About Fort Lauderdale

Miami gets the jet-setters—and the sky-high prices. Fort Lauderdale gives you the same ocean beach for less. The average hotel with four stars on travel-booking site TripAdvisor will cost you $40 less in Fort Lauderdale than in Miami. Thanks to the ever-expanding Fort Lauderdale airport, the average roundtrip airfare dropped by almost $30 a ticket last year. Even Florida’s 6% sales tax is a bargain compared with most states’, and Broward County, home to Fort Lauderdale, is one of the few with no local tax.

If it’s your first time in town, stroll along the beach between Sunrise Boulevard and Bahia Mar, says Erik Petersen of Fort Lauderdale Magazine. The main shopping strip, Las Olas Boulevard, is dotted with restaurants. At Mangos, the Las Olas shrimp with olives and artichokes over pasta is a specialty ($21).

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After dinner, stay to dance to the music performed by local bands (no cover fee).

Fort Lauderdale hotels average $161 a night, according to Hotels.com. You can even find a waterfront bargain: Ocean-view rooms at the Sun Tower Hotel & Suites, start at $149 a night in May.