Things to Do in Stuart, FL

The Riverwalk and Downtown: A Walkable Outdoor Experience

The Stuart Riverwalk is a boardwalk running along the St. Lucie River's edge, with benches and, every Sunday afternoon from 1 to 4 p.m., live music on the waterfront Riverwalk Stage, with tiered seating looking out over the river. It connects the docks of Sunset Bay Marina to the historic homes of Seminole Street, threading directly through downtown Stuart's dining and shopping district. Simply walking the Riverwalk and downtown's streets, with no admission required, functions as a genuine self-guided experience through a district that became part of the National Register-listed Downtown Stuart Historic District on August 4, 2026.

The restored Lyric Theatre anchors downtown's entertainment scene with year-round programming, and the Stuart Green Market runs every Sunday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., featuring produce, handmade crafts, coffee, pastries, and live music -- a genuine weekly community gathering rather than a tourist-oriented event alone.

The Elliott Museum: Vintage Vehicles and Real Florida History

The Elliott Museum, on Hutchinson Island, holds a substantial collection of vintage cars, motorcycles, and airplanes. Its Wheels of Change exhibit is specifically built around a fleet of vintage commercial vehicles, primarily Ford Model As and Model AAs -- a specific, dated collection rather than a generic 'antique cars' display. This is a genuine destination attraction, not incidental local-interest filler, and represents a different kind of historical experience than downtown's architectural preservation focus.

The House of Refuge: The Oldest Building in Martin County

The House of Refuge Museum, also on Hutchinson Island, is the oldest building in all of Martin County and covers the history of shipwrecks and rescues along this stretch of Florida coast -- a genuine maritime-history site directly connected to the same coastline that gives Stuart its Sailfish Capital identity and its real hurricane history. This isn't a reconstructed or thematic attraction; it's an original structure with a specific, documented rescue-station history.

Getting to the Beach: Hutchinson Island and Sailfish Point

Since most of the City of Stuart sits on the mainland side of the Indian River Lagoon rather than directly on the ocean, reaching an actual Atlantic beach means crossing a bridge to Hutchinson Island, where public beach access points exist alongside the gated, oceanfront Sailfish Point community at the island's southern tip. This page does not have a confirmed, current list of specific public beach access points and their amenities on the Stuart-adjacent portion of Hutchinson Island and recommends checking current Martin County parks and beach-access resources directly.

This geography is worth understanding clearly for a visitor or new resident expecting Stuart itself to be a beach town in the conventional sense -- it isn't, for most of the city, even though genuine, high-quality beach access sits a short drive away.

Fishing and Boating as a Real Activity, Not Just a Backdrop

Given Stuart's 'Sailfish Capital of the World' identity and its position at the Crossroads of the Intracoastal Waterway, fishing charters and boat-based excursions represent a genuine, real activity category for a visitor rather than incidental scenery -- covered in more depth on this site's Fishing Guide and Boating & Water Access pages. For a visitor without their own boat, chartering a trip is a real, accessible way to directly experience the same waters that built Stuart's core identity, distinct from simply viewing the river from the Riverwalk.

The Sailfish Monument and the Sunday Green Market

The 18-foot bronze leaping sailfish sculpture at downtown's northern entrance, cast by wildlife sculptor Geoffrey C. Smith and donated by businessman Edward Sellian in 2002, sits in a fountain at Jefferson Circle and functions as a genuine, free, photograph-worthy landmark marking the gateway to downtown -- a specific, dated piece of public art tied directly to the town's actual fishing history rather than generic beach-town decor. It's a quick, no-admission stop worth combining with a longer downtown or Riverwalk visit.

The Stuart Green Market, running every Sunday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., offers a genuine weekly community event beyond a typical farmers market -- fresh produce, handmade crafts, coffee, pastries, and live music in a walkable downtown setting. For a visitor timing a trip to Stuart, a Sunday visit lets a single outing combine the market, a Riverwalk stroll (with live music on the waterfront stage from 1 to 4 p.m. the same afternoon), and downtown's restaurants and shops into one cohesive day.

What This Page Does Not Have

This page does not have confirmed current admission prices, hours, or seasonal schedule details for the Elliott Museum, the House of Refuge, or the Stuart Green Market, and recommends confirming current details directly with each attraction before planning a visit, since these can change seasonally or year to year. It also does not have a comprehensive, current list of every gallery, shop, or minor attraction within downtown Stuart's more than 50 locally-owned businesses.

For a comprehensive, current visitor itinerary, combine this page's confirmed, dated attractions with current visitor information from the City of Stuart, Discover Martin County (the county's tourism organization), and Historic Downtown Stuart's own materials.