Places to go in Miami.

Miami, Miami Beach, Fort Lauderdale, the Gold Coast. 9 places worth the drive in this corner of Florida.

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9 places

Beaches

Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park

Key Biscayne, FL · Miami

The 1825 Cape Florida Lighthouse anchors the southern tip of Key Biscayne, and you can climb its 109 steps to a wraparound balcony that looks out over Biscayne Bay and the open Atlantic. Below it runs more than a mile of soft sand backed by sea grapes and Australian pines, with calm water for swimming and a stretch of seawall where anglers cast at first light. A marker near the lighthouse tells the story of the roughly 300 Black Seminoles who sailed from this cape to the Bahamas in the early 1820s, making it a stop on the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom.

Attractions

Vizcaya Museum and Gardens

Miami, FL · Miami

James Deering built this Italian Renaissance villa on Biscayne Bay in the 1910s and filled its seventy-some rooms with European antiques, then set it behind ten acres of formal gardens where clipped hedges, fountains, and a grotto step down toward the water. Out in the bay sits the Stone Barge, a carved limestone breakwater that doubles as a sculpture and frames the view from the east terrace. Wander the maze garden and the casino on the mound, then follow the shaded native hammock trails that ring the estate.

Attractions

Perez Art Museum Miami

Miami, FL · Miami

Herzog and de Meuron wrapped this Biscayne Bay museum in a slatted canopy where Patrick Blanc's hanging garden columns spill down the pillars and broad terraces catch the breeze off the water. Inside, the collection leans into the art of the Americas and the wider Atlantic Rim, with deep holdings of contemporary Cuban and Caribbean work that you rarely see gathered in one place. Settle into one of the white hammocks on the veranda before you go, looking out over the bay and the downtown skyline.

Attractions

Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science

Miami, FL · Miami

Three glass towers, a planetarium, and a 500,000-gallon aquarium sit together on Biscayne Bay, and the whole place is built to be walked up through. Stand under the cone-shaped Gulf Stream tank and a 31-foot round window opens overhead, so hammerhead sharks and devil rays glide across the light while mahi-mahi school past. Upstairs the dome runs the night sky in 8K, the River of Grass exhibit traces the Everglades, and a rooftop terrace looks straight across the water to downtown.

Gardens & wildlife

Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden

Coral Gables, FL · Miami

Eighty-three acres of palms, cycads, and flowering trees spread across the edge of Biscayne Bay, with royal palms lining the long reflecting channel of the Bailey Palm Glade and a two-acre rainforest where waterfalls run beneath the canopy. The Wings of the Tropics conservatory keeps hundreds of butterflies in the air year round, while the edible garden grows fruit you will not find at the grocery store, from durian to dozens of mango varieties. Founded in 1938 around the collections of plant explorer David Fairchild, it remains a working research garden as much as a place to wander a quiet morning.

Attractions

Wynwood Walls

Miami, FL · Miami

Tony Goldman turned a cluster of windowless warehouse facades into an open-air canvas in 2009, and the courtyard has been repainted by artists from dozens of countries ever since. Shepard Fairey's portraits, Kenny Scharf's cartoon faces, and walls that change between visits make the steel WYNWOOD WALLS gate worth lining up for. Bring a camera and plan to wander the surrounding blocks, where the murals spill far past the official lot.

Beaches

South Beach

Miami Beach, FL · Miami

South Beach is the loud, bright heart of Miami Beach, where pale sand runs for miles past candy-colored Art Deco lifeguard towers and the Atlantic rolls in warm and easy. Ocean Drive hums a block off the sand with cafes, neon, and a steady parade of skaters, joggers, and sunbathers, and the boardwalk lets you walk it all the way from the inlet to the Setai. Come for the people-watching as much as the swim: this is the busiest, most famous stretch of beach in Florida, and it wears the crowds well.

Beaches

Fort Lauderdale Beach

Fort Lauderdale, FL · Miami

This is the Florida beach you picture when someone says spring break: two miles of soft Atlantic sand running straight up against the neon and patio bars of A1A. The signature white wave wall and brick promenade hug the shore from Las Olas to Sunrise, packed with skaters, joggers, and people watching the surf roll in off the warm Atlantic. Rent a chair, grab a frozen drink across the street, and settle into the kind of loud, sun-soaked beach day this town has been famous for since the 1960s.

Beaches

Hollywood Beach

Hollywood, FL · Miami

Hollywood Beach is where South Florida puts on a show: a brick-paved Broadwalk runs 2.5 miles along the sand, lined with palms, pastel Art Deco hotels, oceanfront cafes, and a constant parade of cyclists, joggers, and skaters. The wide golden beach drops straight into warm Atlantic surf, and the crowds pull toward the bandshell, the rental beach cruisers, and the ice cream and key lime stands within steps of the water. Come for a lively, easygoing beach town that earns its spot on America's best-boardwalk lists and stays busy from sunrise jog to live music after dark.