Best Weekend Florida Road Trip: The Palm Beaches

One of the many great things about living in Florida is the endless supply of amazing beaches and getaways that are available to us locals year-round. Funny enough, the “struggle” is simply trying to determine where you want to enjoy your next weekend from all the amazing choices. Saying that, I’ve been on a mission to discover the Best Weekend Florida Road Trips and I found a winner with the Palm Beaches! 

So to test my theory that our neighbor to the North (I’m coming from Miami) has ample adventures to keep me busy for a weekend, I set off with my buddy @JoseResendez to discover just what the Palm Beaches have to offer!

To make our ride from Miami as smooth as possible, we packed up our things in a Mitsubishi Mirage that was the perfect size for our weekend road trip! While we had plenty of space on the inside, I also really appreciated the compact size and mileage efficiency (its the most fuel-efficient gas powered, non-hybrid car in America!) – which made zipping up the I-95 a breeze!

For those looking to plan a Florida Road Trip, I’ve recapped the best of our experiences in the Palm Beaches so you can see just why this is a great option for your next getaway! With all the good information we’ve gathered below, I feel confident that you can use this as a guide to ensure you have a fabulous time in the Palm Beaches!

Eat to Explore

To kick off our weekend in the Palm Beaches, we signed up for the West Palm Beach Food Tour – which served two purposes: filling our bellies with tasty treats and also giving us a great intro to the area. Our tour guide, Kristi, was a pleasant story-teller and very knowledgeable about the area…while letting you enjoy the tour at your own pace! Even though we took the tour on a scorcher of a Saturday (typical for Florida in August), the tour was still doable in the heat. Kristi combined short walks with long sits in the AC to keep us all from getting fussy!

Its hard to pick out just what was our favorite dish of the day, since each stop worked you through what was essentially a full meal (plus some!). But below is a collage of some of our favorite tastings. There really is something for everyone: savory, sweet, tart, salty, etc. On their website, Kristi gives you a specific breakdown of each dish you will enjoy at the different locations so you can check out the ones we don’t have pictured below!

This photo features: Ahi Tuna Tostada from the Blind Monk, variety of savory and sweet treats from the Jardin, fresh Key Lime tart, and the tastiest Pan Con Tomate I’ve ever had from the Blink Monk.

Pamper Time

So after a full day of walking and exploring West Palm, I decided to take a little time for myself and visited our friends at Cosmo & Company Salon and Spa.  They had me booked for a hand full of treatments to really help me relax and absorb all that I had seen and done during the day.

There is really just too much to explain in this recap post about my experience at Cosmo & Company, so for those looking for more details about the treatments, then check it out here.

But the pampering doesn’t stop there! As with any trip, its important to book a hotel that will serve as your refugee of relaxation – but especially when you are trying to escape for a weekend getaway in between a work week. We found just that with the Hilton Garden Inn at Palm Beach Gardens we were able to enjoy a centralized location while also feeling like we secluded enough to relax.

The interior, as well as the exterior, are decorated to highlight the natural beauty of the area. It was so lovely that we decided to enjoy a walk around the calming lake right after our tasty breakfast! For more details about our experience with the Hilton Garden Inn, click here.

Shopping Sprees

On top of all the exploring to be done, the Palm Beaches have some amazing shopping! We selected a few from a long list that were in different areas so that we could get a feel for the diversity of this county. While we were still in Palm Beach area, we hopped over to The Gardens Mall in Palm Beach Gardens for some light shopping and lunch. This mall just screams luxury and I was really impressed by the beautiful greenery inside – they aren’t kidding when they call themselves the Gardens Mall, certain areas really felt like a garden! Their tagline is “Luxury Retail with No Equal” which is not an exaggeration! After spending some time shopping at a few of their store (there are more than 150 in total!) and grabbing some lunch at Brio Tuscan Grille we called it a day!

Perfectly located near the interstate on our drive back from West Palm Beach to Miami, we ventured over to the Town Center at Boca Raton for another round of retail therapy. Since it had been a long day at this point, I was particularly impressed by all the extra services that the mall had to offer like free wi-fi and a package check so we didn’t have to drag around our bags all afternoon. I had some fun with the signage around the mall that talked about these services!

So with our Mitsubishi Mirage packed to the brim with shopping bags and fun memories from the weekend, we headed south to Miami. Can I mention really quick that I made it all the way back home on the same tank of gas?! How amazing is that!

With the Palm Beaches so nearby and accessible with the interstate and turnpike, you really can pack so much into 2 days! I’m definitely adding this to my rotation for weekend getaways and can’t wait to continue exploring all that the Palm Beaches has to offer!