Miami is one of South Florida’s top resort destinations, with beaches, great weather, history, culture, sports and entertainment. Downtown Miami, separated from the Atlantic by Biscayne Bay and Miami Beach, is a modern metropolis and cultural treasure. Plan your time and discover the best places to visit with our list of the best tourist attractions in Miami, FL.
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Art Deco Historic District
Even if you have no interest in the beach, the Art Deco Historic District is worth a trip out to Miami Beach. This architectural style, popular in the 1930s and 40s, dominates the trendy South Beach neighborhood.
These uniquely designed buildings, in a range of pastel colors and displaying large neon signs, were built following a devastating hurricane that struck in 1926. Many are hotels and restaurants, most of which have been beautifully restored. Along some of the main streets, awnings on the lower level of these buildings provide shade for outdoor dining areas.
Ocean Drive and Collins Avenue are the two main streets throughout the area.
If you are interested in staying in one of these historic gems, many of the Art Deco buildings still function as hotels and have much more character than modern hotels. Some good options are the luxury Delano South Beach or National Hotel Miami Beach, or the more moderately priced Hotel Breakwater South Beach.
Everglades National Park
The best tourist attractions in Miami: Everglades National Park, just a short drive from Miami, protects one of Florida’s most unique natural features. These swamplands, covering about 1.5 million acres, are home to alligators, crocodiles, snakes, and birds. This whole area is essentially a shallow river flowing out to the ocean.
Within the park is an informative Visitors Center, as well as walking trails and boardwalks for wildlife viewing. One of the most popular walking trails in the park is the Anhinga Trail, which leaves from the Royal Palm Visitor Center. This trail is less than a mile long but leads through terrain where visitors are likely to see alligators and other animals. This trail is wheelchair accessible and non-strenuous.
One of the most enjoyable ways to experience the Everglades is on an airboat tour. These high-speed boat trips take visitors out into the marshes and streams to see alligators and other wildlife. The Miami Everglades Airboat Adventure with Transport half-day tour provides transport from your hotel to the park, includes a 30-minute airboat ride, a live alligator show at the Everglades Alligator Farm, and transport back to your hotel.
Bayfront Park
Bayfront Park, on the east side of Biscayne Boulevard, is a 32-acre green space, adjacent to the Bayside Marketplace. The park has several interesting monuments and sculptures. One of the unique features is the electronically controlled Pepper Fountain.
Other highlights include the Challenger Memorial, commemorating the crew of the Challenger spacecraft; the Light Tower, an amphitheater used for musical performances of all kinds; and a children’s playground. Locals often come here just to run or walk on the paved trails.
Take yourself out to the ballgame
There’s a reason half of Major League Baseball calls Florida home one month a year, and that’s because our breezy days and balmy nights make spring the perfect time to catch a game. As near as West Palm Beach and Jupiter you can catch socially distanced spring training action all month long. Then in April, the Marlins—who won a playoff series last year, in case you forgot— return to action in front of their regular crowds, or what MLB is now calling “reduced capacity.” If you want a more homey experience, the nationally-ranked Miami Hurricanes play a full ACC schedule in front of limited fans at Mark Light Stadium almost every week. And have the best milkshakes in the city in the concourse.
Deering Estate at Cutler
This former home of Charles Deering is a 444-acre estate, protecting globally endangered pine Rockland habitat, as well as coastal tropical hardwood Rockland hammocks, mangrove forests, salt marshes, and a coastal dune island.
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Deering Estate at Cutler is home to the Richmond Cottage, which served as a hotel, as well as historical buildings dating from 1896 to 1922, and an American Indian burial ground dating from 1500.
Charles Deering was an art collector, who, along with his brother James, accumulated a great number of works by the Old Masters. Deering himself also painted, and some of his works are on display here. The Artist Village at the estate has become an important cultural center, featuring art and artists programs.