Attractions

Fort Pierce’s Downtown Farmers’ Market is a big draw on Saturday mornings from 8 AM to noon, rain or shine, with local foods, crafts and artwork for sale.

Nature Lovers can choose from two botanical gardens in St. Lucie County. Heathcote Botanical Gardens in Fort Pierce showcases the country’s largest public display of tropical bonsai trees while the Port St. Lucie Botanical Gardens features a variety of tropical habitats.

For family activities in Melbourne, visit the Brevard Zoo or Andretti Thrill Park. The zoo houses giraffes, lorikeets, rhinos and monkeys. The Andretti Thrill Park includes batting cages, amusement rides, a large arcade and indoor laser tag. Best of all, there are several go-cart tracks, one of which is restricted to fans at least 16 years of age who wish to travel 40 miles per hour on a European-style course.

One of Florida’s most famous attractions is the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. Discover what it means to be a hero through the stories of NASA’s Space Pioneers at Heroes and Legends, featuring the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame. Get a close-up view of Atlantis, the only space shuttle displayed in flight. The Chat With An Astronaut experience allows guests to sit down for breakfast or lunch with an astronaut for a group conversation about life and work in space.  Be sure to check the center’s website for rocket launches.  

The Ponce Inlet Lighthouse, Florida’s tallest, is located in the town of Ponce Inlet, slightly south of Daytona Beach. It’s a great place to watch the sun set or catch a moonrise.

Feel the need for speed? Whether you are a devoted NASCAR fan or have no idea what all of the hype is about, the self-proclaimed “World Center of Racing,” the Daytona International Speedway, will blow you away.  This is a state-of-the-art facility with premium amenities and unparalleled conveniences including luxury trackside suites with patios and more than 7,000 solar panels. There are tons of things to see and do. Book a tour. NASCAR fans should sign up for the Richard Petty Driving Experience—drive on the track or be a passenger for laps with a professional driver. The Daytona International Speedway attracts millions of visitors annually.

Looking for quirky hidden gems in the Daytona Beach area? Visit Dunlawton Sugar Mill Gardens where dinosaur statues left over from a 1940s tourist attraction can be found. Or how about the wonderful, family-friendly, Marine Science Center in Ponce Inlet where you can touch stingrays, observe the sea turtle hospital and learn about Florida’s marine environment. The Daytona Lagoon and Family Entertainment Center, steps from the beach, includes a water park as well as laser tag, go-carts, miniature golf, rock climbing and an arcade—making this a favorite family draw. 

In De Leon Springs State Park, you can make your own pancakes at the Old Spanish Sugar Mill, take an eco/heritage boat tour, hike nature trails and swim in the springs.

Beaches And Outdoor Gems

South of Stuart, the Jonathan Dickinson State Park offers awesome biking and hiking trails, ranging from normal to rugged terrain, mangroves and river swamps. Primitive campgrounds and water stations are available throughout the park. Outdoor enthusiasts enjoy kayaking and boating experiences during the winter months.

Have you ever dreamed of riding horseback on the beach? Your dream becomes a reality on the beaches of Hutchinson Island during the cooler months, and is just one of many gems to be enjoyed in St. Lucie County.

Sebastian Inlet State Park, situated directly between Indian River County to the south and Brevard County to the north, is an excellent choice for family camping. The park is part of the Great Florida Birding and Wildlife Trail and offers many activities including swimming, surfing, geocaching and scuba diving. 

Merritt Island is one of only a dozen or so places in the world where you can see bioluminescence in nature. Night tours are a must as you kayak along the Banana or Indian rivers and get close to nature. Dinoflagellates and comb jellies glow in the dark river waters. Think neon and maybe a hint of Avatar. This could be a once-in-a-lifetime adventure. 

Outside of Deltona, the St. Johns River Eco Tours invites passengers to tour the St. Johns River by boat. Once a main highway for trade and commerce, this river has been designated an American Heritage River. It is home to Florida native wildlife and tropical plants, making it perfect for photo ops.

The seaside community of New Smyrna Beach evokes an atmosphere of Old Florida in its sidewalk cafés, boutiques and charming B&Bs and boasts one of the finest beaches on the Atlantic coast. NSB provides a perfect venue for surfing, world-class fishing, boating and kayaking. And like Daytona Beach, cars are permitted on 13 miles of hard-packed white-sand beaches found here.

Entertainment

In February, the three-day Taste of Little Italy, a cultural journey filled with authentic Italian food and entertainment, takes place in the charming neighborhood of Tradition Square in Port St. Lucie.

Florida is a hot spot for gaming. Club 52 Poker Room and Melbourne Greyhound Park feature poker and a simulcast of live horse and greyhound racing from across the nation.

Central East Florida’s premier music and arts entertainment center is the Maxwell C. King Center for the Performing Arts in Melbourne. This 126,000-square-foot venue hosts edu-cational, cultural and community events.

Port Canaveral is one of the most popular cruise ports in the nation. The Cove, a waterfront recreation area, has a large selection of martini and tiki bars with live entertainment. The views from the nearby Exploration Tower are stunning.

The world-class Skydive DeLand facility offers programs for all experience levels including tandem jumps where an experienced instructor uses a parachute system built for two and jumps with you and an Accelerated Free Fall (AFF) course—an instructional program for beginners hoping to become skydivers. 

The DAYTONA 500 attracts the world’s best drivers to compete in the biggest NASCAR event. Dubbed the Great American Race, it’s the most important event on the annual racing calendar. 

The premier Ladies’ Professional Golf Association (LPGA) headquarters, also located in Daytona Beach, offers two four-star courses.

Road Trips

Step back in time at the House of Refuge Museum at Gilbert’s Bar in Stuart, offering fantastic scenery and photo opportunities. The House of Refuge is the only one remaining of the original 10 havens built for shipwrecked sailors along the Atlantic coast of Florida. These houses played a critical role when ships dominated the trade markets of the world.

A road trip for conservationists must definitely include the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge, a 20-mile stretch of untouched beach between Melbourne Beach and Wabasso. Best known for sea turtle conservation, this area is a natural nesting habitat for loggerhead and green sea turtles.

Visit Titusville to explore the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum, which displays a collection of aircraft carriers and artifacts of all types from around the world, from pre-World War I to the present.

Located in Volusia County’s Port Orange, Dunlawton Sugar Mill Gardens combines a history, nature and garden visit all rolled into one. The remains of the sugar cane refinery, leftover from the 1800s, is adorned with kitschy dinosaur statues throughout the park. The gardens are visually appealing, which is why many choose this site for marriage ceremonies.

Take an inland trip to the Stetson Mansion in DeLand. Built in 1886, this gorgeous Victorian mansion was the winter home of the famous milliner John B. Stetson. Tour this spectacular home and note the elaborate inlaid parquet floors and more than 10,000 original leaded glass windows.

Shopping 

The adorable town of Stuart is ideal for browsing boutiques and dining. From beach-themed to upscale kitchen shops, it is a favorite destination for tourists and locals alike. You’re sure to find clothing, shoes, jewelry and handmade arts and crafts.

When it comes to shopping in Central East Florida, Vero Beach is the crème de la crème with ritzy boutiques and galleries on Ocean Drive. Nearby, Miracle Mile features shopping venues such as Bark Avenue (goodies for your pet) and the Vero Beach Book Center, which is one of the best independent bookstores in the state, due to its jam-packed calendar full of best-selling author signings and events.

Florida is renowned for outlet shopping and one of the best is the Vero Beach Outlets showcasing designer and brand-name shops, including Williams Sonoma and Coach.

The Avenue Viera, on the outskirts of Melbourne, is a pleasant outdoor shopping mall flanked with specialty restaurants, shops and an AMC Cinemas movie theater on palm tree-lined sidewalks. Visit all the chain store biggies such as Kohl’s, Ethan Allen and Books-A-Million.

Historic Downtown Melbourne’s main street, East New Haven, is fun-packed with eye-catching delights, boutiques and antique stores.

The tree-lined Cocoa Village is home to one-of-a-kind shops, restaurants and other points of interest. In this surfers’ paradise, be sure to check out the Ron Jon Surf Shop, a Cocoa Beach landmark and the largest surf shop in the world.