Aw .. South Florida, it was my home for 12 years (with some breaks since I was traveling elsewhere).
South Florida is Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties. In other words, cities between Homestead and West Palm Beach are included as South Florida. Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Aventura, Hallandale, Boca Raton, Pompano Beach, Doral, Weston … There are many cities to discover.
Let’s start with Miami-Dade. Actually in ‘Miami’ there are several cities. Sure, the most common thing to say is ‘I’m going to Miami’ when you’re actually staying in Kendall or Miramar (being this last one part of Broward County).
In Miami-Dade you will find cities such as Aventura, Coral Gables, Doral, Florida City, Hialeah, Miami, Miami Beach, South Miami, Sweetwater among others. Yes, all of those and more are cities, it’s all part of the Miami metropolitan area (which also includes the cities of Broward and Palm Beach counties). There are also very popular towns or areas such as Key Biscayne, Bal Harbor or Miami Lakes. But this may change, I remember when I moved to Doral in January 2003 it was not yet a city, it was part of Miami, but in June of that same year it became a city and in the 5 years I lived there it grew very fast.
Did you know that there was also another city called Iceland? It was founded in 1960 but in 2010 it only had 18 inhabitants, so in 2012 it stopped being a city.
And of course, if we talk about sports, there’s the American Airlines Arena (or also known as Triple A) – name has been changing a lot lately) home of the Miami Heat, Marlins Park, Sun Life Stadium (basketball, baseball and American football respectively).
In Broward the best known city is Ft. Lauderdale, but it also has others such as Dania Beach, Hallandale Beach, Hollywood (yes, there is a Hollywood in Florida and it is beautiful!), Miramar (my other city for 5 years), Pembroke Pines , Sunrise (if you have visited the Sawgrass Mills (mall), you have visited Sunrise), Weston among others. Also areas or towns that are not considered cities but are worth visiting as Lauderdale-by-the-Sea. In the city of Sunrise there is also the BB&T Center, home of the Florida Panthers (Hockey).
In Broward it is impossible not to visit Las Olas Blvd. in Ft. Lauderdale as well as the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino located in Hollywood. Both places with a lot of entertainment, usually for adults, but also perfect for the whole family if you go to one of the many restaurants.
Palm Beach is the northernmost county of these 3. Among the cities are Boca Raton, Delray Beach and of course West Palm Beach among others. Although the beaches are the main tourist spots, here you can visit a beautiful place: “Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens”. Japanese gardens, very beautiful landscapes, very quiet and even a Japanese restaurant.
If you have any anecdote or travel tips that you want to add about South Florida, do not hesitate to contact us so we can publish your story.
And don’t forget to check the category menu on the side with more detailed posts.
