#2 Best in US Luxury Destinations #6 Best in Summer Vacations By US News Travel
As the oldest city in South Florida, West Palm Beach was originally founded to house employees from the resort island of Palm Beach. But years of coastal culture, ocean-fueled cuisine and a bustling art scene have transformed this town into a truly vibrant, upscale destination with a character all its own. Emerging as one of Florida's most exciting cities, Downtown West Palm Beach is defined by international dining, shopping, entertainment, and a growing residential community known as America's First Resort Destination ®, established in 1894. Location Downtown Map Plan Your Visit Where to Go
CityPlace, an Italian-inspired, mixed-use project that's home to more than 80 shops, 20 restaurants, 20-screen Muvico cinema and a 1920s church adapted to serve as a multi-purpose cultural center. Location
Minutes to Everything! You can enjoy City Place Shops & Restaurants: a $600 million complex of designer shops, select restaurants, Blue Martini Friday's, Spa, or Jazz by the Fountain Series on Sundays. City Place lures Palm Beachers with department store shopping. Look for strappy sandals, gauzy sundresses and sexy beachwear, plus much more! CityPlace West Palm Beach
Free Trolley Service
CityPlace operates a free trolley service that links the center with the Clematis District and has more than 50,000 people riding the trolleys each month. This service in itself has become a popular tourist attraction, and runs from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Wednesday, and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Thursday through Saturday.
CityPlace Store Directory
CityPlace Website
561.366.1000
The Historic Clematis District is the backbone of the city. It offers a creative, funky, eclectic mix of restaurants and shops, plus more than 10,000 residences, live/work lofts and luxury condominiums. Dining is an international experience where patrons may sample flavors from around the world while stores are a mix of national brands and homegrown favorites. See Location
Every Thursday evening, downtown’s already animated nightlife offers even more in the way of exciting entertainment with the award winning, Clematis by Night free fountainside concert series. While there, visitors and locals have the opportunity to mingle among arts and crafts vendors, while enjoying the live entertainment. Clematis West Palm Beach
Clematis Street Store Directory
Clematis Street Website
561. 833. 8873
An already bustling core with award winning events like Sunfest, Clematis by Night, Jazz on the Palm, Screen on the Green, The Green Market, and Alive at Five, coupled with exciting new residential and civic developments, as well as new business and office development, sets the stage for establishing Downtown West Palm Beach as a unique, dynamic destination offering an authentic urban experience with a tropical twist. Location
The city radiates extraordinary natural beauty in its environmentally sensitive lands to the west and its urban waterfront to the east running six miles along Flagler Drive. Its position on the Intra-coastal Waterway, across from the island of Palm Beach, provides the added benefit of cool ocean breezes all year long. More about Waterfront Commons Park
West Palm Beach is a city of celebrations, many featured along our waterfront. The City’s waterfront is home to well over 100 events annually. The City’s mile-long downtown waterfront runs parallel to the Intracoastal Waterway. Waterfront and City Commons
Worth Avenue Palm Beach Named as #1 of the 2012 Top 5 Shopping Neighborhoods from South Beach, Miami, to Palm Beach by Haute Living. From boutiques to rich and famous you will find on streets of world-famous Worth Avenue. Hot off the heels of last year’s celebration of the town of Palm Beach’s 100th anniversary birthday, Worth Avenue is still abuzz. Perhaps that’s because even post centennial, this well-punctuated strip has reason to celebrate. Here are just a few of those reasons: Tiffany & Co, Ralph Lauren, Jimmy Choo, East Coast Jewelry, Cartier, Michael Kors, and many more. A small sampling of the top notch designer outposts lining this high-end shopping destination, there are a whole shopping trip’s worth and we highly recommend you check them out! Read More
Leave the Bermuda shorts behind in favor of crisply ironed linen for swanky, oceanfront dining in Palm Beach. Overlook the surf dining on platters of freshly caught seafood, from Florida lobster to snapper, at beachside dining rooms. Nightlife on Worth Avenue
Worth Avenue Store Directory
Worth Avenue Website
561.659.6909
Location
Palm Beach, located 65 miles north of Miami, sits right on Florida's Atlantic coast. For generations, the city has been the traditional winter home of American aristocracy -- the Kennedys, Rockefellers and Trumps, among others, have all fled northern climes for this slice of paradise. Beyond the upscale resorts that cater to such a crowd, Palm Beach holds some surprises, including the world-class Norton Museum of Art, top-notch birding and the sparkling Intracoastal Waterway. Read more about Palm Beach County
If you come to The Palm Beaches it's guaranteed you'll see plenty of beaches; after all there are 47 miles of Atlantic Ocean coastline here. Our beaches have a bit of everything. Visit a few for a swim and picnic, surf the waves at all of them, or visit just one just to see the sunrise over the ocean. Location
West Palm Beach Antique Row, Art & Design District
A charming district with over 40 antique shops offering an impressive selection of 17th to 20th century antiques, fine and decorative arts, period deco and moderne furnishings, and much more. All within walking distance, this vast array of quality antiques stores, specialty shops and art galleries are complemented by several award-winning restaurants. Architectural Digest, The New York Times, Art & Antiques, and House Beautiful have all heralded Antique Row as one of the east coast's premier antique shopping districts, considered the "antique design center" of Florida. Located on South Dixie Hwy between Belvedere and Southern Blvd. West Palm Beach, FL 33405 See Website for Full Listing of specialty stores, art galleries, and restaurants. Location
Antique Row Store Directory
Antique Row Website
561.804.6682
Shopping is a popular activity in West Palm, not least because the weather is so mild year-round. There are a number of places to shop, including: Location
- CityPlace, two recently-renovated blocks in downtown West Palm that now features dozens of high-end shops.
- Clematis Street, runs perpendicular to CityPlace, and is the older, trendy shopping district, and several unique, eclectic shops.
- South Dixie Highway provides several blocks of second-hand shops, from thrift stores to high-end antiques.
- Worth Avenue on Palm Beach Island is home to many luxury boutiques.
- Downtown at the Gardens in Palm Beach Gardens has many restaurants, along with other stores, shops, and Cobb movie theaters.
Consignment shops, long the bargain hunter’s paradise, are now a panacea for the formerly fabulous needing to raise quick cash, and nowhere is that more evident than in the storied precincts of Palm Beach!
Want to find Chanel bags, Jimmy Choo, Lana Marks, Escada Coulture and more that can be had at bargain-basement prices? Know where to find these hidden treasure just down street from the luxurious Breakers Hotel! Check out CityGirls only a mile from Casa Grandview, Back on the Rack Clematis, and famous Church Mouse in Palm Beach, plus many more unique specialty shops. See Location Page. Keep us updated of your "fabulous finds! "
Kravis Center of the Performing Arts - 4 blocks North
If you have an interest in the theater and the performing arts, the Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts is the premier location to spend an evening. For museum enthusiasts, the Norton Museum of Art (only a few blocks from Casa Grandview), houses a world-renowned collection of European, American, Chinese and contemporary art. See Arts and Culture
Best Palm Beach Restaurants & Bars of 2012
Artists' lofts, sidewalk cafes, bars, restaurants and galleries dot Clematis Street, the pumping heart of Palm Beach nightlife. On weekends, yuppies mingle with stylish Europeans and disheveled artists sipping tropical cocktails at sidewalk tables or dancing to electronic mixes at youthful bars. On Thursdays, 20- and 30-somethings gather for live rock, blues, reggae and an art show for "Clematis by Night." The moneyed set in Palm Beach is most likely found sipping high-end ports and brandies at oceanfront hotel bars. See Entertainment
Check out the hottest 2012 Top Spots in Palm Beach area by HauteLiving.Com below:
2012 Top Nightlife Spots in Palm Beach
2012 Five Top Sports Bars in Palm Beach to Watch Super Bowl
Downtown, the Norton Museum of Art displays works by the world's most recognizable names: O'Keeffe, Pollock, Monet, Renoir and Picasso.
Today, Whitehall is a National Historic Landmark and is open to the public as the Flagler Museum, featuring guided tours, changing exhibits, and special programs. When it was completed in 1902, the NY Herald proclaimed that Whitehall, Henry Flagler's Gilded Age estate in Palm Beach, was "more wonderful than any palace in Europe, grander and more magnificent than any other private dwelling in the world." See Attractions
View wildlife at Arthur Marshall Wildlife or Loxahatchee Wildlife Preserve or the Wildlife Safari. On the city’s western edge, one can hike, bike, and get a view of the Florida Everglades up close at Grassy Waters Preserve.
Wherever there is an abundance of sun, sand and sightseers, there is golf, and Palm Beach is no exception. Many of the most meticulously manicured and challenging courses are privately owned, but hotel staff can assit guests with available greens. See Outdoor Sports
Public beaches are a rare commodity in Palm Beach, with many of the best cordoned off around private oceanfront estates. Midtown Beach is a notable exception, a golden island of undeveloped strand in a sea of glitz and glamour. Swim in the surf, build sandcastles and work on your tan beneath the eye of a watchful lifeguard. Groomed beach sand, picnic facilities and outdoor recreation dominate at Phipps Ocean Park, another public beach especially popular with families. See Beaches and Parks
West Palm Beach is 17 miles from Delray Beach, 37 miles to Ft. Lauderdale, and 47 miles to South Beach. Palm Tran train service is provided to these cities. See nearby cities. For those looking to enjoy the outdoors, the city’s teeming waterfront offers a walkways and fantastic views of Palm Beach and other surrounding cities. See Location for more information.
Funky and Hip
Northwood Village is one of the most inviting, eclectic, funky and hip micro-neighborhoods in South Florida. Located less than two miles north of downtown West Palm Beach, this fun and vibrant area contains amazing restaurants, unique shops and some of the most creative and interesting merchants you'll ever meet.
Art & Wine Promenade
Northwood Village's monthly Art & Wine Promenade held on the last Friday of every month is not only an award-winning event, but one that draws thousands of people to the area to enjoy a free night out filled with wine tastings, streetside artists, live entertainment and a great time.
Northwood Village Store Directory
Northwood Village Website
561.822.1551
Visitwpb.com is the preferred Online Portal that provides residents and visitors everything they need to know about the beautiful and exciting city of West Palm Beach. The site brings up-to-date information about hotels, restaurants, spas, galleries, museums, places to go, things to do, shopping, events, concerts, nightlife, festivals and more. Check with the site frequently to see the latest happenings!