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Boca Raton is a city on Florida's southeast coast in southern Palm Beach County, between Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach. Its name comes from Boca de Ratones, a Spanish term used for a nearby inlet. A small farming settlement grew here in the early 1900s, but Boca Raton's identity was shaped in the mid-1920s, when architect Addison Mizner planned a lavish resort city in his signature Mediterranean Revival style. The Florida land boom collapsed before most of his plans were built, yet his Cloister Inn, now the pink Boca Raton resort, and the 1927 Town Hall still define the city's look.
Today Boca Raton is an affluent city of around 100,000 people known for its manicured streets, golf communities and beaches. Mizner Park, an open-air district of palm-lined promenades, restaurants and shops, anchors downtown, and Florida Atlantic University brings a college-town energy. Strict design rules keep buildings in the Mediterranean spirit, and the city has kept its oceanfront largely as parks rather than high-rises.
Visitors come for the beaches and nature as much as the shopping. Spanish River Park and Red Reef Park offer quiet beaches and shady trails, and Gumbo Limbo Nature Center rescues sea turtles and has a tower with views over the coastal hammock. The Boca Raton Museum of Art and the Boca Raton History Museum in the Old Town Hall showcase art and local history, Sugar Sand Park entertains families, and the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens lie just to the north in Delray Beach.
Mizner Park is an upscale outdoor shopping and dining district in downtown Boca Raton, with Mediterranean-style buildings, fountains, boutiques, restaurants and an amphitheater that hosts concerts and festivals. The Boca Raton Museum of Art stands at its north end. Parking garages are free, and evenings are lively.
Town Center at Boca Raton is a large indoor shopping mall west of downtown, with luxury brands, department stores, popular chains and restaurants. It is a good air-conditioned escape on hot afternoons. Parking is free, and weekday mornings are much quieter than weekends during the winter season.
Royal Palm Place is a walkable downtown Boca Raton district with locally owned boutiques, salons, galleries and many restaurants on tree-shaded streets near Federal Highway. It has a relaxed, village-like feel. Evenings bring outdoor dining, and garage parking is available within the district.
The Boca Raton Museum of Art at Mizner Park shows modern and contemporary art, photography, glass, and African and pre-Columbian works, along with a sculpture garden and touring exhibitions. Allow one to two hours. It hosts the yearly All Florida juried show, and admission is free on some days.
The Boca Raton History Museum is housed in the 1927 Old Town Hall, designed by Addison Mizner's associates, with a gold dome on Palmetto Park Road. Exhibits trace Boca Raton's growth from farm town to resort city. It is run by the Boca Raton Historical Society, and the shop sells local history books.
The Boca Raton resort, originally the Cloister Inn designed by Addison Mizner in 1926, is a pink Mediterranean-style landmark on Lake Boca Raton. It is a private resort, renamed The Boca Raton. Non-guests can see it from the water or on historic tours offered by the Boca Raton Historical Society.
Gumbo Limbo Nature Center sits on a barrier island between the ocean and the Intracoastal Waterway, with a boardwalk through coastal hammock, an observation tower and a sea turtle rehabilitation hospital. Visitors can see rescued turtles in outdoor tanks. Entry is by suggested donation, and summer offers turtle walks.
Daggerwing Nature Center is a county nature center in western Boca Raton inside South County Regional Park, with boardwalks through a wetland swamp where alligators, turtles and wading birds are common. Its center has live animal exhibits. Admission is free, and an observation tower gives views over the marsh.
Spanish River Park is a large beach park with an Atlantic beach reached by tunnels under the coastal road, plus shady picnic areas, nature trails, a lagoon on the Intracoastal Waterway and an observation tower. It is good for a full day outdoors. Non-resident parking fees are fairly high on weekends.
Red Reef Park is a city beach park in Boca Raton with a shallow rock reef close to shore, making it one of the best spots in the area for easy snorkeling with tropical fish. It also has picnic areas and a lifeguarded beach. Snorkel on calm days at high tide, and pay for parking at the lot.
Sugar Sand Park is a large Boca Raton park with a huge wooden playground, an indoor carousel, a nature trail and the Children's Science Explorium, a hands-on science center for kids. It is one of the best family stops in the city. Many indoor parts are free or low cost, making it ideal for rainy days.
Festival of the Arts Boca is an annual multi-day arts festival held in early spring at Mizner Park Amphitheater, with classical and popular music concerts, author talks, film screenings and lectures. It brings well-known performers to Boca Raton. Buy tickets early and bring a jacket for cooler evenings.
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