Miami, Florida — Where to Go
Miami Sightseeing Overview
Miami has long been a premier tourist destination, acclaimed for its physical beauty and its excellent climate.
Surprisingly, however, it had more humble beginnings. Located on the far south coast of Florida, between a mangrove swamp and a barrier reef, the city was founded 100 years ago, when a tycoon called Henry Flagler extended his railroad to carry citrus fruits from the frost-free south. After WWII and Fidel Castro’s seizing of Cuban power in 1959, waves of Cuban refugees arrived and established Miami as the Latin capital of the USA. This cultural climate inspired residents of other Latin American countries to emigrate, and now Spanish is spoken as pervasively here as English.
Today, visitors are attracted to Miami’s fabled white-sand beaches, clear blue waters; architectural elegance; Spanish culture and Ocean Drive boulevard fringed by the city’s trendiest sidewalk boutiques, bars and restaurants.
Miami Tourist Information
Greater Miami and the Beaches Convention and Visitors Bureau
Suite 2700, 701 Brickell Avenue
Tel: (305) 539 3000.
Website: www.miamiandbeaches.com
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 0830-1800.
Downtown Miami Welcome Center
174 East Flagler Street
Tel: (305) 379 7070.
Website: www.downtownmiami.com
Miami Beach Visitor Information Center
510 Lincoln Road
Tel: (305) 674 1414.
Website: www.miamibeach.org
Coconut Grove Chamber of Commerce
2820 McFarlane Road
Tel: (305) 444 7270.
Website: www.coconutgrove.com
Miami Sightseeing
The Miami Visitor Pass offers up to 15% discount at 66 participating businesses and tour operators (www.miamibeach411.com/discount_card.htm). The Go Miami Card grants admission to over 35 attractions, activities, and tours. Cards range from one to seven day passes (www.gomiamicard.com).
Miami Sightseeing
The Miami Visitor Pass offers up to 15% discount at 66 participating businesses and tour operators (www.miamibeach411.com/discount_card.htm). The Go Miami Card grants admission to over 35 attractions, activities, and tours. Cards range from one to seven day passes (www.gomiamicard.com).
Key Attractions in Miami, Florida
Downtown Miami
Downtown Miami is the the commercial heart of the city, distinguished by sleek skyscrapers, impressive government buildings and cultural centers, and edged by the Port of Miami, the world’s largest cruise port. From the Bayside Marketplace, several boat excursions tour Miami Bay and exclusive Fisher Island, the address for celebrities in Miami.
South Beach
Glitzy, glamorous South Beach (known locally as SoBe) is the trendiest part of town and a magnet for celebrities, wannabes and fun-lovers who thrive on its cosmopolitan atmosphere, designer shopping, upbeat restaurants and fast-paced nightlife. By day, a young, hip crowd cruise Ocean Drive; by night, exotic latino beats flow from the many famed dance clubs onto the busy streets.
South Beach itself boasts white sands, palm trees and dazzling blue sea. However, the most striking feature here is the famous art deco historic district - over 800 buildings within 1.5 sq km (1 sq mile), all in the same streamlined architectural style, painted in pastel shades and lit with brilliantly colored neon lights. Tours of the district are offered every morning (except Thursdays) or Thursday evening. Self-guided tour maps are also available from the Art Deco Welcome Center, 1200 Ocean Drive (at 12th Street), South Beach.
Lincoln Road Mall and South Pointe Park
Miami Beach
Miami Beach is located on a long slender island connected to mainland Miami by four main causeways. It comprises various coastal towns, each with its own personality - including Surfside, the upscale shopping district of Bal Harbour, Sunny Isles Beach, South Beach and Golden Beach. Miami Beach's white sands extend from Lincoln Road Mall northwards to 87th Street, with a scenic boardwalk popular with joggers and strollers, and pastel-colored art deco lifeguard stations dotting the shoreline. A variety of watersports are available, including windsurfing, sailing, jet-skiing and parasailing.
Little Havana
After Fidel Castro took power in 1959, refugees fleeing Cuba settled just west of downtown Miami, in a neighborhood known as Little Havana. Today, with its 800,000-strong Cuban-American community, this colorful district has a distinctly Latin atmosphere with its Spanish signs, Cuban coffee bars and restaurants, small cigar factories and street-side food stalls, selling such delicacies as baho (Cuban stew) and freshly squeezed juices. Monuments to anti-Castro Cubans line the streets, especially around Calle Ocho (Eighth Street), the liveliest part of Little Havana and the venue for the Calle Ocho Festival, a famous annual spring carnival - America's largest street party.
Key Biscayne
Linked to the mainland by the Rickenbacker Causeway, Key Biscayne combines traditional Florida-style houses with ostentatious mansions belonging to some of Miami's wealthiest residents. The beaches here rank among Florida's best - their fine sand and relatively calm seas make them a popular choice for families. Other top attractions include two beautiful parks (Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park and Crandon Park) both with magnificent beaches, bike trails and nature walks. Bill Baggs is home to the Cape Florida Lighthouse, built in 1825. The small Crandon Family Amusement Center in the park has an old-time carousel, playground and outdoor roller rink.
Miami Seaquarium
Located on beautiful Biscayne Bay, the Miami Seaquarium has over 10,000 aquatic creatures on display - including crocodiles, alligators and seals, as well as fish of every imaginable shape, size and color. Star acts include Lolita, a 7,000-pound killer whale, Salty the sea lion and TV superstar Flipper the dolphin. The in-house Marine Mammal Rescue Team also strives to preserve and protect stranded or injured manatees, dolphins and whales in the waters of South Florida. See their work in the mangrove habitat of Discovery Bay – used to rehabilitate rescued sea turtles; and the Manatee Exhibit where manatees are nursed back to health, ready for release into the wild.
4400 Rickenbacker Causeway, Key Biscayne
Tel: (305) 361 5705.
Website: www.miamiseaquarium.com
Opening hours: Daily 0930-1800.
Admission charge: Y.
Disabled access: Y.
Coconut Grove
Located on the edge of Biscayne Bay, south of downtown Miami, Coconut Grove is one of the city's oldest neighborhoods, with bohemian roots. Settled by a multicultural group of Bahamians and New Englanders, the neighborhood drew artists and intellectuals, who set up summer homes here. Today, it is a trendy district with a bustling village atmosphere, full of colorful galleries, theaters, nightclubs, fine restaurants, hip sidewalk cafés and shops.
Coral Gables
This elegant Mediterranean-style residential district, 16km (10 miles) southwest of downtown Miami, was created by local developer George Merrick during the boom years of the 1920s. Coral Gables is best known for its art galleries, the exclusive Miracle Mile shopping street, its golf courses, fine hotels and restaurants. It also contains some of the city's finest architecture, set amid broad boulevards, canals and parkland. Some buildings are preserved as historic landmarks, including the stunning Biltmore Hotel, and the Venetian Pool, at 2701 De Soto Boulevard - the only swimming pool on the National Register of Historic Places, transformed from a mere rock quarry in 1923.
Historical Museum of Southern Florida
This museum offers a fascinating insight into the region's past. It has a small but impressive collection of hands-on displays, archive material, historical objects and multimedia presentations, which covers 10,000 years of Florida history from the first settlers to the present day.
Miami-Dade Cultural Center
101 West Flagler Street, Downtown Miami
Tel: (305) 375 1492.
Website: www.hmsf.org
Opening hours: Mon-Sat 1000-1700, every third Thurs 1000-2100, Sun 1200-1700.
Admission charge: Y.
Miami Museum of Science and Planetarium
This nationally renowned museum, associated with the Smithsonian Institute, features interactive scientific exhibits on physics, electricity, light, sound and anatomy, as well as daily astronomy and laser shows in the adjacent planetarium. It also boasts South Florida's largest natural history collection and a wildlife center that rehabilitates injured birds of prey and reptiles, and displays more than 175 live animals.
3280 South Miami Avenue, Coconut Grove
Tel: (305) 646 4200.
Website: www.miamisci.org
Opening hours: Daily 1000-1800.
Admission charge: Y.
Disabled access: Y.
Wolsonian Museum
The Wolfsonian Museum, affiliated with the Florida International University, was founded by an eccentric world-traveler and Miami native from his own collection of modern design and ‘propaganda arts.' One-of-a-kind exhibits address 19th- and 20th-century political themes, displaying the arts and crafts that were created to persuade, nationalize or rally citizens. Other museums in the city include the Miami Art Museum primarily displays international art since WWII and the Bass Museum, which focuses on European art from the 15th to 18th centuries.
1001 Washington Avenue, South Beach
Tel: (305) 531 1001.
Website: www.wolfsonian.fiu.edu
Opening hours: Sat & Sun 1200-1800; Thurs & Fri 1200-2100.
Admission charge: Y.
Disabled access: Y.
Zoo Miami
Zoo Miami is a state-of-the-art cageless zoo, with over animals from more than 310 species roaming the 116-hectare (290-acre) grounds, separated by moats from spectators. Wildlife shows, a petting zoo, tram tours, monorail, gift shops, food courts and a playground provide fun for all the family. Other zoos include Monkey Jungle, where the humans are kept in caged walkways while the primates roam freely and Jungle Island, a unique bird sanctuary-cum-botanical garden with more than 1,100 birds and 100 plant varieties, together with alligators, giant tortoises and apes.
1 Zoo Boulevard, 12400 SW 152nd Street, Richmond Heights
Tel: (305) 251 0400.
Website: www.miamimetrozoo.com
Opening hours: Daily 0930-1730 (last entry at 1600).
Admission charge: Y.
Disabled access: Y.
Further Distractions
Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden
This magnificent 33-hectare (83-acre) botanical garden is located just south of Coconut Grove. It contains extensive collections of rare tropical plants, a 1,440-sq-m (16,000-sq-ft) conservatory, 11 lakes and lily ponds, and a rainforest exhibit, set among a waterfall and stream. A variety of educational programs and narrated tram tours are available.
10901 Old Cutler Road, Coral Gables
Tel: (305) 667 1651.
Website: www.fairchildgarden.org
Admission charge: Y.
Disabled access: Y.
Vizcaya Museum and Gardens
Vizcaya is a beautiful Italian Renaissance-style palace set in four hectares (10 acres) of picturesque formal gardens, south of downtown Miami on Biscayne Bay. Built as a winter residence for the Chicago industrialist James Deering in 1916, the mansion is modeled on neo-classical designs and its 70 rooms are filled with antique furnishings spanning the 15th to 19th centuries. Tours are available.
3251 South Miami Avenue, Coconut Grove
Tel: (305) 250 9133.
Website: www.vizcayamuseum.org
Admission charge: Y.
Disabled access: Y.
