The best day trips from Hollywood, FL are the ones you can finish and still be back on the Broadwalk for dinner. Almost everything worth driving to sits inside an hour: Dania Beach at 10 minutes, Fort Lauderdale at 20, the Everglades and Miami at 40, Delray Beach at about an hour. Only Key West genuinely needs an overnight. Below are 12 destinations ordered by drive time, with what each is good for and when to leave.
Drive-Time Rings and the Roads That Serve Them
Day trips out of Hollywood run on three roads and one direction you can ignore. North and south, I-95 and Florida’s Turnpike do the work, with US-1 and A1A as the slower, prettier versions of the same route. West, Sheridan Street and Griffin Road carry you past the last subdivisions and into sawgrass. East is ocean, so the map is a fan across half a circle.
The rings are tight. A 10-minute drive clears the Dania Beach and Hallandale Beach city lines, 20 minutes puts you on Las Olas Boulevard, and 35 to 45 minutes drops you into Miami-Dade, where tolls and paid parking turn up at most stops. Direction matters more than distance: southbound I-95 in the morning is commuter traffic, so a Miami day starting at 8 a.m. costs more than the map suggests. VISIT FLORIDA puts Miami about 20 miles south, roughly 30 minutes depending on traffic, which is a Sunday number rather than a Tuesday one. If the driving is the problem, the guide to things to do in Hollywood itself covers the stay-put days.
10 to 20 Minutes: Dania Beach and Fort Lauderdale
The closest ring barely counts as a trip, which is why it works on a weekday evening or a spare half day.
Dania Pointe, About 10 Minutes
Dania Pointe is an open-air shopping and dining center at I-95 and Stirling Road in Dania Beach, with tenants that include Anthropologie, Urban Outfitters, American Eagle and Tommy Bahama, plus Cooper’s Hawk and Rodizio Grill for a sit-down meal. It’s 5 to 10 minutes up the interstate. Open-air means a morning or evening trip in summer, when the midday walk between buildings is the hard part.
Dania Beach Antique Row, About 10 Minutes
Antique Row runs along Federal Highway (US-1) in Dania Beach, though it’s a smaller cluster than it used to be, with many former shops now restaurants or empty storefronts, as recent Tripadvisor reviews of Dania Antique Row note. Davidson Antiques at 57 N Federal Highway and Akiba Antiques, a multi-dealer shop at 3 N Federal Highway, are the reasons to stop. A 10×10 storage unit holds a one-bedroom apartment’s worth of furniture, which is useful math before you buy a sideboard.
Fort Lauderdale and Las Olas Boulevard, About 20 Minutes
Fort Lauderdale is the easiest full day here. Walk Las Olas Boulevard for boutiques and galleries, follow the Riverwalk along the New River, then ride the canals behind the Venice of America nickname. The Jungle Queen Riverboat has sailed since 1935 and bills itself as Fort Lauderdale’s longest-running tourist attraction. You don’t have to drive: the Water Taxi’s Hollywood route leaves from Margaritaville Hollywood Beach Resort at 1111 N Ocean Drive and runs to the Hilton Marina in Fort Lauderdale, where you transfer to the Fort Lauderdale route for Las Olas and the Galleria.
25 to 45 Minutes: Davie, Sunrise, Coconut Creek and Miami
The middle ring is where the real day trips live. Each fills four to eight hours, and every one is better started before noon, either for the heat or for the parking.
Flamingo Gardens in Davie, About 25 Minutes
Flamingo Gardens pairs botanical gardens with a wildlife sanctuary for permanently injured and non-releasable Florida animals, so the walk comes with free-roaming peacocks, flamingos and native wildlife that can’t go back to the wild, according to Flamingo Gardens. Its big trees make it shadier than many outdoor options in Broward, which matters from June through September. Half a day covers it.
Sawgrass Mills in Sunrise, About 25 to 30 Minutes
Sawgrass Mills is the largest single-story outlet mall in the United States, with more than 350 stores across about 2.4 million square feet, including the luxury outlets of The Colonnade, per Simon’s Sawgrass Mills page. Park near the wing you actually want, because crossing the building on foot is a long walk. A 5×5 locker, about the size of a small closet, is where the off-season half of a wardrobe tends to end up afterward, and the Hollywood shopping guide covers closer options.
Butterfly World and Tradewinds Park in Coconut Creek, About 35 Minutes
Butterfly World houses roughly 20,000 butterflies and birds across six aviaries inside Tradewinds Park. Much of it sits under netting and shade, so it survives a hot afternoon better than an open park. The north side of Tradewinds Park adds stables, an educational farm and model steam train rides on the third weekend of the month, and the south side has a fishing lake, which turns two hours into a full day. Tradewinds is one of Broward County’s regional parks, so the gate adds $3 per vehicle carrying eight or fewer people on weekends and County holidays, and nothing on a weekday. It’s also in our guide to things to do in Hollywood with kids.
Vizcaya Museum and Gardens in Miami, About 35 to 40 Minutes
Vizcaya is the Biscayne Bay estate industrialist James Deering built between 1914 and 1922 as a subtropical take on an Italian villa, and he first moved in on Christmas Day 1916, according to Vizcaya’s history of the Main House. Half a day is right, and morning beats midday because the gardens are half the appeal. It’s open 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and closed Tuesdays, so buy tickets online before you drive.
Wynwood, Little Havana and South Beach, About 35 to 45 Minutes
Miami is three day trips pretending to be one. Wynwood Walls is an outdoor street-art gallery, Little Havana is Cuban food and music, and South Beach is the Art Deco Historic District plus the sand. Pick two, and budget for tolls and paid parking at nearly every stop. If you come home with prints or anything wooden, climate-controlled storage in Hollywood keeps it out of the humidity.
Everglades Holiday Park, About 40 Minutes
Everglades Holiday Park, a 29-acre park at 21940 Griffin Road in western Broward, is among the closest Everglades airboat launches to Hollywood. Its airboat tours run about an hour through sawgrass with wildlife narration and an alligator show, and the park is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Half a day is plenty. Go in the morning during summer to beat the afternoon storms, and bring sun protection and insect repellent rather than buying them at the gate.
45 Minutes to an Hour: Key Biscayne and Delray Beach
The outer ring is still same-day territory, but the drive stops being incidental. Both reward an early start.
Key Biscayne and Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park, About 45 Minutes
Key Biscayne gives you the Cape Florida lighthouse, beaches and nature trails at Bill Baggs, plus Crandon Park’s beach, trails and marina, with village shops in between. The 45 minutes includes the Rickenbacker Causeway toll. Bring a picnic so you can eat on the beach instead of hunting for a table, and a 5×10 unit, about the size of a small walk-in closet, is roughly what a family’s coolers, chairs and paddleboards occupy between outings.
Delray Beach and the Morikami Museum, About 50 to 60 Minutes
Delray Beach is Atlantic Avenue for shops, restaurants and bars, a good stretch of public beach, and the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens inland. The Morikami’s gardens are a walk in full sun, so do them first and eat later. This is the one trip under an hour worth staying into the evening for, because dinner on Atlantic Avenue improves when somebody else is driving home.
The Day Trip That Deserves an Overnight
One destination defeats the same-day format, and pretending otherwise is how people end up driving the Overseas Highway in the dark.
Key West and the Overseas Highway, About 3.5 to 4 Hours Each Way
Key West runs 3.5 to 4 hours each way, which makes a same-day round trip a poor use of the day. Drive the Overseas Highway to Old Town for the Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum, Smathers Beach, the sunset ritual at Mallory Square and a slice of key lime pie. Stay the night, or take a coach day trip out of Miami.
Traffic, Tolls, Storms and Trips Without a Car
Tolls and parking are the line items that surprise people. Cross into Miami-Dade and expect to pay for both at most stops, with the Key Biscayne causeway carrying its own toll. Broward trips are cheaper that way, though Sawgrass Mills and Dania Pointe charge you in walking distance instead.
Weather sets the schedule during the rainy season, roughly June through October, when afternoon showers are common but usually short. Gardens, airboats and beaches belong in the morning; air-conditioned stops belong after 2 p.m. Hurricane season runs June 1 to November 30, with most activity between mid-August and mid-October, according to the National Hurricane Center. Late summer into early fall is also the quiet, cheaper stretch to travel, so book refundable rates then. Our best time to visit Hollywood guide breaks the calendar down month by month.
Several of these work without a car. The Water Taxi runs from Margaritaville to Fort Lauderdale daily from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., with a transfer for Las Olas. Hollywood has its own Tri-Rail stops, at Hollywood station (shared with Amtrak) and Sheridan Street, and Broward County Transit connects the county’s larger towns. Brightline has no Hollywood station, so for Miami or Palm Beach County trips by train you’d board in Fort Lauderdale or Aventura. Around town, the city’s Sun Shuttle and free Holly-Go shuttle cover the gaps: Sun Shuttle rides cost $2 per rider within its East or West zone and connect at City Hall, while Holly-Go runs free fixed routes.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are some of the best day trips I can take from Hollywood, Florida?
Fort Lauderdale and Las Olas Boulevard at 20 minutes, Everglades Holiday Park at 40 and Wynwood, Little Havana or South Beach at 35 to 45 suit most visitors. Families do better with Butterfly World in Coconut Creek or Flamingo Gardens in Davie. Shoppers head to Sawgrass Mills in Sunrise. All are same-day trips.
Do you need a car for day trips from Hollywood, FL?
Not for all of them. The Water Taxi leaves from Margaritaville on Hollywood Beach and runs to the Hilton Marina in Fort Lauderdale, where a transfer takes you on to Las Olas Boulevard and the Galleria, which covers the most popular day trip without driving. Tri-Rail stops at Hollywood and Sheridan Street stations, and Broward County Transit links the larger towns in the county. The Everglades, Key Biscayne and Delray Beach realistically need a car.
How long does it take to drive from Hollywood, FL to Key West?
Roughly 3.5 to 4 hours each way, depending on traffic on the Overseas Highway, which is two lanes for much of its length. That’s seven to eight hours of driving in one day, so plan an overnight in Key West or book a coach day trip departing from Miami. Leaving before sunrise doesn’t fix the math.
Which is nicer, Hollywood Beach or Fort Lauderdale beach?
They’re built for different days. Hollywood Beach has the nearly 2.5-mile Broadwalk, closed to cars and lined with cafes and bars, plus low-rise retro character. Fort Lauderdale’s beach runs alongside a busier road, with more high-rise hotels and a bigger restaurant scene a block back. Plenty of locals walk Hollywood and go out in Fort Lauderdale.
What are some popular day trips from Hallandale Beach?
The same list, shifted about 10 minutes south. Miami and Key Biscayne get closer while Fort Lauderdale, Sunrise and Coconut Creek get farther, so Vizcaya and Wynwood become the natural picks. Dania Beach Antique Row stays an easy 15 minutes north on US-1, and The Village at Gulfstream Park, with its shops, restaurants and racing, sits in Hallandale Beach itself.
Where the Gear Ends Up Between Trips
A year of these trips leaves a residue: coolers, folding chairs, snorkel sets, an antique nobody measured first. Value Store It’s Hollywood location rents month-to-month with no long-term contract, which suits gear that comes and goes by season. Narrow 10×5 units hold the contents of one room, or the bikes and beach gear that would fill one. A 10×15 unit takes a two-bedroom apartment. A 10×20 space holds a three-bedroom home. The 10×30 unit covers a four-bedroom home between addresses. The storage unit size guide settles which one fits.
