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 ten minutes, Fort Lauderdale at twenty, the Everglades and Miami at forty, 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. Ten minutes clears the Dania Beach and Hallandale Beach city lines, twenty puts you on Las Olas Boulevard, and thirty-five to forty-five drops you into Miami-Dade, where tolls and paid parking turn up at every stop. 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, 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.
Ten to Twenty 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, with roughly 56 stores including Anthropologie and Tommy Bahama, plus Cooper's Hawk Winery and Rodizio Grill. It sits in Dania Beach, five to ten minutes up the interstate. Open-air means a morning or evening trip in summer, so check the events calendar before you go.
Dania Beach Antique Row, About 10 Minutes
Antique Row runs along US-1 near Dania Beach Boulevard, with more than thirty vendors in the central mall alone selling furniture, chandeliers, silver and glassware. James & Jeffrey Antiques and Revue Antiques have anchored it for two decades and lean midcentury. A 10×10 storage unit holds about a one-bedroom's worth, 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 take a water taxi through the canals behind the Venice of America nickname. The Jungle Queen Riverboat is the longest-running attraction in town. You do not have to drive, since the Water Taxi stops in Hollywood at the 5 o'Clock Somewhere Bar & Grill.
Twenty-Five to Forty-Five 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 rescued Florida natives, so the walk comes with peacocks, flamingos and animals that cannot be released. It is shadier than most outdoor options in Broward, which matters from June through September. Half a day covers it, and the Young at Art Museum sits in the same part of Davie for an indoor stop afterward.
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 2.3 million square feet, over 400 retailers and a luxury outlet wing. Park near the wing you actually want, because crossing the building on foot is a long walk. A 5×5 locker 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 calls itself the largest butterfly and bird park in the world, with roughly 20,000 butterflies and birds across six aviaries. Most of it sits under netting and shade, so it survives a hot afternoon better than an open park. Tradewinds Park around it adds a farm, model steam train rides and fishing, which turns two hours into a full day. It also leads our guide to things to do in Hollywood with kids.
Vizcaya Museum and Gardens in Miami, About 35 to 40 Minutes
Vizcaya is an early-1900s Italianate winter estate on Biscayne Bay built for James Deering, with 34 decorated rooms and ten acres of formal gardens still largely in their original configuration. Half a day is right, and morning beats midday because most of the appeal is outdoors. Timed tickets are normal at busy hours, so book 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 on Griffin Road in western Broward is the closest Everglades access to Hollywood, running airboat tours across 29 acres of wetlands with alligators, wading birds and sawgrass prairie. 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.
Forty-Five 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 forty-five minutes includes the causeway toll. Bring a picnic, because food on the island is limited and expensive, and a 5×10 unit 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 that rewards an overnight, because dinner on Atlantic Avenue improves when nobody 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 three and a half to four 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 nearly every stop, 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 from June through September, 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 the highest risk from August into October, which is also the cheapest 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 picks up on Hollywood Beach and runs to Las Olas and the Galleria, and Tri-Rail and Broward County Transit connect the county's larger towns. Around Hollywood, the city's Sun Shuttle runs all-electric vehicles between City Hall Circle, downtown, the beach and Federal Highway; app rides cost $2 per person each way, and flagging one down is free.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are some of the best day trips I can take from Hollywood, Florida?
Fort Lauderdale and Las Olas Boulevard at twenty minutes, Everglades Holiday Park at forty, and Wynwood, Little Havana or South Beach at thirty-five to forty-five 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 picks up on Hollywood Beach and runs to Las Olas Boulevard and the Galleria in Fort Lauderdale, which covers the most popular day trip without driving. Tri-Rail and Broward County Transit link 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 three and a half to four hours each way, depending on traffic on the Overseas Highway, which is two lanes for much of its length. That is 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 does not fix the math.
Which is nicer, Hollywood Beach or Fort Lauderdale beach?
They are built for different days. Hollywood Beach has the 2.5-mile brick Broadwalk with cafes, bars and a bike lane, no cars, and 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 ten 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 fifteen 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 handle bikes and beach kit, 10×15 units take a garage's worth, a 10×20 space holds a larger home, and the 10×30 unit covers a household between addresses. The storage unit size guide settles which one fits.
