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Palm Beach makes another list – as an ‘affordable road trip destination’

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Palm Beach makes another list – as an ‘affordable road trip destination’

Maybe we can file this under the “All Press is Good Press” file.

Travel + Leisure, a publication with more than five decades of advising people on where to go and what to do when they get there, recently published a list of “10 Affordable Road Trip Destinations in the U.S.” — and Palm Beach made the cut.

Listen, we’re just as confused as you are. Palm Beach isn’t the first place that comes to mind when you say “affordable.”

The Travel + Leisure writer certainly lavished praise on the town.

Noting that Palm Beach is “posh” and a “ritzy seaside enclave,” they also called the island “The Hamptons of the South.” Ahem. Aren’t The Hamptons the Palm Beach of the North?

In declaring Palm Beach an “affordable” road trip destination, Travel + Leisure points to summer deals at some of Palm Beach’s top hotels, including the Brazilian Court, Eau Palm Beach — which is in Manalapan, not Palm Beach — and The Colony. Yes, you can stay for “a fraction of the cost,” as Travel + Leisure points out.

Special nightly rates at The Breakers start at $690 through Aug. 31. At The Brazilian Court, nightly summer rates start at about $399. That number bumps up to about $499 a night at The Colony through the summer, although a booking search for an upcoming August week found a standard double room for $384 a night. The Eau offers rooms over the summer that start at about $599 a night.

The Four Seasons Resort Palm Beach has summer deals for Florida residents of up to 30% off nightly rates with complimentary parking. At the Palm Beach Historic Inn, you can score a room during the summer for a nightly rate that starts around $200 for a queen room. The Tideline is offering a 20% savings on nightly rates to Florida and Georgia residents this summer, and The White Elephant Palm Beach has nightly summer rates that start at $365.

More: Majority of billionaires in Palm Beach got richer … but some, including Trump, did not

Still a far cry from the season, when many of those same rooms will quickly book up at $1,000 or more a night.

Yes, of course Travel + Leisure notes Palm Beach County’s 47 miles of beaches. It also encourages its readers to “not sleep on” the Lake Trail and Worth Avenue.

Admittedly, one recommendation to hit up two small businesses-slash-local icons — Green’s Pharmacy and Sprinkles Ice Cream — hits the nail on the head.

But the final recommendation from Travel + Leisure takes people off the island, and while Mounts Botanical Garden is a gem, it’s not Palm Beach. Might we recommend Pan’s Garden instead? This half-acre of all-native botanical paradise is tucked away just north of Worth Avenue on Hibiscus Avenue. It’s a gem, admission is free and the Casa Apava wall — saved from the remnants of one of Palm Beach’s great estates — is not to be missed.

You could also visit the Philip Hulitar Sculpture Garden and the Demonstration Garden at the Society of the Four Arts on Royal Palm Way. The Demonstration Garden is managed and maintained by the Garden Club of Palm Beach, and it is designed to highlight plants that thrive in South Florida, with themed planting areas: Bromeliad Garden, Chinese Garden, Formal Garden, Fragrant Moonlight Garden, Jungle Garden, Madonna Garden, Palm Garden, Spanish Facade Garden and Tropical Garden.

More: From Bradley Park to Four Arts, take a stroll through Palm Beach’s public parks and gardens

Other cities that made the cut for Travel + Leisure’s list are Jacksonville; Orlando; Tampa; Houston, Dallas-Forth Worth and San Antonio, Texas; Sacramento and San Diego, California; and the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.

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