Guide hub
Miami Neighborhoods
Miami is a small city inside a very large county. Fewer than half a million people live in the City of Miami itself. Around 2.6 million live in…
14 places
Miami-Dade County, Florida
The city is not the beach, and that is the whole point
Miami and Miami Beach are separate cities on opposite sides of Biscayne Bay. Between and around them: a Cuban-American main street with dominoes on it, a warehouse district that became a mural museum, a 1916 Italianate villa on the water, and two national parks within an hour of downtown that almost nobody books.
- 800+protected Art Deco buildings in South Beach
- 2national parks within an hour of downtown
- 95%of Biscayne National Park is water
- Freethe Metromover, all 21 stations of it
Today
Conditions on the bay and in the city right now
Air and water temperature, the UV index that catches northern visitors out all year, the marine picture for anything leaving a marina, and whether this afternoon's storm is the forty-minute kind.
Conditions on Miami
81°
Sunny · feels like 88°
TodayHigh 82° · Low 72°
Near-perfect conditions for dive boats and dolphin cruises across Miami today.
Humidity75%
Wind8 mph NE
Rain1%
Sunrise 6:31 AMSunset 5:36 PM
Updated
Full forecast and tidesOn the water
Water80°F
WavesCalm — 1.4 ft
Swell period4.3s
BoatingGood
Seas around 1.4 ft, wind 8 mph. Comfortable on a larger boat, a little bouncy on a skiff.
SwimmingExcellent
Water at 80°F with 1.4 ft of surf — warm, and calm enough for children.
SnorkelingGood
Light chop at 1.4 ft. Visibility should hold up on the sheltered side. Water 80°F.
FishingExcellent
Seas 1.4 ft, wind 8 mph on a 4s swell — offshore is on the table.
Updated
Best time to go outside today
Early morning, 7 AM – 1 PM
Near-perfect conditions for dive boats and dolphin cruises across Miami today.
Outdoor comfort96 out of 100 · Excellent
Sweet spot around 7 AM at 73°F.
Updated
Start here
Start here: the days that explain the city
A morning on Calle Ocho, an afternoon in Wynwood, a boat out on the bay, and one full day west or south into the Everglades. Get those four right and Miami stops being a postcard.
Things to do
Miami Street Art and Murals
In 2009 a developer called Tony Goldman looked at a district of windowless warehouses north of downtown and decided the blank walls were the asset…
7 places
Things to do
Everglades Tours from Miami
The largest subtropical wilderness in the United States begins about 25 miles from downtown Miami, and most people who come to this city never see…
4 places
Things to do
Miami Boat Tours
Miami is a bay city that happens to have an ocean behind it, and nothing makes that clearer than getting on a boat. Biscayne Bay is roughly 35 miles…
8 places
Book it
What is worth booking, and what you can do yourself
Miami has the largest bookable inventory in our network — more than a thousand products, median around $89 — which mostly means a lot of near-identical airboat and boat-party listings. We say which trips need an operator and which ones are a rideshare and an afternoon.
These bookings pay us a commission via Viator. Same price to you; no influence on what made the list.
Editor's Pick
Best all-round introduction to the bay
Why we chose it
The 90-minute Biscayne Bay cruise out of the downtown bayfront does the one thing you cannot do from land: it shows you how the city is arranged around the water, with the Brickell wall on one side, the causeway islands in the middle and the cruise terminal at the cut. At the low end of Miami's $89 median, running most of the day, and it needs no planning.
Editor's PickFree cancellationPrivate tour
Short term availability
Private Miami Boat Charter: Sightseeing, Sunset & Sandbar (opens in a new tab)
2.2K reviews
Experience Miami the way it’s meant to be seen—on your own private boat, with the flexibility to make the day exactly what you want. With…
2 hours
Prices checked
from $199
Best Value
Best cheap hour on the water
Why we chose it
Short, frequent and inexpensive, the hourly bayfront departures are the best value on this page. You get the skyline, the Venetian Islands and Government Cut without committing an afternoon or booking ahead. Go late in the day when the light hits the downtown towers rather than at noon when there is no shade on the upper deck.
Best ValueFree cancellationInstant confirmation
Low Supplier Cancellation Rate
Miami Biscayne Bay rich and famous Sightseeing Boat Tour (opens in a new tab)
2.9K reviews
Set sail on an unforgettable journey through the famous waters of Biscayne Bay with Miami’s top rated Miami sightseeing cruise. This 90…
1–2 hours
Prices checked
from $30
Two ways to do this
Joining a departure, or taking the boat yourself
Shared trips are the cheaper ticket for one or two people. Once you are a party of four or more, a private charter is often close to the same money per head and runs to your schedule rather than the operator's. Both are listed here so you can do the arithmetic.
Best value for a group
Best ValueFree cancellationInstant confirmationLow Supplier Cancellation Rate
Little Havana Food and Walking Tour in Miami (opens in a new tab)
10K reviewsJoin us on a culinary and cultural walking tour of Little Havana where you will discover the traditions, history, music and flavors of…
2–3 hours
Prices checked
from $69.99Private — just your party
Best Private TourFree cancellationPrivate tourAgent Low Quality Product
Miami Helicopter Tour: Breathtaking Miami Skyline & Ocean Views (opens in a new tab)
126 reviewsSoar above Miami’s coastline on this 20-minute private helicopter tour that blends luxury with unforgettable views. Take in breathtaking…
30 minutes
Prices checked
from $179
More of what is running now
Index
Browse by neighbourhood, then by what you came for
Little Havana, Wynwood, Coconut Grove, Coral Gables, the Design District, Brickell, Key Biscayne and Little Haiti are eight different places with eight different reasons to go. The themes come after that, not before it.
Explore
- Things to DoStart with the geography, because almost every bad Miami itinerary comes from getting it…
- AttractionsMiami's attractions do not sit in a centre you can walk out of. They are spread across a…
- NeighborhoodsMiami is a small city inside a very large county. Fewer than half a million people live in…
- BeachesStart with the thing that derails half the beach plans made for this city: the beaches are…
- Art & MuralsIn 2009 a developer called Tony Goldman looked at a district of windowless warehouses…
- Museums & CultureMiami's culture problem is one of reputation rather than supply. The city spent decades…
- Day TripsMiami's best day trips are closer than almost anyone expects, and the famous one is much…
- NightlifeMiami's reputation for nightlife was built on about fifteen blocks of a different city…
Tours
- ToursMiami has more bookable tours than anywhere else in this network by a wide margin: well…
- Boat ToursMiami is a bay city that happens to have an ocean behind it, and nothing makes that…
- Food ToursThe single most useful thing a food tour does in Miami is teach you to order. Not because…
- Airboat ToursAn airboat is a flat-bottomed hull with an aircraft propeller bolted to the back of it and…
- Jet Ski & WatersportsBiscayne Bay is close to a perfect jet ski environment, which is why there are so many of…
- Fishing ChartersMiami has a geographic advantage in fishing that no other major American city has, and it…
- Helicopter ToursMiami is a city that makes more sense from a thousand feet than from the ground. At street…
Outdoors
Who it suits
- With KidsMiami is easy with children and it is also relentless, and the difference between the two…
- Free Things to DoMiami has a reputation as an expensive city and it is largely deserved, but the free layer…
- For CouplesStart with the fact that decides half of a romantic trip here and that almost every…
- For AdultsMiami has a reputation as a nightlife city and it deserves it, but the reputation flattens…
- Rainy DaysThe first thing to understand about rain in Miami is that it is probably not going to cost…
Plan
Places
The places themselves
Deering's 1916 villa on the bay, a mural museum in a warehouse district, dominoes on Calle Ocho, a lighthouse at the southern tip of Key Biscayne, and the fifteen-mile loop where the alligators sit on the verge.
Landmark
Wynwood Walls
A ticketed courtyard of commissioned murals in a warehouse district where almost all the art outside the gate costs nothing.
1–2.5 hoursTicketed. General admission has been listed anywhere from around $12 to the mid-$30s for adults depending on ticket type and seller, with reduced rates for children, students and seniors. The murals on the surrounding streets are free.
Historic site
Vizcaya Museum & Gardens
A 1916 Italian villa built on the edge of a mangrove shore, with formal gardens running down to a carved stone barge in Biscayne Bay.
2–3.5 hoursTicketed, with adult admission recently around $25 and reduced rates for children roughly 6–12; under-6s free. Timed entry is standard.
FreeNeighbourhood
Little Havana
The neighbourhood Cuban exiles built west of downtown Miami, now shared with Nicaraguan and Honduran Miami and still entirely lived-in.
2–5 hoursFree to walk. Individual venues, tours and shows charge their own admission.
Nature preserve
Everglades National Park
A river 60 miles wide moving at the speed of a walking ant, with three entrances that do not connect to each other.
4–10 hoursA single vehicle pass covers all three entrances for seven consecutive days. Expect somewhere in the region of $30–35 per vehicle, with lower rates for motorcycles and for arriving on foot or by bike.
Who you are with
Picked for who you brought with you
A family that needs an indoor plan by two o'clock, two people with one good dinner in the budget, a group whose night starts when the museums close, and anyone determined to spend nothing at all.
Travelling with kids
Who it suits
Family Activities in Miami
Miami is easy with children and it is also relentless, and the difference between the two is almost entirely about heat and driving. From May to…
Two of you
Who it suits
Things to Do in Miami for Couples
Start with the fact that decides half of a romantic trip here and that almost every visitor gets backwards. Miami Beach faces east. The Atlantic…
After dark
Who it suits
Things to Do in Miami for Adults
Miami has a reputation as a nightlife city and it deserves it, but the reputation flattens four or five scenes that share very little beyond a time…
Spending nothing
Budget
Free Things to Do in Miami
Miami has a reputation as an expensive city and it is largely deserved, but the free layer here is genuinely strong and almost nobody uses it…
Also worth a look
News
Openings, closures and access notices
Museum and park closures, causeway and beach access, restoration reopenings, storm and king-tide advisories, and new arrivals in Wynwood and the Design District. Dated, short, and checked against a primary source before we post.
Travel alert
King Tides Flood Miami Streets on Clear Days from September to November
No rain, no storm, no warning on the forecast. Just salt water rising through the drains at the top of the tide, usually for an hour or two.
FeaturedTravel alert
Hurricane Season Runs 1 June to 30 November, and September Is the Peak
Most trips in those six months are unaffected. The two things that matter are when you buy insurance and whether you are staying on a barrier island.
FeaturedBeach update
Sea Turtle Nesting Runs Into October, and the Rules Are Mostly About Light
Loggerheads, greens and the occasional leatherback nest on these beaches every summer. The thing most likely to kill the hatchlings is a light.
Last updated . We date every item so you can tell how old the information is.
This season
What the city is doing this month
Art Basel week in early December, spring-break rules on Ocean Drive in March, afternoon storms and Miami Spice through the summer, and king tides flooding low streets under a clear sky in September, October and November.
- FallSeptember – November
- 85°F / 73°FAverage high / low
- QuietVisitor numbers
- Low season ratesWhat it costs
September and October are the emptiest weeks of the Miami year, and the reason is on the calendar rather than in the forecast: this is the statistical peak of hurricane season, which runs to 30 November. Most falls pass without a direct hit. What happens more often is a system several hundred miles away that closes charter operations, cancels flights and produces three grey days, so take the refundable booking and buy the travel insurance.
The second autumn fact, and the one nobody mentions at booking, is the king tide. Autumn brings the year's largest tidal range, and because this county sits on porous limestone the sea arrives from underneath: up through the storm drains, into the gutters of low-lying Brickell, Miami Beach and Miami Shores, on afternoons without a cloud in the sky. Miami Beach publishes its predicted windows ahead of time. Nothing about it is dangerous. It ruins shoes and it makes rideshare drivers take the long way round.
The compensations are real. Water temperature is at its warmest of the year, the city is emptier than at any other point, rates stay low until Art Basel week, and by November the humidity finally breaks. Restaurants that are impossible in February take walk-ins.
On in fall
- Quietest weeks of the year with the lowest rates, until Art Basel arrives
- Peak of Atlantic hurricane season through October — book refundable
- King tides flood low streets in Brickell and Miami Beach on sunny days
Worth doing in fall
Things to do
Airboat Tours near Miami
An airboat is a flat-bottomed hull with an aircraft propeller bolted to the back of it and no propeller in the water at all. That single design…
Things to do
Miami Museums and Culture
Miami's culture problem is one of reputation rather than supply. The city spent decades being written about as a beach with nightclubs attached, and…
Things to do
Miami Food Tours
The single most useful thing a food tour does in Miami is teach you to order. Not because the food is difficult, but because the ritual is specific…
Things to do
Miami Fishing Charters
Miami has a geographic advantage in fishing that no other major American city has, and it comes down to a current. The Gulf Stream, which carries…
Where things are
Neighbourhoods, beaches, museums and park gates on one map
Which side of the bay a thing is on, which beach has lifeguards and a car park, where the Everglades actually begins, and how far south you have to drive before Biscayne National Park stops being a visitor centre.
Every place shown on this map is also listed below as a link, grouped by area.
© OpenStreetMap contributors
What the pins mean
- Beach2
- Water feature1
- Nature preserve2
- Park5
- Trail1
- Historic site3
- Landmark1
- Museum2
- Dining1
- Neighbourhood5
- Shopping1
All 24 places in Miami
Miami12
- Wynwood Walls
- Calle OchoFree
- Domino ParkFree
- Vizcaya
- The GroveFree
- Design DistrictFree
- Little HaitiFree
- Shark Valley
- Little HavanaFree
- PAMMfrom $16
- Freedom Tower
- Frost Sciencefrom $30
Coral Gables4
- The GablesFree
- Matheson Hammock
- Fairchildfrom $25
- Venetian Pool
Key Biscayne3
Homestead2
Miami Beach2
- HauloverFree
- South PointeFree
Palmetto Bay1
- Deering Estatefrom $18
Guides
Longer reads from our editors
How the Everglades actually works and where the airboats really run, a neighbourhood-by-neighbourhood read on where to stay, what the bay looks like from a boat, and how to eat across Little Havana and Little Haiti without a reservation.
FeaturedGuide
Eating in Little Havana: Ventanitas, Coladas and What to Order
The ritual matters as much as the menu. Coffee is shared, lunch is the big meal, and the neighbourhood is no longer only Cuban.
8 min readYvette Charles
FeaturedGuide
Three Days in Miami: An Itinerary That Does Not Cross the Bay Twice
Three days is enough for the beach, two neighbourhoods and a national park, as long as each day stays on one side of the water.
8 min readCamila Rojas
FeaturedGuide
Miami Art Guide: Murals, Private Collections and Free Museums
Wynwood is where visitors start and where most of them stop. The city that collectors fly in for every December is spread across five neighbourhoods.
8 min readYvette Charles
Last updated . Guides are revisited when prices, hours or access change.
About us
How this guide is written
We name the neighbourhood, not the city, because in Miami those are different answers. We say when an airboat trip is not in the national park, when an admission charge buys you something the free street outside does not, and when we could not confirm a price. Where a booking earns us a commission, the link says so.
We are a small editorial team that covers Miami and nowhere else on this site. Everything here — the descriptions, the comparisons, the reasons one boat suits a family of six better than another — is written by us. Nothing on this page is an operator’s marketing copy reprinted as if it were ours.
We name what costs money and roughly how much, we say when a car park fills by mid-morning, and we say when a boat only runs between April and October. Where we have not been able to confirm a price or an opening time ourselves, we say that too rather than guessing — hours and fees change seasonally, so check before you travel.
Our news items are assembled from verified sources and are labelled where they were machine drafted; every one is checked against the source before it is published. Our editorial standards page sets out the whole method, including how we correct an error once we know about it.
Last updated — the date an editor last went through this page end to end.
Who writes this
- Camila RojasSenior EditorCamila runs this guide and holds the line on the distinction everything else depends on: Miami and Miami Beach are separate cities. She edits the practical coverage — causeways, parking, seasons, storms and what a booking actually includes — and she will cut a sentence that could describe any warm city with a beach.
- Andre BeaumontOutdoors & Water EditorAndre covers the bay, the reef and the two national parks most visitors never realise are an hour away. He worked on charter boats out of Biscayne before he wrote about them, he can tell you which airboat trips are inside a park boundary and which are not, and he checks the marine forecast before he checks anything else.
- Yvette CharlesCulture & Food EditorYvette writes the neighbourhoods: Little Havana and Little Haiti, Wynwood and the Design District, the Grove and the Gables. She covers ventanitas, griot, gallery nights and the last Friday of the month on Calle Ocho, names the places she recommends, and checks they are still open the week before we publish.
Read the detail
Keep in touch
One email a week: what has opened, what has closed, which weekend the causeways will be impossible, when the king tides are due, and the one thing worth booking before you fly. Nothing else.
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