Las Olas Boulevard: How to Spend a Day on Fort Lauderdale's Main Street

Here is the short answer. Las Olas is not one place, it is two, and almost every bad Las Olas day starts with a visitor driving to the wrong one. The shopping and dining blocks sit downtown near the New River. The beach sits at the far east end on A1A. The city charges $4.00 an hour at both the City Hall Garage and the Las Olas Garage, and $3.00 an hour at the Riverwalk Center, which is the cheapest of the three and the only downtown garage open around the clock. The Water Taxi runs 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week and stops at both ends of the boulevard, which is the only way to see the whole thing without parking twice. Every rate and hour below came from the City of Fort Lauderdale and the operators themselves this week.

We are Brad and Justina, founders of Yours Truly Hospitality. We manage vacation homes across Southeast Florida, from Pompano Beach and Lighthouse Point through greater Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Miami. Las Olas is the single most common question we get from guests who have never been here. It is also the easiest one to get wrong.

Las Olas Is Two Destinations Wearing One Name

You can see the split in the Water Taxi's own stop list. On the Fort Lauderdale route, stop F2 is called Shops and Restaurants at Las Olas. Stop F7 is called Las Olas Landing, and its listed features include beach access. Same boulevard, same name, two stops, opposite ends of the route.

The street addresses tell the same story. The Historic Stranahan House Museum, the oldest thing on the boulevard, sits at 335 SE 6th Avenue down by the river. Las Olas Oceanside Park is at 3000 E. Las Olas Blvd, out where the road meets the sand.

So the rule is simple, and it is the most useful thing in this post. Put the exact street address into your map, never the words Las Olas. A guest searching for a garage by name can end up a long drive from the shops they came for, with a parking fee already running.

The Middle Is Somebody's Front Yard

Between the two ends, the boulevard crosses the finger isles. This is the stretch of canals and private docks that gets Fort Lauderdale called the Venice of America, and it is the prettiest driving on the whole road.

It is also entirely residential. There is no attraction here, no public parking to speak of, and the homes on either side are lived in. Drive it slowly, read the signs before you leave a car anywhere, and treat it as a neighborhood rather than a stop.

The better way to see it is from the water. The Water Taxi's Fort Lauderdale boats run this stretch every 35 to 45 minutes, and the view of the isles from a boat is the one the postcards use. Worth knowing if you go that way: stop F9 is Hugh Taylor Birch State Park, and the operator notes it closes at sunset, so do not plan it as your last hop of the evening.

Where to Park, and What the City Actually Charges

The City of Fort Lauderdale publishes rates for four public garages. Three of them matter for a Las Olas day.

Riverwalk Center, 150 SE 2 St, entrance on SE 2 Ave. $3.00 per hour. 552 spaces. Open 24 hours every day. Maximum 6 hours on the first floor, 10 hours on the second and third.

City Hall Garage, 100 N. Andrews Avenue, entrances on NE 1 St and NE 2 St. $4.00 per hour. Open 8 a.m. to midnight, but closed Sundays, city holidays and evening City Commission meetings. Maximum 5 hours.

Las Olas Garage, 200 E. Las Olas Circle. $4.00 per hour. 649 spaces. Open 24 hours every day. Maximum 10 hours. Ramp clearance is 8 feet 2 inches on the first floor and 7 feet on every floor above it, which matters if you are in anything tall.

Two things people get caught by. First, if you are downtown on a Sunday, the City Hall Garage is shut and the Riverwalk Center is not, so the cheaper garage is also the open one. Check the day before you circle the block.

Second, the machines take no coins. They take $1, $5, $10 and $20 bills and credit cards, and the city rate drops to $1.50 an hour only for residents with an approved rate, which visitors will not have.

One honest gap. The city publishes garage rates clearly, but its public page for on-street and lot parking loads with no rate table on it at all, and the same is true of its beach parking page. So there is no street meter rate sheet to quote you. Read the meter. And read the pay-by-phone location number off the meter itself rather than off the website, because the city's garage page currently prints the same location number for two different garages, which cannot be right for both.

The Downtown End: Riverwalk and the Oldest House in Town

Riverwalk Linear Park is the reason to start downtown. It runs along the New River at 20 N. New River Dr, covers 5.59 acres, and has restrooms, benches, picnic tables and a gazebo. Its posted hours are the best detail on the whole boulevard: it is closed only from 4 a.m. to 6 a.m. Twenty two hours a day, the riverfront is yours.

A block away is the Historic Stranahan House Museum at 335 SE 6th Avenue. Admission is by guided tour only, the tours run 45 to 60 minutes, and they begin promptly on the hour. Tickets are $12 for adults, $11 for seniors 60 and over, and $7 for students with ID. Children under 6 are free.

Read this part before you go. The museum says tour times change daily based on volunteer availability, so the schedule on any given day is whatever the ticket page says that morning, not what a review site told you last year. It is also closed on New Year's Day, Easter, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

The Ocean End: Oceanside Park and the Wave Wall

Las Olas Oceanside Park sits at 3000 E. Las Olas Blvd and is open 6 a.m. to midnight. It has restrooms, outdoor showers, drinking fountains, a bike rack, a walking path and a splash pad, which is the detail that decides a lot of family afternoons.

Across from it is the promenade and the white wave wall that runs along A1A. That is the photograph everybody comes here for, and it costs nothing. If you are parking for this end of the day, the Las Olas Garage is the one at 200 E. Las Olas Circle, and its 10 hour maximum covers a beach day and dinner afterward with room to spare.

The Version We Actually Recommend: Leave the Car Once

Park once, downtown, at the Riverwalk Center for $3.00 an hour. Walk the Riverwalk. Take the tour if the hours line up. Then get on the Water Taxi and let it carry you the length of the boulevard instead of driving it.

An all-day adult pass is $38 and a child 5 to 11 is $18, with under 5 free. An evening pass for adults, good from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., is $25. If you are here longer, a 30 day unlimited pass is $140 and an annual pass is $349. Every pass is valid for a year from the date you buy it, and the boats run rain or shine.

Do the math against parking twice and it usually wins, and it removes the part of the day nobody enjoys, which is looking for a space on A1A at 4 p.m.

That is Las Olas done properly. Start at the river, finish at the ocean, and let something else do the driving in between.

If you are planning a stay along this stretch of coast and want a home that puts you inside a short drive of all of it, have a look at our South Florida vacation homes.

Updated September 2026, with garage rates, park hours, museum admission and Water Taxi fares verified directly with the City of Fort Lauderdale and the operators.