Local's pickDelray Beach$$
Atlantic Avenue Bar Crawl
Two walkable miles of patios, rooftops and live music between Swinton Avenue and the ocean. Start at Pineapple Grove around 7pm and work east.
Free Things to Do in Boca Raton
Boca has a reputation for being expensive. Most of the best hours here — the reef, the boardwalks, the sunrise — cost nothing.
The short answer
Free things to do in Boca Raton include Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, the Boca Raton Museum of Art's outdoor sculpture garden, the El Rio Trail, the Boca Inlet jetty, free concerts at Mizner Park Amphitheater, and the Wakodahatchee and Green Cay wetland boardwalks.
Local's pick
Local's pickRiviera Beach$
Blue Heron Bridge at Phil Foster Park
Rated among the best shore dives in the world: a shallow snorkel trail under the bridge with seahorses, octopus and rays, all from a free public park. Go on the hour either side of high tide for visibility.
Local's pickBoca Raton$
Gumbo Limbo Nature Center
A free coastal nature center on a barrier island hammock, with four saltwater tanks, a sea turtle rehabilitation facility and a boardwalk that climbs to a 40-foot observation tower over the mangroves. Summer turtle walks are the single most-booked family activity in Boca Raton.
Local's pickJuno Beach$
Loggerhead Marinelife Center
A free sea turtle hospital on Juno Beach where you can walk the outdoor tanks and see rehabilitating loggerheads and greens up close. Nesting season runs March through October and the guided evening turtle walks book out fast.
Local's pickBoca Raton$
Sugar Sand Park & Children's Science Explorium
A 132-acre municipal park with a free hands-on science museum, a carousel, a huge wooden playground and a shaded willow theater. The Explorium is the best rainy-day option in Boca for kids under 12.
Local's pickBoca Raton$
Boca Raton Inlet Jetty
The rocks at the south side of the Boca Inlet are the city's best free vantage point for watching yachts run the pass, plus reliable shore fishing at an outgoing tide.
Local's pickWest Boca$
Daggerwing Nature Center
A free county nature center in South County Regional Park with a half-mile elevated boardwalk over a cypress wetland, live exhibits and a two-story observation tower.
Local's pickDelray Beach$
Delray Affair
A three-day April street festival that closes 12 blocks of Atlantic Avenue for art, crafts, food and live music — the largest arts and crafts event in the Southeast. Free to attend, brutal for parking; use the shuttle lots.
Local's pickDelray Beach$
Delray Beach GreenMarket
Saturday mornings in Old School Square Park: produce from Loxahatchee farms, prepared food stalls, live music and dogs everywhere. Runs October through May and shifts indoors for the summer.
Local's pickBoynton Beach$
Green Cay Nature Center & Wetlands
A free 1.5-mile boardwalk over 100 acres of constructed wetlands. Go at sunrise for alligators, roseate spoonbills, otters and purple gallinules without leaving the walkway.
Local's pickRiviera Beach$
Manatee Lagoon
A free two-storey observation center beside the FPL plant where manatees gather in the warm-water outflow from November to March. On a cold morning you can count dozens from the deck.
Local's pickDowntown Boca$
Sanborn Square Green Market
A downtown Saturday morning market under the banyans at Sanborn Square: produce, bread, prepared food and live acoustic music. Free to browse, seasonal from fall through spring.
Local's pickWest Boca$
Sunset Cove Amphitheater
A lakeside county amphitheater in South County Regional Park with a free and low-cost concert series — bring a blanket, arrive early, and watch the sun drop behind the lake.
Local's pickDelray Beach$
Wakodahatchee Wetlands
A three-quarter-mile boardwalk loop across 50 acres of ponds — arguably the best free bird photography spot in South Florida, with nesting wood storks and great blue herons in spring.
Local's pickWellington$
Wellington International
Home of the Winter Equestrian Festival, twelve weeks of world-class show jumping from January to April. Grounds admission is free most days and Saturday Night Lights is one of the county's best free evenings out.
West Palm Beach$$
Antique Row
A mile of dealers, decorators and design showrooms along South Dixie Highway, the best browsing in the county for furniture, mid-century pieces and estate finds. Most shops close Sundays.
Boca Raton$
Boca Raton Resort Beach Club Bike Path
The El Rio Trail runs a shaded, paved six miles along the El Rio Canal from Yamato Road to Palmetto Park — the city's best flat run or family bike ride away from traffic.
Lake Worth Beach$
Bryant Park Bandshell
A waterfront bandshell on the Lake Worth Lagoon that runs free evening concerts, drum circles and the Lake Worth Beach farmers market on Saturday mornings. Parking is free and the Intracoastal view is the point.
West Palm Beach$
Grassy Waters Preserve
A 23-square-mile wetland that supplies West Palm Beach's drinking water, with free boardwalks, guided canoe trips and a nature center. Quiet on weekday mornings and full of wading birds.
Pahokee$
Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail at Pahokee
The paved dike-top trail around Lake Okeechobee, an hour west, with big-sky views you get nowhere else in South Florida. Pahokee Marina is the easiest access point for a short ride or sunset.
Palm Beach Island$
Lake Trail, Palm Beach
A flat, car-free 5.5-mile paved path along the Intracoastal on Palm Beach Island, passing mansions, banyan tunnels and marina views. Rent bikes near the Royal Poinciana end.
West Palm Beach$$
Norton Museum of Art
Palm Beach County's flagship art museum, expanded by Norman Foster, with American, European, Chinese and contemporary collections and free admission on Fridays and Saturdays.
Boynton Beach$
Ocean Inlet Park
A small county park at the Boynton Inlet with a kayak launch into the mangrove islands of the Lake Worth Lagoon, plus jetty fishing and a snack bar. Manatees are common in the channel.
West Palm Beach$
Okeeheelee Park
A 1,700-acre county park with a water-ski lake, BMX track, nature center, golf course and miles of paved trail. Free to enter and big enough that it never feels full.
Delray Beach$
Old School Square Pavilion
Delray's downtown outdoor stage, host to free Friday concerts, film screenings and the city's big holiday events, one block off Atlantic Avenue. Easy to combine with dinner and a walk.
Boca Raton$
Patch Reef Park
Boca's main community sports park: 17 lit tennis courts, pickleball, ball fields, a large shaded playground and a paved loop. Courts can be booked online and mornings are the civilised slot.
Palm Beach Island$$$$
Worth Avenue
Four blocks of luxury storefronts and hidden Mediterranean vias with courtyards, fountains and climbing bougainvillea. Window-shopping and photographing the vias costs nothing.
Frequently asked questions
- Is Gumbo Limbo Nature Center free?
- Yes. General admission is free with a suggested donation. Ticketed programs such as guided sea turtle walks are extra.
- Are there free concerts in Boca Raton?
- Yes. Mizner Park Amphitheater and Sunset Cove Amphitheater both run free outdoor concerts throughout the season.