Miami is located on the Atlantic coast of Florida at the
southern tip. It is warm year around and usually very hot and humid
during the summer months. Most tourists prefer to visit during October
through April. Outdoor sports and swimming are open all seasons,
so be sure to take your swimming suit and plenty of cool clothing.
A sun hat and a good sunscreen are essential even in the winter
months. In Miami, dress is always casual, with sundresses, jeans
or walking shorts appropriate during the day. A few higher-class
restaurants require jackets and ties, but most do not.
Hundreds of thousands of Hispanic immigrants from Cuba, Puerto Rico,
Central America and South America have settled in Miami. Spanish
is spoken almost everywhere in the city. Many signs are in both
English and Spanish especially those near the Latin district known
locally as "Little Havana". Cubans originally settled
in the area around Calle Ocho Street (Southwest Eighth Street) more
than 20 years ago. Today, this colorful area embraces immigrants
from all over Latin America.
Miami and Miami Beach
are two different cities
Miami and Miami Beach are actually two distinctly different cities.
Miami Beach, located on the outer bank is almost exclusively tourist
orientated, and consists mainly of hotels and vacation apartments.
Miami, located on the mainland, is a cosmopolitan city with a distinctly
Latin American flavor.
The Art Deco district of Miami Beach occupies a compact one-square
mile area roughly between Lincoln Road, Sixth Street, Ocean Drive
and Alton Road. It is a showcase for this early twentieth century
art movement and contains dozens of restored buildings with that
characteristic architecture. To help find your way around, visit
the Miami Design Preservation League's Welcome Center on 1001 Ocean
Drive (305) 672-2014. Pick up the league's audiocassette for a self-guided
introduction to the Art Deco Historic District. The South Beach
section, where fashion designer Gianni Versace lived and died, is
one of the trendiest neighborhoods in the world.
Events
There are special events all the time in Miami, a city known for
its partying, though during the summer months the pickings are slim.
The Greater Miami & Beaches Convention & Visitor's Bureau's
Destination: Miami and Greater Miami & Beaches Meeting Planner
has a complete list, updated annually.
The biggest event of them all is the Carnaval
Miami, a nine-day festival at the beginning of March,
which includes a Miss Carnaval contest, Carnaval Night concerts
at the Orange Bowl, an in-line skating contest, jazz concerts, a
Latin drag queen show, and a Calle Ocho cooking contest. The
Calle Ocho Festival is the culmination of Carnaval Miami
and a great time to be in Little Havana since there are lots of
concerts, giveaways and Cuban food.
The International Hispanic Theater Festival
from late May to mid-June is one of the largest Hispanic theater
events in the US, featuring US, Latin America, Caribbean and European
theater companies at the El Carrusel Theater in Coral Gables. The
Annual Miami Reggae Festival
in early August is a huge celebration of the music 'from de people',
held at Bayfront Park.
Literary types might want to make it to the Miami
Book Fair, held during the second week of November. This
international book fair is among the most well-attended in the US,
with hundreds of nationally known writers joining hundreds of publishers
and hundreds of thousands of visitors.
And lastly, Miami wouldn't be Miami without the Orange
Bowl Parade, the annual New Year's Eve blowout, with
floats, clowns (professional and unintentional), a Folkloric Dance
competition and a whole lot of other stuff. It seems that all of
Miami turns up at the Orange Bowl Stadium and, afterwards, the Big
Orange celebration at Bayfront Park has a fireworks salute.
Getting There & Away
Miami is served by two main airports: Miami International Airport
(MIA), about 12 miles (19km) west of downtown, and the Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood
International Airport (FLL), about 30 miles (48km) north of the
city. MIA is one the USA's busiest in terms of aircraft and number
of passengers. Miami is the main US/Latin American gateway, and
the airport is served by everyone and his brother's (including Brothers
to the Rescue) airlines. Most major European airlines have service
to Miami, though there's no direct service from Australia or New
Zealand; if you're coming from that region of the world, you'll
have to change planes in Los Angeles. The best deals to Miami within
the US are from New York area airports, but the New York-Miami route
is also the most crowded.
Greyhound Bus has three main terminals in Miami, which send off
and welcome buses to and from Orlando, New Orleans, Atlanta, Washington
DC, and New York City. Amtrak trains connect Miami with cities all
over the continental US and Canada. Prices change often and are
generally a bit more than Greyhound at its cheapest and a lot more
than flying.
Miami is at or near the terminus of several major roads, making
it easy to arrive or depart by car. One particularly rewarding way
to get here from west of Florida is to take I-10, which passes through
the gorgeous beaches of Pensacola and across the Florida Panhandle,
connecting with I-95, Florida's Turnpike, down the coast to Miami.
I-75 and the Tamiami Trail (Hwy 41) also pass through.
Getting Around
Miami International Airport is served by public bus, but private
shuttle vans, taxis and limos are a far more convenient (if more
expensive) alternative. Many deeply discounted tickets to Miami
plop you down in the shimmering new terminal at Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood
International Airport. It's a great airport and there are plenty
of rental car agencies, shuttle buses and taxis ready to whisk you
into Miami. The trip to Miami Beach by bus takes about two hours.
There's a shuttle bus to the airport's Tri-Rail station, with trains
going to the edge of downtown Miami about once an hour at rush hours,
once every two hours during midday.
If you're over 25 and have a major credit card, the easiest way
to get to Miami Beach, Coral Gables or Miami is to rent a car. Some
of the rental agencies offer an hourly rate with no minimum charges.
There's a regular Metrobus service between the airport and downtown
Miami and Miami Beach. You can also take a Metrobus to the Greyhound
station at the airport. From there, Greyhound makes the 20-minute
journey to the sleazy downtown station several times a day.
There are a wide variety of attractions in Miami
If you can tear yourself away from the beach, you might want to
visit the Parrot Jungle and Gardens, the Monkey Jungle, the Metrozoo,
Vizcaya (a fabulous Italian Renaissance-style villa), the Metro-Dade
Cultural Center, or the Holocaust Memorial. You can also take tours
by boat, plane, helicopter, walking or driving. All sorts of water
sports are available like boating, fishing, skin diving, snorkeling
and water skiing. Golf and tennis are popular. Horse racing, greyhound
dog racing and Jai alai are favorite spectator sports.
Miami Beach provides plenty of nightlife. The large hotels have
elaborate stage shows and the Art Deco District is filled with bars
and nightclubs. Find a free copy of "This Week in Miami-Miami
Beach" at any hotel. It will list all of the current shows
and entertainment attractions.
Miami offers good dining
and good shopping
Both Miami and Miami Beach offer many excellent restaurants with
a diverse selection of cuisine. Fresh seafood is the local specialty.
Joe's Stone Crab restaurant is a very popular Miami Beach landmark
known for its large portions of excellent food. Wherever you eat,
be sure to try some Key Lime Pie, a famous Florida dessert.
There are plenty of good shopping opportunities in the Miami area.
For exclusive shopping, go to the Ball Harbor Mall. Other shopping
centers include Bayside Market Place, Coconut Grove, The Falls,
Aventura Mall and Cocowalk. If you are a serious bargain hunter,
don't miss the 173-store Sawgrass Mills Factory Discount Mall in
Sunrise, Florida 40 min north of the city. In the Little Havana
area, there are many small shops with unusual and interesting items,
but you may have to speak Spanish to get the best deals.
A word about personal safety
Safety and personal security are always concerns in any large city.
Miami received some unfavorable publicity a few years ago when several
tourists were robbed and murdered. The city does have a high crime
rate, but it is still relatively safe for anyone exercising common
sense. Do not venture away from the tourist areas into dangerous
neighborhoods after dark! Always lock cameras, luggage and valuables
out of sight in the trunk of your car! Never leave money or valuables
in your hotel room!
Two large National Parks nearby
There are two large National Parks near Miami. The Everglades National
Park is the largest remaining subtropical wilderness in the USA.
It has more than 1.5 million acres of natural habitat with over
half of it under water. The main entrance is reached via Florida
City south of Miami. It is open all seasons. Biscayne National Park
is also reached by traveling south through Homestead.
It consists mainly of unspoiled coastline, islands, crystal-clear
ocean waters and coral reefs. The majority of Biscayne Park is under
water along the southern tip of the Florida Peninsula and around
the northern keys. If you visit either park, remember to take your
mosquito repellent and sunscreen!
You'll need a car to see Miami. All the big car rental operators
can be found here, and many have branches at the airports. Metro-Dade
Transit's buses cover a healthy amount of the city: the Omni Metromover
and Government Center Terminals in downtown Miami are the main bus
depots. One-third bus, one-third monorail, one-third train, Metromover
is a neat solution to downtown congestion: it's made up of one or
two-car computer-controlled vehicles running on an elevated track.
It's also a great way to get a cheap tour of the downtown area.
Metrorail is a heavy rail system with one line, running through
downtown Miami and then south, connecting with Tri-Rail, Metromover
and Metrobus at Government Center. Tri-Rail is a commuter rail system
that runs between three counties: Dade, Broward and Palm Beach.
The double-decker trains are a marvel of cleanliness and, at least
for the time being, they're very cheap. For longer trips however,
it takes about four times longer to take Tri-Rail than to drive. |
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