Worth Avenue is a luxury shopping street lined with exclusive stores and with more parked Bentleys and Maybachs than you’ll ever seen in one place! But that’s not what makes it special. What gives Worth Avenue its charm are the European-feeling alleys and courtyards you’ll discover behind the stores. The alleys are called “vias” (Italian for “street” or “road”) and they were created by visionary—and quite eccentric—architect Addison Mizner. Each via is unique in how it blends different Mediterranean architectural styles, and each is home to various shops, cafes, or restaurants with outdoor seating. They are truly a pleasure to walk through. For wandering, I recommend going during the day so you can fully see the vias’ charms.
Make sure to check out #1 Via Mizner. The arch in the photo, left, is the entrance to Via Mizner, and the building on the left was his home.
The entrance to #1 Via Mizner is the first door on the left in the alley. Peek inside and you will most likely see a pet pig happily sleeping on a pet bed.
At the end of the courtyard, you will find Pizza Al Fresco’s charming outdoor patio which houses the grave of Mizner’s pet monkey. If you want to eat here, come at night when it is at its prettiest and temper your expectations about the food, which is just so-so.
Take a historic walking tour along Worth Avenue.
This well-regarded walking tour is given every Wednesday at 10:30 AM from November to April. You’ll learn about Worth Avenue’s origins, architecture, and landmarks, and hear stories about some of its famous residents. If you can’t make the tour, click here for an excellent history of Worth Avenue.
Best walk to see the Worth Avenue neighborhood:
Start your walk at the Clock Tower at the eastern end of the street in front of Municipal Beach. (This is a pretty public beach that is free and open to all.)
Follow Worth Avenue—making sure to check out the vias as you go—until it ends at the Intracoastal Waterway.
Turn right, and look for the paved walking path along the Intracoastal.
Yachts along the walking path along the Intracoastal.
The lovely walking path continues.
Follow the walking path to the end and check out the banyan trees.
Walk back along the street (as opposed to on the paved walking path) and turn left onto Australian Avenue.
Take Australian Avenue to the Brazilian Court Hotel. Admire the pretty houses along the way and check out the hotel’s well-regarded restaurant, Café Boulud. Its outdoor patio is one of the prettiest in Palm Beach. (Tied only with the Four Seasons outdoor patio overlooking its pool area with the ocean in the distance.)
Turn left as you exit the hotel, then turn right and follow that street back to Worth Avenue.
Visit the best beaches in Palm Beach and West Palm Beach
Here are our picks for…
The most beautiful beach in the Palm Beach area: It’s a tie between…
1. The beach at the Four Seasons Resort (which you can access by parking at Lake Worth Beach, see below) and
2. John D. MacArthur Beach State Park at the north end of Singer Island. At the latter, you walk along a long and lovely boardwalk to get to the ocean. The beach is beautiful and lined with nature as opposed to high-rises. (You hear a lot of “Oh wows” when people first see it.)
Note: The restrooms at John MacArthur Beach are a long walk from the beach itself.
TIP: While you are on Singer Island, check out Sailfish Marina.
They have a very nice outdoor restaurant overlooking a lovely marina, and their beach shop is very well curated with nice dresses and home goods. They also offer a “now and then” cruise by water taxi that talks about the yachts and homes of the wealthy. The cruise sounds like fun and is on my list of things to do if we return.
Best local beach in Palm Beach: Lake Worth Beach.
This is a lovely, wide, ocean beach located just south of the Four Seasons Resort on Palm Beach. It gets busy, but all you have to do is turn left and walk towards the Four Seasons for a quieter experience. The beach has restrooms, paid parking, and a pavilion with a pizzeria, a sit-down restaurant, and a Kilwin’s. There is also a long pier that is home to a popular bar-food type restaurant called Benny’s on the Beach.
Best beach for a quick fix of the ocean: Municipal Beach.
400 S. Ocean Blvd. (Where Worth Avenue begins at the Clocktower.)
This is a narrow, city beach fronted by high-rise apartment buildings, but if you face the ocean, you’ll never know that.
Note: There is one public access point and, if you go for a walk here, you will need to return to that point to exit since the rest of the beach has access only to private homes.
Have brunch at Café Boulud
The outdoor courtyard at Cafe Bouloud.
I am not usually a brunch person, but eating brunch OUTSIDE here is so delightful that I would put it on your list of must-dos.
A word of warning: As with most of the restaurants in Palm Beach (where I have found the spicing to have been tamped down to meet the needs of a salt and spice-avoiding older population), you are coming for the experience and not necessarily the food. But brunch here is SO pretty and the staff is so nice that it is worth it.
I am a scone lover and was looking forward to having them here. (They were the main reason we came.) Sadly, I sent them back to the kitchen because they were raw inside. The waiter reported that the chef said they were supposed to be because they were just baked. (??????) Even if they had not been raw, I would not have been a fan because the outsides (which were fully baked) tasted more like biscuits than scones.
The good news: They looked very pretty and the kitchen was kind enough to remove them from the bill. We did not ask them to do that.
I also ordered the lemon ricotta pancakes. Most impressive was how piping hot they were when they came out and how perfectly cooked. But again, almost no flavor. If they had upped the lemon flavor, they would have been great.
My husband ordered a Reuben sandwich, shown left, and he enjoyed it.
Another great brunch option: the Four Seasons.
Make sure you sit outside by the pool. They have a very nice buffet, and I love their mango yogurt and banana bread.
Check out the Breakers resort
You can self-park and explore the hotel, its grounds, and its pretty courtyard, but the pool areas are restricted to hotel guests. You can access the beach (or sit on a bench and enjoy it from the hotel grounds) if you turn left at the end of the walkway to the pool areas. The hotel’s courtyard is a very pretty place to grab a coffee from the adjoining hotel shop and do some remote work if that is on your agenda.
Bicycle ride along the Palm Beach Bicycle Trail
This is a very pretty ride. You will follow the Intracoastal and see some lovely mansions and many of Palm Beach’s main sights. We rented from the Palm Beach Bicycle Trail Shop, which is very close to the trail. They were very nice and the bikes were in great shape. Click here for a description of the trail and a map.
Go outlet shopping
The Tanger outlet mall is just 20 minutes north of West Palm. It is very pleasant and has a very large selection of stores.
Go out to eat!
The food is not amazing in Palm Beach or West Palm Beach, but the restaurants are fun to go to. Here’s what we experienced at some of the popular places. In addition to Café Boulud and the Four Seasons, we ate at:
Review of Aioli in West Palm Beach
People ordering at the counter at Aioli. Notice the line outside the door.
The pastries at Aioli.
This place is JAMMED. It is beloved by locals and listed in Michelin’s Bib Gourmand. The first time we went, we were hoping to have breakfast, but they stop serving breakfast at 11 on weekdays. I had a grilled vegetable and goat cheese sandwich on ciabatta instead. The bread was good, and the veggies were good (but plain), and there was hardly any goat cheese. There was not much flavor to the whole thing. My husband had a chicken salad sandwich on sourdough, and it was fine. Just fine. Nothing wrong with it but not something I would stand on line for. Given the popularity of the place, we went back again thinking we may have ordered the wrong thing. This time we went for breakfast. It was a beautiful day and we got it to go because the place was too frenetic to eat at (both inside and outside). We had a tailgate picnic on the street.
Tailgating down the block from Aioli in West Palm Beach.
That was lovely.
We split their biscuit, egg, bacon and cheese sandwich. Again, the food was pretty much just fine. We also split their egg, cheese and sausage sandwich on a croissant. Maybe we left the sandwich wrapped too long, but the croissant was soggy and, again, there not much flavor to any of it. Including the sausage. I didn’t finish my half. Not a repeat for us.
Kitchen in West Palm Beach.
This place is owned by Tiger Woods’ former chef. We ate at a nice outdoor sitting area in the parking lot. We split the burger as an appetizer and it was good. I had grilled branzino and it was good. Husband had the Chicken Schnitzel which came with radish, sweet onion, mushroom, arugula and fried egg. It was identified on the menu as the chef’s favorite dish and it sure sounded good. It wasn’t. It wasn’t bad, but, again, not much flavor. We were beginning to see a pattern here…
The restaurant is known for its coconut cake. I tried a slice and, again, not much flavor. The coconut was only in the frosting and even that did not have much coconut flavor. It tasted more like vanilla cake than coconut cake. I brought the leftover home but ended up throwing it away.
My advice to the chef? Check out Ina Garten’s coconut cupcakes recipe. It can also be made as a cake and it is AMAZING.
Stage in Palm Beach Gardens.
https://www.stagekitchenandbar.com/location/stage-pga/
Stage is an Indian restaurant that does not have a Michelin star, but is on Michelin’s list of recommended restaurants. Here is what Michelin has to say about it: “Chef Pushkar Marathe oversees an eclectic menu that isn't bound by any one cuisine. His Indian roots appear throughout, while other dishes are inspired by his travels. Butter chicken is a nod to his Indian roots while duck confit egg rolls, shrimp and grits, and a burger show off his wide-reaching inspiration. No matter the selection, it's all good…Breads like the flaky paratha are a treat.
I agree with Michelin. It was all good. Again, under spiced for our palettes. I had the butter chicken, but that is supposed to be mild. It was good. (Better reheated the next day, as if the spices had mixed and mingled.) Husband had the pork chop which was pretty plain in terms of flavor. Again, it was all good. Just good. Actually, wait! The garlic nan was GREAT. Best part of the meal.
Note: Stage is very loud inside so make sure to ask for a table outdoors.
El Camino in Boca Raton
El Camino is a chain of Mexican restaurants located throughout Florida and the one in Boca Raton is very pretty. We had a lovely time here. Having eaten at a few local restaurants, we were no longer expecting a wow-factor from the food. We were out for a lovely ambiance and the pleasure of sharing the experience together.
We were very surprised when the margaritas were great!
The food was plentiful and good. Again, just good.
We both had the enchiladas—chicken for me and steak for my husband. The most flavorful part of the meal was the refried beans. Order them if you go. The guacamole was better the next day. Maybe it needed to absorb its spices.
Our best meal:
It was not in Palm Beach. It was in Delray at Taverna Kyma. Friends of ours who used to own several restaurants in the Hamptons and in other parts of Long Island now live in Delray, and this is their go-to restaurant. I ate the best gyro I have ever had, and I’ve had many. It’s a very busy and large place with outdoor seating that is a distance from town. Highly recommend.
Where we would eat in the future: These same friends also highly recommend The French Bakery in Delray and Oceano in Lake Worth Beach (just south of Palm Beach). If and when we go back, we will check those out. Lynora’s was recommended by our Airbnb owner. We had the limoncello cake from there and it was great. The chocolate chip cookies looked amazing. They have Italian dinners pre-packaged to go and reheat. You can also eat in. The one near our Airbnb was in a former gas station and it was a fun ambiance.
In the past, we have eaten at Palm Beach Grill and have always liked the food there. (It is owned by Hillstone, but seems to want to keep that a secret.) Make reservations early because the place books up fast. Now that we have tried several other area restaurants we know why!!
Our takeaway: We had a lovely trip. We had gorgeous weather and the best part of our trip was relaxing in our backyard and soaking up the sun. We watched the palm trees sway and two monarch butterflies flutter around in them every morning. It was too windy for sitting at the beach on most days, but we loved walking by the ocean. It was fun to explore Worth Avenue and the vias and to see the houses along the Intracoastal. Clematis Street was too commercial for us. It was nice to try the different restaurants, and we had pleasant evenings at all of them even if we didn’t think the food was outstanding.
Note: West Palm is close enough for an easy day trip to Jupiter and Delray. Delray has beautiful beaches and a strip of fun restaurants.