Almost everything worth doing in Hollywood sits on one east-west line: the car-free Broadwalk on the sand, a walkable historic downtown across the Intracoastal, a belt of parks and markets along Sheridan Street, and the Seminole Hard Rock property out on the west side. This guide covers 19 things to do in Hollywood, FL, grouped by where they fall on that line, with parking, hours and season notes attached so you can plan a day that doesn’t cross the city twice.
Getting Oriented Along Hollywood’s East-West Spine
Hollywood is a full-size city, not a beach strip. About 153,000 people live across its 30.8 square miles, making it the third-largest city in Broward County (2020 census figures). For a visitor, that means real distance, and the distance runs east to west.
Start at the ocean, where the Broadwalk and the beachfront hotels take the first few blocks and nothing needs a car. Cross the Intracoastal and keep heading west to reach downtown: Hollywood Boulevard and Harrison Street around Young Circle, where the murals, galleries, cinema and better kitchens sit steps apart. Keep going west and the city turns residential, with the parks, the weekend market and the indoor attractions along Sheridan and Stirling. The Hard Rock anchors the far end.
Beach and downtown are each walkable on their own, but not walkable to each other in August. The city’s all-electric Sun Shuttle runs in two zones, East and West, meeting at City Hall; rides booked in the Circuit app cost $2 per rider, you can also flag one down on the street and ride the route the driver is already on, and the free Holly-Go shuttle runs a fixed route (City of Hollywood). Anything west of I-95 needs a car, and a surprising share of the best of it costs nothing.
The Broadwalk and Hollywood Beach
Hollywood Beach Broadwalk: A Car-Free Promenade on the Sand
The Hollywood Beach Broadwalk stretches nearly 2.5 miles, closed to cars, with cafes, shops and bars along the way, running from Jefferson Street north to Sheridan Street. Travel + Leisure named it one of America’s best beach boardwalks, and free concerts run at the Hollywood Beach Theatre Wednesday through Sunday from 7 to 9 p.m. Walk it early, because there’s almost no shade by midday.
Charnow Park: Free Splash Play Directly on the Sand
Charnow Park sits on the Broadwalk at 300 Connecticut Street with a children’s water playground, which makes it the stretch to aim for with small kids. It’s free, and it’s the meeting point for the monthly Hollywood Beach Sweep. The splash play gets full sun, so mornings beat afternoons in summer. Families here collect bikes, boards and beach chairs faster than a condo closet allows, and a 5×10 storage unit holds the contents of one room. Our guide to things to do in Hollywood with kids covers the family end of the city.
FlowRider Surf Simulator at Margaritaville Hollywood Beach Resort
A FlowRider Double surf simulator sits right on the Broadwalk at the 369-room Margaritaville Hollywood Beach Resort, and watching people fall off it from the promenade costs nothing. Check the resort’s current access rules before lining up with a young child. Margaritaville is also the Water Taxi’s Hollywood stop; the Hollywood route runs to the Hilton Marina in Fort Lauderdale, where you transfer for Las Olas and the Galleria. Our day trips from Hollywood guide has more of those.
Hollywood North Beach Park and the Sea Turtle Center
Hollywood North Beach Park caps the north end of the Broadwalk with beach access and picnic areas, and it’s the right target when the central beach lots fill. On its grounds, Nova Southeastern University runs the Marine Environmental Education Center at 4414 N Surf Road, with two resident sea turtles, Captain and Cane, the historic Carpenter House and hands-on exhibits. It’s open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and admission is free to the general public (Nova Southeastern University). It’s two turtles and an exhibit, not a full aquarium.
Hollywood Brewery Bar & Grill: Brewing on the Broadwalk Since 2012
Hollywood Brewery Bar & Grill at 290 N Broadwalk has brewed its own beer on site since 2012, with beach views, a full bar and a kitchen turning out burgers, pizza, wings and seafood. It’s open daily from 11 a.m. to midnight (Hollywood Brewery). Come for the beer and the address, not for a quiet table. Our Hollywood nightlife guide covers the rooftops and late kitchens.
Le Tub: A Converted Gas Station and a 13-Ounce Burger
Le Tub occupies a converted Sunoco gas station at 1100 N Ocean Drive on the Intracoastal side, open since 1975, and the order is The Original, a 13-ounce chargrilled burger on a Kaiser roll (Le Tub). There are no reservations, and the waterfront seats carry a long wait at peak hours. The kitchen runs to midnight Sunday through Thursday and 1 a.m. on Friday and Saturday, so arriving late is the smart play.
Downtown Hollywood and Young Circle
ArtsPark at Young Circle: 10 Acres in the Middle of Downtown
ArtsPark at Young Circle is 10 acres of green ringed by the downtown blocks, with an amphitheater, a playground with a splash pad and Millennium Springs, a 126-foot water sculpture by Japanese artist Ritsuko Taho (Institute for Public Art). Free movies run Friday nights at 8 p.m., and a free drum circle meets at Palm Court on each full moon. The park is plastic- and foam-free, so leave bottled water in the car.
Downtown Hollywood Mural Project and the Monthly ArtWalk
The Downtown Hollywood Mural Project spreads large-scale work by local and internationally known artists across the downtown blocks, and seeing it costs nothing. Go in the morning, before the heat and before parked cars block the lower halves of the walls. The Downtown Hollywood ArtWalk runs the third Saturday of every month from 6 to 10 p.m., with a free guided mural tour leaving at 6 p.m. from 20th Avenue and Harrison Street.
Art and Culture Center of Hollywood
The Art and Culture Center of Hollywood at 1650 Harrison Street runs contemporary exhibitions, live performances and arts education, and it’s genuinely indoors, which makes it a real answer to an afternoon downpour rather than a consolation prize. Check the exhibition calendar first, because between shows there’s noticeably less to see.
Cinema Paradiso Hollywood
Cinema Paradiso Hollywood at 2008 Hollywood Boulevard shows independent, international and classic films. The Art and Culture Center took over the 72-seat cinema in June 2025 (WLRN), and it’s a host venue for the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival, which next runs February 19 to 27, 2027 (FLIFF). It screens most days, so check showtimes before you go.
Thanks to Harrison: All-Day Cooking Two Blocks From Young Circle
Thanks to Harrison at 2001 Harrison Street runs 8:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and to 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday under executive chef Ivan Proseniuk, with four variations of syrnyky at breakfast and whole baked branzino at dinner (Yelp). Reserve for weekend brunch, and expect metered street parking. The city’s Salvadoran, Guatemalan, Peruvian and Romanian kitchens are covered in our roundup of the best restaurants in Hollywood.
Parks, Water and the Sheridan Street Belt
Anne Kolb Nature Center at West Lake Park
Anne Kolb Nature Center sits inside West Lake Park at 751 Sheridan Street, a mangrove estuary of roughly 1,500 acres. Climb the five-level, 68-foot observation tower, walk the boardwalks through the mangroves, rent a kayak, or take the narrated boat tour of West Lake (VISIT FLORIDA). The exhibit building and its 3,500-gallon aquarium make it a rainy-day fallback that’s still a nature outing.
T.Y. Park and Castaway Island
T.Y. Park at 3300 N Park Road holds Castaway Island, a water complex with a swimming lagoon, slides and a toddler pool. It’s seasonal: open spring through September, weekends only at each end of the season, roughly 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with admission at $10 a person ($6 after 3 p.m.) (Broward County Parks), and the park gate adds $3 per vehicle carrying eight or fewer people on weekends and County holidays, with nothing to pay on a weekday. Check the season calendar before you drive over.
Yellow Green Farmers Market
Yellow Green Farmers Market at 3080 Sheridan Street fills its grounds with food, produce and craft stalls. It runs Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., and parking costs $8 in the north lot or $15 in the south, free after 5 p.m. (Yellow Green Farmers Market). Krakatoa Indonesian Cuisine started here as a stall before opening its restaurant, and weekend-only vendors tend to keep stock in climate-controlled storage in Hollywood rather than a garage, because the humidity wrecks packaging fast.
Charter and Drift Fishing From North Ocean Drive
Lady Pamela II Sportfishing sails from 5400 N Ocean Drive at the north end of the beach, with private and shared sportfishing charters plus shared drift-fishing trips on its party boat, the Lois Ann. Bait, tackle and fishing licenses are included, which beats organizing a first trip yourself (Lady Pamela II). Trips are weather-dependent, so confirm the day before in summer. A 10×30 storage unit, about a garage and a half, has room for a car plus the gear that goes with it between trips.
Indoor Options and the Guitar Hotel West of I-95
K1 Speed: Indoor Electric Karting on Stirling Road
Two electric kart circuits sit under one roof at 2950 Stirling Road, a quicker one laid out for adults and a second for junior drivers, with an arcade and the Paddock Lounge alongside (K1 Speed). That roof is the whole argument for it: this is Hollywood’s strongest answer to an August afternoon or a beach day the weather has already taken. Ignore the name on the sign, which says Fort Lauderdale. The track is in Hollywood.
Orangebrook Golf & Country Club: 36 Holes Inside the City
Orangebrook Golf & Country Club at 400 Entrada Drive holds 36 holes of public golf in the middle of Hollywood, the original 18 dating to 1933 and a second course added in 1959 (City of Hollywood). The West course has larger greens and a forward tee set and suits beginners; the East plays harder off smaller greens. The city approved a public-private redevelopment in 2023, and recent reviews mention uneven conditions, so check current conditions before you book. Clubs, shoes and a push cart fit a 5×5 locker, about the size of a small closet, when a condo has no room for them.
Hollywood Beach Golf Club After Its Rebuild
Hollywood Beach Golf Club at 1645 Polk Street, west of the Intracoastal and a short drive from the beach, reopened in April 2026 after a complete rebuild by architect Richard Mandell, with a short course called The Island (City of Hollywood). It plays 6,336 yards from the tips at par 70. Research during the project found no evidence for the long-repeated Donald Ross attribution; the influences are Willie Park Jr. and 1920s South Florida design (NGF).
The Guitar Hotel Light Show at Seminole Hard Rock
The 450-foot guitar-shaped tower at Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood, 1 Seminole Way, runs a free outdoor show of music and light at 9 p.m. nightly, with an extra show at 9:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, best watched from the marked photo spot at the southeast corner of the pool lagoon (Seminole Hard Rock). Six beams project at least 20,000 feet into the sky. The tower sits about 15 minutes west of downtown, so pair it with dinner or the air-conditioned Shoppes at The Guitar Hotel rather than driving out for the show alone.
Parking, Seasons and What Closes When
Parking is the first thing to solve at the beach. The Garfield, Nevada Street and Margaritaville garages plus on-street meters cover the Broadwalk, and all of them fill on winter weekends and holidays. Downtown is metered street parking, easier on a weekday morning than on an ArtWalk Saturday. At Yellow Green, the traffic getting in is worse than the parking fee, so carpool or use the rideshare drop-off.
Season changes what’s pleasant more than what’s open. December through April is peak season (VISIT FLORIDA), and January, the coolest month, averages a 76°F high. July and August average 90°F highs, June is the wettest month at about 9.6 inches of rain (NOAA 1991 to 2020 normals), and most locals shift outdoor plans to the morning and evening, treating 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. as pool, museum or karting time. Stone crab season runs October 15 to May 1 (FWC), which is worth timing a Billy’s Stone Crab dinner around. Our best time to visit Hollywood guide takes the calendar month by month.
Hurricane season runs June 1 through November 30, with peak activity from mid-August to mid-October (National Hurricane Center), which overlaps the quieter, cheaper late summer to early fall stretch. The city has history with it: the September 18, 1926 hurricane killed 37 people in Hollywood (City of Hollywood). Most storms now mean a watched forecast and a couple of disrupted days, so book refundable rates in that window rather than writing it off.
Schedule traps matter here. Yellow Green opens weekends only, Castaway Island closes for the year at the end of September, the Marine Environmental Education Center is closed Sunday and Monday, and the ArtWalk with its free mural tour comes once a month. The city’s plastic and foam ban covers city property, so leave single-use plastics out of the beach, the parks and ArtsPark.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s Hollywood, Florida best known for?
Hollywood is best known for the Hollywood Beach Broadwalk, a promenade of nearly 2.5 miles with no cars on it, and for the guitar-shaped tower at Seminole Hard Rock and its free nightly light show. Locally it’s known for food: Salvadoran, Guatemalan, Peruvian, Thai, Indonesian and Romanian kitchens sit blocks apart, mostly in strip malls, and very little of it costs much.
What to do for free in Hollywood, Florida?
Plenty. The Broadwalk, the beach, the Downtown Hollywood Mural Project, ArtsPark at Young Circle and its Friday movies, the full-moon drum circle and the nightly Guitar Hotel light show all cost nothing. The monthly ArtWalk includes a free guided mural tour, and the Beach Sweep takes children 8 and up with an adult.
What’s a must-see in Hollywood?
Walk the Broadwalk end to end at least once, early morning or at sunset. If you add one more thing, make it downtown Hollywood, where the Hollywood Boulevard Historic Business District is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the murals, ArtsPark, the Art and Culture Center and the densest run of restaurants and bars in the city sit close together. The two together fill a day.
What to do in Hollywood, FL at night?
Nights split by zone. On the beach, the Broadwalk stays busy after dark and the bars and brewpub along it run late. Downtown has the densest cluster of bars and late kitchens, and you can leave the car parked. West of I-95, the Hard Rock covers big-room nightlife and concerts, while Cinema Paradiso and the ArtsPark movie nights handle quieter evenings.
Is Hollywood, Florida worth visiting?
Yes, particularly if you want a beach town with a real city behind it. Hollywood has a car-free promenade on the Atlantic, a walkable historic downtown, an estuary park with an observation tower, 36 holes of public golf at Orangebrook alone and a casino resort. Miami sits roughly 20 miles south.
Space for the Gear a Hollywood Year Requires
A city built around a beach, a marina and a golf calendar produces overflow: paddleboards, holiday bins, a spare set of clubs, the furniture that doesn’t fit the place you took for season. Value Store It’s Hollywood location rents month-to-month with no long-term contract, so a few months between leases is a normal request here rather than an awkward one. A 10×5 unit takes the contents of one room, 10×10 units hold a one-bedroom apartment, 10×15 storage takes a two-bedroom apartment, and a 10×20 space covers a three-bedroom home mid-move or a small business’s stock. If you’re unsure which fits, the storage size guide sizes it by what you own, and we’ve written separately on getting a home ready for out-of-town visitors, which is the other reason people here clear a room in a hurry.
