The center of most any visit to the Palm Beach area is Palm Beach proper, whose Gatsby-era architecture, stunning mansions, and highbrow shopping make it unlike any other place in Florida. Palm Beach is wealthy and glitzy. Internationally known for power shopping and pricey dining, Palm Beach could easily compete for honors with places like Monaco and Malibu as the most affluent community in the world. Setting the tone in this incredibly wealthy town is the ornate architecture of developer Addison Mizner, who began building homes, stores, and public buildings here in the 1920s and whose Moorish-Gothic style has influenced virtually all the landmarks of the community. Thanks to Mizner and those influenced by him, Palm Beach looks like a kind of neo-Camelot, the perfect backdrop for a playground of the rich and famous. It has long been the winter address of the Rockefellers, Vanderbilts, and Kennedys. But the town of Palm Beach represents only 1% of the land area in Palm Beach County. Much of the rest is given over to sprawling West Palm Beach, long considered Palm Beach's impoverished cousin.

Far larger in area than its upper-crust neighbor to the east, West Palm Beach has become the cultural, entertainment, and business center of the region between Fort Lauderdale and Orlando. The $60 million Kravis Center for the Performing Arts attests to the strength of the arts and entertainment community here. South of Palm Beach, Delray Beach is a sophisticated beach town with a successful local historic preservation movement. Boca Raton is an upscale suburban city with excellent dining, lodging, and shopping options. The county also contains Lake Okeechobee, the largest lake in Florida and one of the country's hot spots for bass-fishing devotees.