Jacksonville to Fort Lauderdale: Distance, time & road trip stops
The best stops on a Jacksonville to Fort Lauderdale road trip are St Augustine, the Kennedy Space Center and the Henry Morrison Flagler Museum. By car, the distance from Jacksonville to Fort Lauderdale is 326 miles. That makes for a driving time of around 4h31m.
Planning a Jacksonville to Fort Lauderdale road trip
The Jacksonville to Fort Lauderdale drive takes you from north-east Florida’s largest city to a waterway-lined sunshine city popular with spring breakers.
Top Jacksonville experiences include Amelia Island kayak tours, guided art and architecture tours by electric bike and electric skateboard rides along Fernandina Beach.
Fort Lauderdale is a sleek coastal city of beaches and canals. For Fort Lauderdale experiences, try narrated 90 minute cruises on the Jungle Queen, Everglades airboat adventures and snorkelling tours on the Fort Lauderdale reefs.
Alternatively, try an evening boat cruise, renting a powerboat or parasailing.
Great beachfront Fort Lauderdale accommodation options include the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort and the Hotel Maren.
Jacksonville to Fort Lauderdale distance and driving time
By car, the distance from Jacksonville to Fort Lauderdale is 326 miles. With favourable traffic, you can expect a Jacksonville to Fort Lauderdale driving time of around four hours and 31 minutes.
The drive is almost entirely down the I-95, and there are plenty of excellent stop along the way. If picking out just three, however, the following contenders are the most memorable.
Jacksonville to Fort Lauderdale road trip stops: St Augustine
St Augustine is the oldest continually inhabited city in the United States, and it has largely escaped heavy modernised development. Founded in 1565 by Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León.
In the compact, historic centre, there are several chintzy heritage attractions. These are fun but not exactly brimming with centuries of authenticity.
The Spanish-built Castillo de San Marcos on the waterfront does pack that historic power, though. It should be sight number one before mooching around town.
Other St Augustine experiences include hop-on, hop-off trolley passes, sunset cruises and dolphin, manatee and sea turtle-viewing tours.
Jacksonville to Fort Lauderdale drive: Cape Canaveral
Cape Canaveral has wetlands and beautiful beaches, but that’s not why people come here. This Florida outpost has played a massively outsized part in space exploration, and the Kennedy Space Center is one of the very best attractions in the US.
Here, you can see a space shuttle and Saturn V rocket up close, get absorbed in video presentations about mission launches and learn about NASA’s future plans. The Behind The Gates bus tour, meanwhile, heads out towards the launch complexes and the gargantuan Vehicle Assembly Building.
An admission ticket is pricy, but worth it.
Attractions between Jacksonville and Fort Lauderdale: Henry Morrison Flagler Museum
The east coast equivalent of California’s Hearst Castle, the Henry Morrison Flagler Museum is a 75 room Beaux-Arts mansion in Palm Beach.
It belonged to Henry Morrison Flagler, the driving force behind Florida being turned into a mass tourism destination. Furniture and furnishings have been lifted wholesale from historic buildings in Europe. The museum tells Flagler’s story, the mansion tours show off just how rich he got.
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