Ft Lauderdale is a city that offers all the usual Florida earmarks. Bayou tours, amusement parks and white sandy beaches make this an ideal family area, and the tourism industry here is primarily geared towards visitors with kids. Except for Spring Break, when the town is overrun with vacationing college kids; plenty of fun for the youths but less attractive for anyone not in the mood for all-night parties.
Things to Do
Boomers is the amusement park in Fort Lauderdale that offers a day of thrills and spills for kids and braver parents. Go-Karting is the number one attraction (not for the little ones though, you need to be 12 or over to get behind the driver's wheel) and is relatively safe, with padded boundaries and mandatory safety gear for all drivers. Other popular attractions are the SkyCoaster (a combination of roller coaster and bungee), the rock-climbing wall and bumper boats. There is a snack-bar onsite, but families can also take their own food (recommended if you like to eat food that hasn't been fried, deep-fried or crumbed-and-fried!).
Things to See
A more sedate attraction of Fort Lauderdale is Butterfly World on West Sample Road. The park is three acres of butterflies (thousands of them). If you thought your kids were incapable of sitting still, watch them try to get a butterfly to land on them. Butterfly World is also home to an insectarium (not for the creepy-crawly phobic) as well as a landscape made up of sweeping lawns, fairy-forest trails and gardens filled with orchids and roses. The atmosphere is almost palpable, and visitors often report coming away feeling calm and uplifted.
Cruise Ships
Port Everglades in Ft Lauderdale is the main dock for cruise ships visiting the area. It is possible to grab yourself a discounted bunk by having a chat with the Cruise Director on one of the ships that have stopped over in town, and these behemoths have everything you and your kids could ask for on a perfect vacation: Movie theaters, ice rinks, rick climbing, shopping, even a wedding chapel, and child-free areas for parents to relax in while the kids are taking part in the organized activities or spending time in one of the dedicated child-minding areas. If sea-going isn't your thing, the dock is still worth a visit for a look at these Cities of the Sea, or for a sunset dinner in one of Ft Lauderdale's seafood restaurants that are dotted around the bay.
Off the Beaten Path
Heading off the beaten path in Fort Lauderdale usually involves heading to one of the nature preserves. Although still heavily trafficked by tourists, it is in the bayous that its easiest to forget that the rest of the world exists. An airboat tour of the everglades is not only fun by itself (skimming the surface of the wetlands on a boat that is little more than a wooden board powered by a giant fan) but also a good chance to take a peek at the diverse range of wetlands wildlife, with the occasional 'lucky' encounter with a member of the local alligator population. Flamingo Gardens is one of the best places for one of these encounters, and as well as bayou tours also offers 60 acres of gardens ranging from an easy stroll through the Botanical Garden to a light hike on one of the wood trails.
Hotels
Accommodation can be found in the center of Fort Lauderdale for between $100 and $200 a night, depending on the season and quality of the hotel. Nature preserves also offer accommodation, with a lodge and park pass package priced at around $150 per night per person.
Use the Hotelsio Rate Finder on the left to find cheap hotels in Fort Lauderdale.
(Photo:Fotolia/icholakov)
