Miami Miami what to do

Having been to lots of the big US cities and Hawaii over the years my hunger to explore a new city has returned. The last major city not ticked off my list is Miami. As I am in the early stages of planning I would appreciate all recommendations/suggestions and opinions.

More specifically when is best to go? (unfortunately tied to school holidays) Where to stay? What are the must sees? (Two adults and kids age 21 and 16)

Thanks in advance

we really enjoyed south beach, stayed in an old art deco hotel, beach, area ok for strolling, plenty of restaurants, lazy breakfast at johnny rockets

the duck boat tour was tacky fun

i still regret not buying the giant fluffy alligator at the seaquarium

I have to echo the point about South Beach, simply amazing!! Loved wandering around that area!!

Adventura mall is good too!!

Quite a good city to get around without a car with the Miami Mover a free automated monorail and a good bus network!

South beach ( avoiding Spring Break and the music fests) and then down to the Keys ( with a quick detour to the Glades beforehand).
Miami doesn't "feel" American and has a much more Latin vibe.
MIA however is a cesspit and I'd happily never pass through there ever again .

DL

Best school holiday time would be Easter which is end of dry season and just after Spring Break and when the 'snowbirds' have migrated back north. South beach is great and provides 'interesting sights' both day and night. If you have a car take a trip down to Homestead to enter the Everglades and take a walk down the Anhinga trail to see plenty of wildlife (different to the South Beach type!!). Then a trip out on US 41 towards Naples will provide plenty of places to take an airboat ride. Hope you enjoy.

Miami is one of my least favourite places on the planet.

The Art Deco south beach architecture is nice but I can't add anything else.

Best get yourself out of there on to some of the nicer parts of the state.

Why not spend a few beach days mixed with a road trip... Your pretty close to Orlando - or even the forgotten coast of Florida.

Thanks for the replies. I haven't really looked into what there is in Miami but when I first thought about it all that came to mind was beach and everglades. From a lot of the posts though it seems as though Miami is more of a flying visit destination whilst exploring southern Florida. I think this is what we'll have to end up doing having already been to Orland and Tampa a number of times.

I have to say I'm quite surprised though at how little there seems to be going on in Miami given how popular it seems to be for VS/BA and most other european airlines.

[mitchja]

Isn't Miami a cruise line pick-up point for many tourists, which could explain why it's a popular destination for EU flights but there's not a huge amount to actually do when you get there?

The South Beach area is a nightmare for hotel parking. Many of the hotels either don't have big car parks or they have no parking at all so you have to pay to use the municipal car parks there if you stay in that area.

yep, have to agree with previous posters, Miami is fine for a couple of days max. either head south to Key West, enjoy the drive and stay down there for a couple of days or head up West Gulf coast, Naples, Sanibel, Captiva for a few days. Nowhere is particularly far away. we were there in the first week of Jan 13 and it was in the 30s at one point hitting 40C. but we were told on many occasions that these temps were unusual.

Miami is nice, key west is better.
Parking in miami is an absolute nightmare! Hotels charge for valet, which is fine, but it soon adds up. Plus the way they drive the cars around to be picked up is shocking...our car ended up with big black marks all down the bumper (this was a white mustang so very noticable).
If you manage to find a space (after driving around for ages) you need to top up the meter every 3 hours! From 8 till 6. This can vary from $1 p/h to $3 p/h.
I hated having a car in miami!
Things to do? Beach, drink, beach, eat, drink, beach.

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Beach, drink, beach, eat, drink, beach.

mmm, paradise

Thanks guys...its good to get so many views. My 21 year old son was the one who mentioned it to me first...sounds more like a party holiday for him and his mates.

I second Sanibel!

Though we did Miami this year and stayed at the Mandarin Oriental! Was amazing and we want to go back soon. Avoided south beach, seen the architecture before when passing through, traffic and parking is awful!

I second Sanibel!

Though we did Miami this year and stayed at the Mandarin Oriental! Was amazing and we want to go back soon. Avoided south beach, seen the architecture before when passing through, traffic and parking is awful!

I third Sanibel! IIRC, its only a couple of hours drive across Aligator Alley from Miami. Naples, Marco Island are both worth a visit too.