Miami Travel Guide
Famous for its Caribbean like beaches, year-round sunshine, art deco buildings and beautiful beach front hotels, Miami is the place to be. What I love most about Miami is that it has it all, you can enjoy a city break and a beach holiday all in one. South Beach and Downtown Miami are both a art and culture rich but equally give you the option to lay by the beach or chill at a rooftop sipping a cocktail and soaking in the sunshine. If neither of those appeal to you, Miami also boasts incredible food with influences from all over the world, namely Cuba and also has an extremely lively night life scene. My mum’s friend who is a Miami resident gave me an amazing list of recommendations which I have added in with my own too.
Booking:
My boyfriend and I went to Miami for just over a week, this was a somewhat last-minute trip as we booked in late August and were flying the first week of October. In the end, it was cheapest to fly with Norwegian. Flights, luggage and pre-assigned seats ended up costing us £350 which was insanely good value for money!
Accommodation:
We were lucky enough to stay at a family friend’s apartment in South Beach for free so didn’t need to book a hotel. Despite this, on my last trip we stayed at the Fontainebleau which was lovely and had incredible views of the beach. In Miami you are very lucky as there is a range of places to stay which can fit in line with any budget. If you are looking to stay in the most high-end hotels (e.g. The 1 Hotel, Fontainebleau and Faena) these are all located in North Beach. There is a wider range of accommodation along South Beach as it is more residential and has a wide array of both cheap hotels and Airbnb’s. South Beach also has many gorgeous mid-high-end hotels e.g. The Betsy, Miami Beach Edition & The Delano.
Night life:
As stated previously, South Beach is a hub for cool bars and night life and if you are looking for a party holiday you are spoilt for choice. I only did one club night but If you are only going to do one, this one was INREDIBLE. E11ven is the most insane super club in Downtown Miami, it is open 24 hours and has trapeze dancers and burlesque shows. They often have a famous music artist down and you can book tickets, when we went Sheck Wes performed (he didn’t come on until nearly 3am so prepare to wait). I would advise pre drinks as drinks are NOT cheap! I don’t know much about other clubs in Miami but in the Fontainebleau, there was the club Liv which is very famous too.
Bars:
There are so many great bars in Miami and the best thing is most have happy hour menus.
Astra is a rooftop bar in Wynwood (downtown Miami) it has gorgeous views of the Wynwood art and a Mediterranean inspired food menu. They have a happy hour on both food and drinks which runs Mon-Fri 5-7pm. They also have a gorgeous pink art installation in their staircase which is well worth a visit as it makes for a great picture!
Social rooftop is another great rooftop bar in Wynwood serving happy hour drinks and light bites from 5pm during the week.
Juvia was my favourite rooftop bar in Miami, it was the perfect placed to watch the sunset, the cocktails were unparalleled in terms of taste and presentation and they offer a great a la carte menu too. I loved it so much I wrote a blog post on it, be sure to check it out!
I stumbled past sweet liberty, this casual cocktail spot is actually very fun and had good cocktails. They have a cocktail happy hour which also offers $1 oysters!
1hotel is a must for rooftop drinks, it is stunning up there in terms of décor and view and the drinks are good. Be warned it is not cheap!
The Standard hotel is definitely worth a visit too, they have a happy hour and a great food menu. Their infinity pool also is the dream to sit by as the sun sets and as it is located on Venetian Island it is a different Miami view!
The Delano hotel is also worth stopping by, it is a gorgeous hotel with quirky oversized furniture, they also have a beautiful pool area which has private cabanas you can rent.If like me, you love drag shows at around 6pm on Sunday the gay bar called The Palace on Ocean Drive has a drag show which you can watch from outside
The Broken Shaker which is a bar in a youth hostel called the Freehand Hotel - lots of locals there and great drinks. They have a restaurant there too called No 27 which is great for Sunday brunch - Israeli style food.
Eating out:
· Suviche - amazing fusion Japanese food, they also have a great happy hour and the food is amazing value for money considering the quality.
· Yardbird is upmarket southern food, gorgeous interiors and excellent service, the perfect spot to get your biscuits and fried chicken on!
· Timeout market is an amazing concept in America which is almost the equivalent of our box park, lots of great food options all under one roof.
· Versailles is famous for their Cuban sandwiches and definitely worth a visit if you are downtown too
· Cecconis a great Italian restaurant, owned by the Soho House
· Joe's Stone Crab - THE Miami institution and only place you can get stone crabs all year round
· The Wharf on Miami River - nice just before and around sunset - all Miamians there. Food trucks and drinks all outdoors
· Dirt -breakfast (Miami generally don’t do breakfast well anywhere but this place is worth a visit)
· Sushi Garage (not just sushi!) go for happy hour dinner - up until 7 for 7:30 I think
· Doraku is another sushi restaurant and a local favourite
· Upland is a dinner brasserie from New York
· La Bodega is a very cool casual Taco place and they have a speakeasy at the back - best night for that is a Wednesday (then go to Baoli which is on Collins after)
· Dr Smood is a great place for coffee and smoothies - it’s in an area called Purdy which is also where Dirt is- it’s where you can hire paddle boards and go paddle boarding around the Bay
Food shopping:
If you are renting an Airbnb and want to save some money on dinners, there are a whole host of supermarkets in Miami which you can go to:
· Fresh Market which is like Whole Foods
· Publix which is like Tesco and the best place ever
· Trader Joes is like a cheaper wholefood’s and all of the items are own brand
· Target has just opened a small branch on the other end of South B
Things to do
· Paddle boarding around the bay
· Spending a day in downtown Miami visiting all of the art Murals in Wynwood is pretty special, the Perez Art Museum is also nearby and worth a visit
· Brickell City Centre if it’s not great weather - it’s an indoor / outdoor mall and one of Miami’s best restaurants Casa Tua runs the Italian food court there which is delicious
· A basketball game is a must if you are into sport, Miami Heat is a great team and basketball games in the US have an amazing atmosphere and are very entertaining.
· Everglades - you can purchase tours for this practically everywhere in the city and online, well worth a visit if you like alligators
· Citi bikes are all over the city and are a great way to spend the morning or the evening before sunset, the Miami beach strip is a great place to cycle as practically all of it except North beach allows cyclists.
· Sawgrass is a designer outlet just out of the city centre, and you can rent a car to go up there or you can pay for the excursion
· Bal Harbour is also amazing for high end shopping, I have never seen more expensive cars in one place in my whole life and there are reasonably priced places to eat whilst you peruse the designer stores.
Tips:
To travel to the US you need an Esta visa, make sure you apply for one a minimum of 2 weeks before travelling to allow time to be accepted, its approx. $20 and lasts 2 years.
Whenever I travel abroad, I take my Revolut card, it’s a debit card which you add money onto and it allows you to change the currency so you don’t get hit with any currency exchange charges, it also allows you to track your spending. My favourite part is you can put money onto the card when the exchange rate is good and the currency value won’t change (you can also withdraw up to £200 a month for free)
Lyft is a great alternative to uber, I often check the prices on both before getting a taxi as sometimes Lyft is cheaper.
ALWAYS ask for happy hour menus - Miami is THE hustler city and if you don’t ask, they’ll charge you full whack!
In the US you can’t buy alcohol in supermarkets so make sure to go to liquor stores if you are after drinks!
