Top 10 things to do in Palm Beach

If you love sunshine and superyachts, then the Palm Beach International Boat Show, March 21-24 2024, is the one for you. While you're there, enjoy the high life, and a little culture, with our city guide...

Separated from mainland Florida by the Lake Worth Lagoon, the town of Palm Beach is famed for its grand estates, golden beaches and reputation as a yachting mainstay. Paired with upscale boutiques and restaurants, plus galleries and museums showcasing talent and heritage - and it all adds up to an exciting city break. Here are our top 10 suggestions to tick off next time you’re visiting.

1. Play a legendary round of golf

The Banyan Cay Resort and Golf Course is an elegant way to unwind when in Palm Beach. The PGA national resort offers lush, rolling fairways and varied terrain, with an 18-hole signature course designed by renowned designer Jack Nicklaus taking centre stage in the South Florida region. Located in the heart of West Palm Beach, it’s conveniently less than 10 minutes from Palm Beach International Airport.

2. Go designer shopping on Worth Avenue

Move from ocean to catwalk in one clean step. Palm Beach’s collection of Worth Avenue shops offer fashion, accessories, home furnishings and jewellery. It’s the Bond Street of the US, where luxury brands cluster together to give you an exceptional shopping experience. Surrounded by picturesque scenery, it is also a popular dining spot, so you'll spoiled for choice when it comes to taking a lunchtime pause.

3. Dine out at the 'in' restaurant

Café Boulud reflects chef Daniel Boulud's culinary muses. One of Palm Beach’s most fashionable eateries serves a taste-whipping menu of traditional French cuisine using the best local ingredients and seafood. The gourmet French American dining experience takes place inside the Brazilian Court Hotel, with an elegant outdoor terrace. Serving signature dishes, such as steak tartare, roasted duck breast and Shabazi spiced Mediterranean sea bass, the award-winning bistro has a dress code (no beach wear or shorts, ever).

4. Be wowed by a 75-room 'gilded age' mansion

There aren’t many architectural destinations that can rival the 100,000 square foot gilded age mansion now preserved in the Henry Morrison Flagler Museum. Whitehall, a 75-room estate in Palm Beach, is arguably one of the most lavish homes ever built in the US. Completed in 1902, the New York Herald proclaimed it to be 'more wonderful than any palace in Europe, grander and more magnificent than any other private dwelling in the world'. A tour of the grounds and property is a step back in time. 

5. Book a Forbes Five-Star spa treatment (you won't regret it)

One of only two Forbes Five-Star resorts in Palm Beach, the Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa sits high on visitors’ lists for its incredible Eau Spa facilities, including water gardens and 19 treatment rooms. The wonderland comprises 42,000sqft of playful relaxation, with experiences centring around a candle-lit wishing well, dipping pools and cabanas. You are also offered private garden villas, set within a secret garden, to enjoy before or after a treatment. When you are ready to chill, a day pass to this paradise might just be the ticket.

6. Kick up your heels at a famous cabaret performance

'Life is a cabaret', or so they say... Take in a lively performance at the renowned Colony Hotel in Palm Beach. The Royal Room Cabaret is a cosy show in an intimate setting that captures the essence of New York’s Waldorf Astoria in a Floridian setting. Doors open at 6pm for cocktails, followed by a seated dinner. Returning cabaret performers include triple crown winner, Baby Jane Dexter, as well as local favourite and Broadway performer, Avery Sommers.

7. Watch sizzling international-standard polo

Located in Wellington, Florida, the International Polo Club Palm Beach is one of the largest polo clubs in the world. Best known for hosting elite competitions during polo season each January to April, the top-level facility takes in several grass polo fields, two of which are part of stadiums. Sip champagne as the world’s premier polo players thrash it out on field. Just be sure to wear shoes that a suitable for the popular half-time occupation of divot stomping.

7. Lust over Billionaires Row

Billionaires Row is what the locals in Palm Beach have affectionately coined the prominent residences and celebrity condos that line South Ocean Boulevard. Only the richest of the rich live here, in this hotly sought after zip code and with stunning views of the Atlantic Ocean. Stretching from Key West at the southern tip of Florida to Fernandina Beach, the scenic coastal route takes in most Atlantic coastal cities and towns and is recognised the world over as the centre of Floridian beach culture, including the tropical coral islands of the Florida Keys. 

9. Wander and dream in the Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens

If the gentle combination of nature, art and history inspires you, then the Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens located in West Palm Beach, Florida, is a must. Set in the grounds of the historic home of celebrated American artist and sculptor Ann Norton, the sculpture gardens form part of a conservation foundation set up by Ann in 1977. Displayed throughout the house, sculpture studio and gardens are more than 100 works by the artist, including nine monumental sculptures, eight in brick and one in granite. 

10. Come to Palm Beach International Boat Show with Burgess, 21-24 March, 2024

Following the Fort Lauderdale and Miami shows, the International Palm Beach Boat Show rounds off a trio of Florida yachting events. It’s an ideal opportunity for anyone looking to buy, sell or charter a boat, as well as an opportunity to immerse in the world of yachting. A team of Burgess brokers are on hand to share their market insights and lead private yacht tours with clients interested in any of the yachts on display. 

To find out more about Burgess’ yachts for sale and yachts for charter, please contact a Burgess broker. Alternatively, get in touch with one of our offices directly: London, Monaco, New York, Miami, Singapore or all other locations.

- Yachts, prices and availability are correct at the time of publication.