It’s Officially “Getaway” Season: Our Palm Beach Travel Guide

*Opens Weather App*
76 Degrees, Fahrenheit. Well, we did it, folks.

We pushed through the longest winter known to man, we attended (or found excuses to avoid) those high school and college graduations, and we have traded in layers for linens. We’re swapping “I can see my breath” for “can you tell I’m sweating?” in the best way imaginable. Yes, Summer is here — leapfrogging Spring without any warning — and we are as ready as we’ve ever been for the change.

Anna and I made the trek down to Florida’s Palm Beach a couple of months ago to get the jump on the lurking humidity. As always, the city and everything it has to offer reminded us why it’s become our favorite place to visit for a beach getaway. Whether you’ve been plotting a summer beach trip, or have been too busy to even consider it, we wanted to share about our most recent visit and some of our favorite things to do while we’re there.

About Palm Beach

We’ve had the chance to visit West Palm Beach’s introverted older sister four times over the past few years, and while we’re certainly not experts on all things Palm Beach, the quiet, upscale beach community has become a go to for us. Home to many retired New Yorkers, it’s built for beach bums, but offers a genuinely luxurious shake-up from your run-of-the-mill oceanside city. You can just as easily sip a cocktail poolside as you can shop SoHo-style on Worth Ave. Because the island is so small, you’re always a short ride away from the beach, shopping, good food, tennis courts, or a round of golf. If all else fails, cruising around to look at all the luxurious homes on the island is a great time, too.

Where to Stay

airbnb – For our first trip to Palm Beach, we stayed in an amazing airbnb that was centrally located, affordable, and beautifully decorated. Unfortunately, that specific unit is no longer available, but there are tons of “rent-by-owner” options on both airbnb and VRBO that check all of those boxes. Unless you’re preference is to stay at a high-end resort, I recommend starting here and seeing what you can find. In our research, we’ve found there are tons of great places to stay that are close to the beach, airport (regardless of where you stay in Palm Beach proper, you’re probably only 15 minutes away from the airport at any given time), and other attractions.

The Colony – We’ve had the chance to stay at this boutique hotel twice, and both times were really enjoyable. The Colony has a great restaurant, coffee shop, and bar on property, along with a pool where you can eat french fries while sun bathing — is there anything better? It’s legitimately a 2 minute walk to Worth Ave, Starbucks, and the beach, and offers a club car or golf cart to take you wherever you need to go. It’s extremely pet friendly, and the staff is really helpful (they’ve added a texting service that we definitely abused while we were there). If you need another mode of transportation, they also offer complimentary, pink cruiser bikes to roll around town.

The Colony also has a cute flamingo theme that works in some ways, and feels over-the-top in others, but in general, it’s a great experience we highly recommend if you’re willing to spend more to have the convenience of on-site dining and a great location. They are currently closed during summer 2022 for renovations but will reopen in the fall.

The Breakers – Likely the most well-known resort hotel in Palm Beach, The Breakers has all the amenities to accompany the high-end price tag. We went all out for a two night trip there two years ago, and it was genuinely the best hotel experience we’ve ever had. There are several restaurants on property, a gorgeous bar/lounge, in addition to poolside dining and a cafe. The spa was wonderful, and there are even some shops on property if you don’t want to make the short trek over to Worth.

The resort also includes a massive gym, basketball and tennis courts, golf course, multiple pools, cabanas, and a guest-only beach. It’s the kind of place that truly makes you feel like you’re living in luxury. If you never left the Breakers the entire time you stay there, you wouldn’t feel like you’ve missed a thing. That said, you do need to take ubers to go off property, so if you plan to be out and about a good bit and don’t plan to rent a car, this may not be the resort for you.

While we can’t recommend the Breakers highly enough for someone looking to break the bank on a big time vacation, it’s just hard to swallow a resort this expensive. Even if you get what you pay for, you do pay a lot to get it.

Where to Eat

• Seafood Bar at The Breakers (Try the Blue Crab Nachos, please.)
• Swifty’s at The Colony
• Henry’s Palm Beach
• Cafe Via Flora
• Renato’s (Atmosphere, food, and wine were all 10/10!)
• Sprinkles Ice Cream & Sandwich Shop
• Sant Ambroeus (A little piece of Manhattan in Palm Beach)
• Publix (For groceries and other needs. Our Georgia hearts feel at home.)

What to Do

• Shopping on Worth Ave.
• Shopping at The Royal Poinciana Plaza.
• Enjoy a quiet beach day at Municipal Beach by the Worth Ave Clock Tower. It has great sunrise views and is never crowded.
• Cruise around town taking in the ocean views, gaudy houses, palm tree lined streets, and venture down to South Palm Beach to see the parks, houses, golf courses, and more. (If you rent a car, we can’t recommend this enough! It sounds simple, but it’s a fun way to spend time and take in the island.)
• Golf! It’s the golf capital of Florida, and there are tons courses to choose from at varying accessibility/price points.
• Spa day at the Breakers. (Hands down our favorite spa experience to date, plus you can explore the Breakers’ amazing property and grab a bite to eat while you’re there.)
• If you want a night out on the town, ride across the bridge to West Palm Beach, where you’ll find tons of restaurants and bars to choose from.
• The Society of the Four Arts houses an art gallery, botanical garden, and sculptures.
• The Flagler Museum.

Let us know about your summer vacay plans in the comments!