Vacationing in Palm Beach Gardens, Jupiter, and Juno Beach for the first time. (West Palm Beach: hotel, house)

[mrpanda]

My family will be vacationing at Palm Beach Gardens for the first time for 5 days/5 nights in the first week of December. We will be staying at a hotel next to Gardens Mall.

We definitely want to check out Jupiter and Juno beach. What are the must see attractions that you can recommend?

[jdinisio]

Not sure how old your kids are, but if you're into history, Jupiter Light House is definitely worth a look. Perhaps also you could look into Intracoastal boat tours... Maybe a show in downtown WPB or some attractions on Palm Beach Island...

Sorry I can't help more, haven't seen a lot of it myself, even though I've been in Jupiter for over 2 years.

[mrpanda]

My twin boys are 19 months old so we are looking forward to the beaches. What do you think about Juno and Jupiter Beach? What is the Garden Mall like?

[TriMT7]

Check out the beach at Dubois park in Jupiter. Lots of families with little ones go there because it's a protected area with less waves, etc.

Also, the Loggerhead marine center is great to learn about turtles. Also, take the drive to Lion Country Safari... it's maybe 30 minutes from Jupiter. There's also the Palm Beach Zoo, in West Palm Beach, that is great for kids.


The Gardens Mall is a big shopping mall, with a very nice selection and some very high end stores along with the standard mall staples. In addition to the Jupiter/Juno beaches, John D. MacArthur State Park is a beach park on Singer Island, right down PGA and onto A1A.

While in the area you might want to check out Cityplace, which has shopping, restaurants galore, and live music on the weekends. You can also check out the theater schedule for the Kravis Center (in West Palm Beach), or the Jupiter Maltz Theater to see if there are any family friendly shows happening while you are in town.

[DaniellaG]

The Lion Country I agree with. I remember as a kid going there and loving it and that was 25 years ago. It is nice for the whole family

[mrpanda]

Wow thanks guys. What is the weather like in Dec and January in WPB? Is it really nice?

Tell me a little bit about the beaches in Jupiter and Juno. I am big beach fan. I am intimately familiar with the beaches in Southern California (LA, OC, and San Diego)
Would you say that the beaches in Jupiter and Juno is cleaner and beautiful than the SoCal beaches?

[FloridaHawkeye]

Hard to say. They are quite different landscapes via Florida compared to California. I went to the boardwalk in San Diego where there are alot of people and restaurants. In Jupiter its more of a quieter almost private feel.

I would recommend taking the ocean drive in Palm Beach.

[jdinisio]

As a former CA resident, I can say the beaches in FL are much nicer. I personally prefer Marcinski Beach, just a bit South on the Jupiter/PBG border. Its more public, but never does it feel too crowded. This time of year, the water will be cold (at least for me!), and air temps will be 70s during the day and probably in the 50s at night. I'm sure its a heat wave for you, but there are nights when it does feel chilly. Come December and January, you will get mornings down in the 30s/40s, so I would definitely bring at the least a light jacket.

Loggerhead and Lion Country Safari would both also be great choices. I'm yet to visit either though... I really need to get out more apparently...

Gardens Mall is very nigh, quite large, and they always have holiday displays for the kids, and quite often visits from the big Jolly guy... A good selection in the food court, the typical anchor stores, and like mentioned earlier, a fair amount of very high end stores...

[SAKIRAV]

Originally Posted by mrpanda

Wow thanks guys. What is the weather like in Dec and January in WPB? Is it really nice?

Tell me a little bit about the beaches in Jupiter and Juno. I am big beach fan. I am intimately familiar with the beaches in Southern California (LA, OC, and San Diego)
Would you say that the beaches in Jupiter and Juno is cleaner and beautiful than the SoCal beaches?

You haven't heard about the weather in January? OMH. There are no words to describe it. Especially when you KNOW the temperatures + windchills in the north EAST north WEST and mid WEST.

[DaniellaG]

In Dec/Jan you never know what you will get. It could be a high of 60 or 80. Last year I recall during vacation time people being in sweatshirts which I felt bad about cause I know people come to FL for beach weather.