Fort Lauderdale's beauty goes well beyond its shoreline. You'll quickly discover majestic estates, hardwood hammocks, and a maze of waterways, all creating a laid-back tropical feeling.

Though the city is only a little over a century old, you'll still find plenty of historical interest. The oldest section of town lies along the banks of the New River. Begin your exploration along the Riverwalk, a meandering footpath that travels along the river. Here, you'll come upon manicured gardens and parks with gazebos. One of these, Esplanade Park, features a science exhibit complete with giant kaleidoscopes, a rain gauge and sextant, and plaques honoring the world's famous mathematicians and scientists (954-561-7362).

Frank Stranahan, a successful trader in otter pelts, egret plumes, and alligator hides, opened a general store in 1901. The pine building, the county's oldest, with its high ceilings, narrow windows, and wide verandas, is a fine example of the Florida frontier style. Later, Stranahan converted it into a residence for his bride, Ivy. He added bay windows, electric wiring, and modern plumbing. The two-story cottage overlooking Los Olas Boulevard has been restored and furnished to 1910, and the guided tour tells his story. Stranahan, financially devastated by the late-1920s Florida real estate crash, later drowned himself in the Intracoastal Waterway. Admission is $5 for adults, $2 for children. (Open Wednesday through Saturday 10 A.M.–3 P.M., Sunday 1–3 P.M., 954-524-4736)

As you travel west along the Riverwalk, you'll come to the Old Fort Lauderdale Village and Museum, operated by the Fort Lauderdale Historical Society. The museum, housed in the 1905 River Inn built by contractor Edwin T. King, a pioneer in hollow cinderblock construction, stands where Flagler's East Coast Railway crossed the New River. It contains a scale model of the old fort, clothing of the Seminole and early Fort Lauderdale settlers, as well as old dolls and toys. The village consists of several historic structures, including the King-Cromartie House, built by King of local pine with joists of ship's timbers for himself and his wife in 1907. It was originally a bungalow; King added a second story and the city's first indoor bathroom in 1911. Behind the house stands a replica of Fort Lauderdale's first one-room school from 1899. Stranahan's wife was the first teacher. Guided tours of the museum and village are $8 per adult, $3 per child. (Open Tuesday through Saturday 10 A.M.–5 P.M., Sunday 12–5 P.M., 954-463-4431, www.oldfortlauderdale.org)

The Museum of Art on Las Olas Boulevard, displaying Florida's best art collection, features exceptional pre-Columbian, Mesoamerican, North American, South Seas, and West African art, as well as lots of local Tequesta Indian objects. You'll also enjoy its collection of Dutch and Flemish art. It's especially known for its paintings from the CoBrA Movement, which began in 1948 with a group of artists from Copenhagen, Brussels, and Amsterdam, and features bright expressionistic canvases combining playful innocence with deep emotional power. The Museum also houses works by Henri Matisse, Andy Warhol, Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso, and Henry Moore. You can take a guided tour at noon and 6:30 P.M. on Tuesdays, at noon Wednesdays through Fridays, and at 2 P.M. on weekends. Admission is $6 per adult, $3 per child. (Open daily 11 A.M.–7 P.M., Thursday until 9 P.M., 954-525-5500, www.moafl.org)

Chicago muralist and art collector Frederick Clay Bartlett built the Bonnet House, one of the few remaining oceanfront estates in southern Florida, in 1921. Situated on 35 jungle-like acres, the house and studio reflect Bartlett's personality. He designed not only the house but also the plantation-like surroundings, including a small lake dotted with white swans bordered by a forest where Brazilian squirrel monkeys play in the trees along the Atlantic Ocean. Bartlett had an eccentric passion for art and architecture, as well as for collecting ornamental animals, dozens of which fill almost all of the thirty rooms. The Shell Room, with its inlaid shells and an impressive collection of paired specimens, alone is worth seeing. Be sure not to miss his studio, containing many of his original paintings. You can tour the beautifully preserved two-story house and walk the nature trails from May through November. Admission is $15 per adult, $11 per child. (Open Tuesday through Saturday 10 A.M.–4 P.M., Sunday noon–4 P.M., 954-563-5393, www.bonnethouse.org)

Even if you're not a swimmer, you'll enjoy the exhibits at the International Swimming Hall of Fame Museum and Aquatic Complex. Medals, trophies, and Olympic memorabilia from swimmers and divers from 100 countries fill 10,000 square feet of exhibit space on two levels. Computerized exhibits let you pretend you're an Olympic diver, swimmer, or judge. You'll also see turn-of-the-century woolen bathing costumes, sweatshirts that once belonged to Olympic champions Mark Spitz and Cynthia Potter, and swim-related artworks by such noted artists as Leroy Nieman and Norman Rockwell. Be sure to browse the room of nations, where you can learn about any swimmer or diver who has won an Olympic metal. Admission is $8. (Open Monday through Saturday 10 A.M.–5 P.M., Sunday 11 A.M.–4 P.M.), 954-462-6536; www.ishof.org)

If you love gardens, you'll love the 60-acre Flamingo Gardens and Wray Botanical Collection, founded by Floyd L. Wray and his wife, Jane, who began them as a display of citrus plants and a laboratory to discover new varieties. Walk through the 25,000-square-foot Everglades “free-flight” aviary, featuring five ecosystems and housing one of the largest collections of wading birds in America. Then visit the Bird of Prey Center, with its rare Florida birds in their naturalistic habitat, and the Tropical Plant House, full of orchids and other exotic plants. Flamingos feed amid tropical foliage and waterfalls on Flamingo Island, plus there are natural habitats for river otters and bobcats and a lagoon with alligators. You can take a twenty-five-minute narrated tram ride through the tropical rainforest, native hammock, wetland areas, and citrus groves to see the largest collection of towering champion trees in the region. Admission is $15 for adults, $8 for children. (Open June through September, Tuesday through Sunday 9:30 A.M.–5:00 P.M., 954-473-2955, www.flamingogardens.org)

For the Kids

The rainbow-colored combinations and geometric patterns of more than 100 types of butterflies create a world of wonder at Butterfly World, the largest park of its kind on the planet. It began as the hobby of Ronald Boender, who collected butterflies while growing up on his family farm in Illinois. Opened in 1988 as the first U.S. center for butterflies, it has since become the most complete facility of its kind, dedicated totally to the preservation of butterflies and their habitat. Nearly 2,000 specimens, many raised from larvae, live out their short lives around the nectar-producing plants inside several aviaries. Some survive twice as long as their normal lifespan in the wild.

You can stroll along flower-lined pathways inside a giant aviary where clouds of butterflies fly, feed, and bask in Florida's sunshine. In the tropical rain forest, thousands of exotic butterflies glide through waterfalls and lush dense foliage. Between the aviary and the tropical rain forest, butterflies drink nectar from fragrant flower-filled hanging baskets. You'll also see the different stages of a butterfly's development in the Museum and Insectarium, with its amazing collection of mounted butterflies, moths, spiders, wasps, and exotic beetles. Admission is $18.95 per adult, $13.95 per child. (Open Monday to Saturday 9 A.M.–5 P.M., Sunday 1–5 P.M., 954-977-4400, www.butterflyworld.com)

The founders of the Children's Museum of Boca Raton at Singing Pines named it for the sound made by pine trees blowing in the breeze. The house itself, said to be the oldest unaltered wood-frame building in the city, is a Florida “Cracker” cottage constructed of Dade County pine floors and timber found on the beach. Inside kids can explore a corner store, a KidsCents bank, post office, fossils, plus pioneer Florida memorabilia, including a kitchen equipped with an old wood stove, a vintage Singer sewing machine, and an old-fashioned telephone. (561-368-6875, www.cmboca.org)

The Gumbo-Limbo Environmental Education Center, also in Boca Raton, protects the area's West Indian hardwood hammocks. The free educational facility features an ocean research center, biology lab, and naturalist exhibits that allow kids to touch the skin of a snake or the pelts of small animals. Four saltwater aquariums showcase brilliant fish, stingrays, crabs, shrimp, and other ocean wonders. One tank allows them to pet a live conch, sea urchin, or horseshoe crab. From here, a wide boardwalk leads to an observation tower where you can take in a panorama of the 67-acre park and beach. Be on the lookout for ospreys, brown pelicans, and manatees swimming in the warm waters. Admission is $3 per person. (Open Monday through Saturday 9 A.M.–4 P.M., Sunday noon–4 P.M., 561-338-1473)

Intended to teach kids about sea turtles, the Loggerhead Marinelife Center of Juno Beach features a turtle hatchery as well as displays on their life cycles. Kids can see a giant leatherback sea turtle, plus other local wildlife, as they take a virtual walking tour on the ocean floor. This is one of several places along Florida's coast where your kids can go on a “turtle walk” along a nearby beach in June and July to watch turtles come ashore to lay their eggs after dark. Admission free. (Open Tuesday through Saturday 10 A.M.–4 P.M., Sunday noon–3 P.M., 561-627-8280, www.marinelife.org)

Over 900 animals from sixty-three species, including lions, rhinos, elephants, zebras, and giraffes, roam the 500-acre Lion Country Safari in West Palm Beach while humans, caged in their automobiles with windows rolled up for security, tour the park for nearly an hour on paved roads. Rental vehicles are available. When it opened in 1967, it was the first “cageless” zoo in the country. Though it's far from the Serengeti Plain in Africa, the park gives kids an opportunity to get close to exotic animals. There's also the walk-through Safari World, with a petting zoo, aviaries, and reptile exhibits. Admission is $20.95 per adult, $16.95 per child under 9. (Open daily 9:30 A.M.–4:30 P.M., 561-793-1084, www.lioncountrysafari.com)

Extra Special

A feeling of peace and serenity will overtake you as you enter the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens, 10 miles northwest of Boca Raton. The centerpiece of this 200-acre pine forest preserve is the museum, devoted to Japanese folk arts and the history of the Japanese Yamoto Colony, an early twentieth-century settlement whose members came to Florida to grow tea and rice and farm silkworms, but ended up selling pineapples until a blight killed off the crop in 1908. The museum also houses a Shinto shrine, plus displays on Japanese baths and tea ceremonies and hands-on exhibits of obi tying, origami, and musical instruments. You can also stroll through a 2-acre garden, laid out in Japanese style with a koi pond and a bonsai garden in the rear. On Wednesday afternoon there's a guided garden tour. (Open Tuesday through Sunday noon–5 P.M., 561-495-0233, www.morikami.org)

Festivals and Seasonal Events

Area festivals include fun events like the Lauderdale Sandblast, held on the Fourth of July, when thousands of sun worshipers competitively create elaborate sand sculptures on the beach, or the Las Olas Art Fair in September, when 250 national artists exhibit their works in an outdoor street fair. (954-472-3755)