Miami isn’t shy about showing off. From neon-lit boulevards where 1930s façades glow like candy to mangrove-lined waterways prowled by alligators, the city folds tropical energy and multicultural history into every mile.
You can trace early-20th-century opulence at Vizcaya, lose yourself in street art that began blooming in 2009, or sip a cortadito where Cuban exiles first found a taste of home in the 1960s. Let’s discover the sunshine city with our guide to 10 Things to Do in Miami!
Walk the Art Deco District on South Beach
Pastel streamliners and bold neon signs hug Ocean Drive, many built between 1923 and 1943, making this the world’s largest concentration of Art Deco architecture. Strike a pose beside the iconic 1939 Colony Hotel, then wander backstreets like Collins Avenue where geometric motifs and porthole windows recall the glamour of early cruise liners. The district’s nightly glow-up between dusk and 10 p.m. feels like stepping into a Technicolor postcard. Pair it with a fresh-rolled Cuban cigar, and you’ll see why preservationists fought so fiercely in the 1970s to save these façades.
Sip Culture in Little Havana
Centered on Calle Ocho, Little Havana has been the heart of Miami’s Cuban diaspora since the first exile waves of 1959. Café windows clatter with domino tiles while murals chronicle heroes from José Martí to Celia Cruz. Visit Maximo Gómez Park before noon to watch retirees debate politics over pastelitos, then detour to the Tower Theater (built 1926) for subtitled films that keep Spanish cinema alive. Time your visit for the last Friday of each month—Viernes Culturales—when galleries fling open their doors and salsa spills into the street.
Get Lost in Color at Wynwood Walls
What began as Tony Goldman’s experimental open-air gallery in 2009 now splashes more than 80,000 square feet of warehouse walls with ever-changing murals at Wynwood Walls. International heavyweights like Shepard Fairey and Lady Pink layer new stories over faded ones each December during Art Basel week. Beyond the curated core, side streets buzz with indie breweries, thrift shops, and tech start-ups that moved in after graffiti transformed the once-gritty Garment District. Bring a wide-angle lens—these kaleidoscopic blocks beg for panorama shots.
Time-Travel at Vizcaya Museum & Gardens
Industrial baron James Deering’s 34-room villa, completed 1914–1922, blends Italian Renaissance symmetry with Biscayne Bay breezes at Vizcaya Museum & Gardens. Inside, look for a Belgian chimneypiece from 1500 and a 17th-century Galleon ceiling hidden in the Music Room. Outside, orchid-laden mangroves shade a maze of fountains, grottos, and the sculpted barge that guards the estate like a stone galleon. It’s hard not to imagine Gatsby-era soirées clinking across the terrace at sunset.
Browse the Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM)
Anchoring Museum Park since 2013, the Pérez Art Museum Miami floats above the bay on hurricane-ready stilts, its living columns draped with Phillip Arroyo’s vertical gardens. Inside, curatorially bold exhibitions rotate Latin American masters with cutting-edge video art—think a Diego Rivera sketch sharing space with Yayoi Kusama infinity dots. Step onto the veranda for breezes that carry yacht horns from across Government Cut. Even the café plates local wahoo ceviche, turning lunch into an artwork of its own.
Feel the Breeze at Key Biscayne & Cape Florida Lighthouse
Drive 15 minutes south on the Rickenbacker Causeway, and Miami’s skyline melts into Atlantic blue. At Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park, climb the white-washed lighthouse first lit in 1846; the 109-step ascent ends with 360-degree views from Stiltsville to Coconut Grove. Afterward, wade off the island’s calm western shore—often warmer than South Beach thanks to the shallow shelf. Keep an eye out for manatees munching seagrass along No Name Harbor.
Glide Through the Everglades on an Airboat
Just 40 miles west lies Everglades National Park, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979 but protected federally since 1947. Airboats skimming sawgrass sound like oversized hairdryers, yet that racket often summons curious gators and roseate spoonbills. Guides share Seminole legends of the “River of Grass,” pointing to orchids that bloom only a few weeks each May. Bring polarized sunglasses—the sun off this slow-moving sheet of water is blinding.
Shop and Sail at Bayside Marketplace & Bayfront Park
Opened in 1987, Bayside Marketplace wraps around Biscayne Bay Marina, fusing retail therapy with live salsa under the thatched roof of the Mojito Bar. Mid-afternoon, hop a 90-minute Island Queen cruise to ogle Star Island mansions once owned by celebs like Gloria Estefan. Return at sunset when the 1926 Venetian-style Freedom Tower nearby glows persimmon and local drummers turn Bayfront Park’s amphitheater into an impromptu bloco.
Geek Out at the Frost Museum of Science
Debuting 2017, the Phillip & Patricia Frost Museum of Science dazzles with a Gulf Stream–themed aquarium whose oculus lets hammerhead sharks glide overhead like airborne zeppelins. The adjacent planetarium’s 16-million-color 8K projection maps constellations visible above Miami circa 1513, the year Ponce de León sailed these waters. Don’t skip “Feathers to the Stars,” tracing flight from Archaeopteryx fossils to SpaceX’s Falcon 9 booster, built just up the coast in Cape Canaveral.
Hear Jazz Echoes in Historic Overtown
Known as “Harlem of the South,” Overtown thrived from the 1910s through the Jim Crow era when Black performers barred from Miami Beach hotels headlined the Lyric Theater (built 1913). Today, the renovated venue hosts spoken-word nights, while the surrounding blocks burst with soul-food cafés dishing oxtail and plantains. Walk NW 2nd Avenue’s Heritage Trail plaques honoring legends like Billie Holiday, who belted late-night encores here after segregated Beach gigs. Each February, the neighborhood’s free Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day festivities keep its musical pulse ticking.
FAQ:
What is Miami most popular for?
Miami’s fame rises on three pillars: sun-kissed beaches, Art Deco glamour, and a Latin-infused cultural pulse. South Beach’s candy-colored hotels and nonstop nightlife headline every postcard, while Little Havana keeps Cuban rhythms and political coffee chats brewing on Calle Ocho. Add year-round tropical weather, murals that turn entire districts into open-air galleries, and a calendar packed with spectacles like Art Basel and the Calle Ocho Music Festival, and it’s easy to see why the city earned the nickname “Magic City.”
What food is Miami famous for?
Think of Miami’s menu as a love letter to the Caribbean and Latin America. Cuban sandwiches layered with roast pork and pickle crunch headline most lunch counters, while stone crab claws from nearby Biscayne Bay make winter dining a finger-licking ritual. For dessert, locals swear by Key lime pie—tart, creamy, and best enjoyed oceanside—then chase it with a syrup-strong cortadito or a box of guava-filled pastelitos. It’s a flavor map that tells the city’s immigration story bite by bite.
Is Miami a walkable city?
Miami is a patchwork: Downtown and Brickell score above 90 on Walk Score, letting you stroll from Metromover stations to cafés without a car, but once you drift into the suburbs, sidewalks thin and wheels become essential. The good news is the free Metromover loops downtown, and the Metrorail links hotspots like Coconut Grove and the airport, so visitors can craft a mostly car-free itinerary if they stick to the urban core. In short, it’s walkable in pockets, ride-share friendly everywhere else—better than many U.S. cities, yet still no Barcelona.
Is Miami cheap or expensive?
Sticker shock is part of the scenery. Overall living costs run about 20 % above the U.S. average, and housing is more than 50 % higher, driven by beachfront demand and limited land. Travelers can expect mid-range hotels to hover around $150–$180 a night in low season and push past $280 in peak months, while everyday expenses—groceries, cocktails, Ubers—tack on a premium roughly 10 % over national norms. Bargains exist (happy-hour ceviche, budget motels inland), but Miami generally plays in the “splurge” league rather than the “steal” column.
