Palm Beach

The island is one long strip of Atlantic shore, and the water is the draw: the Gulf Stream runs close to land, so the sea is clear, blue-green and warm, around 27°C to 29°C in summer and rarely below 23°C in winter. In town, the Municipal Beach near Worth Avenue and Phipps Ocean Park further south are the main public stretches. Much of the rest sits behind seawalls and private estates, and some sections narrow sharply at high tide.

For wider, livelier sand, Singer Island, Juno Beach and Jupiter to the north and Lake Worth Beach and Delray to the south are all within half an hour by car. Peanut Island in the inlet has calm, shallow water popular for families and snorkelling. Beach life here is relaxed rather than social, and a visitor who wants sand and warm sea every day of the trip will find it easily.

Eating in Palm Beach itself means smart, formal dining: upscale Italian and French rooms, long lunches on terraces off Worth Avenue and seafood menus that lean on Florida stone crab in season and grouper, snapper and Key lime pie all year. It is polished and consistent rather than surprising, and dress codes are taken seriously.

Across the bridge, West Palm Beach widens the choice with Cuban bakeries, Caribbean takeaways, a weekend green market on the waterfront and more casual restaurants around Clematis Street and the Northwood district. There is no local food tradition to seek out and very little street food, so a visitor eats well but rarely memorably.

Palm Beach is a Gilded Age resort, and its heritage is the architecture of wealth. The Flagler Museum occupies Whitehall, the marble mansion Henry Flagler built in 1902 as the railway opened Florida's east coast, and it is the essential visit. Addison Mizner's Mediterranean Revival style shapes Worth Avenue's courtyards and tiled vias and the church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea, and driving or cycling past the ocean-front estates along South Ocean Boulevard is a sight in itself.

Across the lagoon in West Palm Beach, the Norton Museum of Art has a strong collection of American, European and Chinese art, and the Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens are a quiet hour. The Society of the Four Arts adds gardens and a small gallery. It is a short list, enjoyable over two or three days.

On the island, evenings centre on dinner, a drink in a grand hotel bar and an early night; much of the social life happens in private clubs a visitor cannot enter. The town is very quiet by eleven.

Going out properly means crossing to West Palm Beach, where Clematis Street has a strip of bars, rooftop terraces and a couple of dance spots that fill with a younger crowd at weekends, and the open-air streets around Rosemary Square add cocktail bars. It is fun for a night or two but small and fairly predictable.

The landscape is flat and subtropical: ocean on one side, the broad Lake Worth Lagoon on the other. The Lake Trail runs along the lagoon shore for miles under palms and banyans, a lovely ride by bike. Underwater is where the area excels. Reefs lie close offshore along the Gulf Stream, and the shallow site under the Blue Heron Bridge at Phil Foster Park is famous among divers for octopus, seahorses and rare small creatures. Kayaking, paddleboarding and deep-sea fishing go out from the inlet.

Inland, the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee refuge, on the northern edge of the Everglades, has boardwalks with alligators and wading birds, and Jonathan Dickinson State Park offers river paddling. Sea turtles nest on local beaches in summer and manatees gather in warm-water outflows in winter. Summer heat and storms push activity into early mornings.

Miami is the big outing, about an hour by fast train or a little more by car, with Art Deco South Beach, Little Havana and Wynwood's murals. Fort Lauderdale on the way has canals and a waterfront promenade.

Closer to home, Delray Beach has a walkable main street with galleries and restaurants, Boca Raton has more Mizner architecture, and to the north Jupiter's red-brick lighthouse and the river town of Stuart make an easy half-day. It is a coast of resort towns that resemble one another, though, and there is little older heritage within reach.

The island is safe, clean and calm, but it is built for adults, and children may feel out of place in its formal restaurants and boutiques. The fun is mostly across the bridge. The Palm Beach Zoo has jaguars and Florida panthers, the South Florida Science Center and Aquarium is good for a rainy afternoon, and Manatee Lagoon lets children watch manatees in winter. A drive-through safari park in the western suburbs is a long-standing favourite.

Peanut Island's shallow lagoon and the gentle public beaches suit small swimmers, and the Lake Trail is easy for family cycling. Summer heat and afternoon storms need planning, and a car makes everything easier.

The core of Palm Beach around Worth Avenue and Royal Poinciana Way is pleasant to walk, and the island is flat, so a bike on the Lake Trail is the nicest way to get about. Downtown West Palm Beach, just over the bridges, is compact too, with a free trolley loop.

Beyond that, distances open up. Local buses are infrequent and slow, the zoo, wildlife reserves and northern beaches are spread out, and most visitors rent a car or rely on ride-hailing. The fast intercity train from West Palm Beach to Fort Lauderdale and Miami is the main exception, making Miami easy without driving.

Worth Avenue is the reason to shop here: a few blocks of the major luxury houses, jewellers and high-end boutiques, set among Mizner's palm-shaded courtyards and narrow vias lined with smaller designers. It is a genuine luxury street, and the island's consignment shops are known for designer pieces that come from the wardrobes of the town's wealthy residents.

Across the water, West Palm Beach's Antique Row on South Dixie Highway is a long strip of furniture, art and decorative-arts dealers, and Rosemary Square and a large mall in Palm Beach Gardens cover everyday brands. Markets and local crafts barely feature.

Palm Beach is one of the most expensive resort towns in the United States. Hotel rooms on the island in the winter season cost far above big-city norms, restaurants are priced for a wealthy clientele, and even parking near the beach adds up.

The usual ways to soften it are to stay in West Palm Beach or further along the coast and drive over, to come in the hot, humid summer when rates fall sharply, and to lean on free pleasures: the beaches, the Lake Trail and window-shopping on Worth Avenue.

Cultural life follows the winter season, when wealthy residents are in town. The Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in West Palm Beach is the hub, hosting touring Broadway musicals, visiting orchestras, ballet and big-name performers, and it is also home to Palm Beach Opera's short winter season. Palm Beach Dramaworks stages serious plays in a smaller theatre downtown, and the Society of the Four Arts on the island runs chamber concerts and talks.

From late spring to autumn the calendar thins sharply. There is little jazz or live-music club culture beyond bar bands on Clematis Street.

There is no bathing tradition here, but restfulness comes with the place. The island is quiet, manicured and slow, with long mornings, walks along the lagoon and few crowds outside the high season. The big oceanfront resorts have large, polished spas with treatment menus, salt-water pools and fitness programmes, and they are the core of a wellness stay.

Yoga on the beach and early sea swims are easy to find. What it lacks is anything communal or affordable: wellness here means a resort spa day rather than a public bath.