Best things to do in Miami

Wynwood Walls

2516 North West 2nd Avenue, Miami, FL 33127

Wynwood Walls brings color to the streets of the Wynwood Arts District, exploring the artistic potential of legitimate graffiti art across more than 50 murals. Each wall is worked on by world-renowned artists, with new murals consistently coming to life. It’s an ever-changing exhibit in the open. The creative scope of the Wynwood Walls is legendary, vibrant, and as rich in color as it is in meaning.

Experience 35,000 sq ft. of walls, where more than 75,000 gallons of paint have been sprayed, daubed and spilled, showcasing works from over 100 artists across 21 countries. Look for connecting threads and ponder the combined stories they tell or get that all-important technicolor profile picture for your social media. 

We’ve all heard the old adage about staring at walls and paint drying, but the Wynwood Walls challenge that saying. Visit today and discover one of the best things to do in Miami for art lovers.

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Little Havana

Little Havana, Miami, FL 33135

“Bienvenido”, or welcome, to Little Havana, the Cuban heart of Miami. Here, the streets are busy with bustling restaurants and Latin American art galleries. It’s a neighborhood alive with a distinct culture built into its very bricks and mortar, creating a pocket of Miami that’s truly its own.

Try a taste of Cuban coffee in the nearby cafes, sit down for a set of Dominoes at Domino Park, or feel the groove and let your body move at live, Latin-music nights. In Little Havana, you can experience the best that the Cuban-American and Latino way of life has to offer.

Visit in March, and you can catch the world’s largest Latin music festival, Calle Ocho, which takes place across 15 street blocks. Visit Little Havana today and tick it off the top of your Miami bucket list.

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South Beach

South Beach, Miami, FL 33139

South Beach is a sun-drenched stretch of streets in Southern Miami, a neighborhood known for its golden sands, coastal views, swaying palms, and Art Deco architecture. It’s a place that’s always happening, no matter the time of year.

While South Beach is known for its beaches, and is great for lounging and activities, there’s so much more on offer than a sandy day out or a quick splash. Its eateries are fantastic, with a glamorous retail scene and top-dollar shopping experience at Lincoln Road Mall. Near the coastline, you’ll find the iconic Ocean Drive, a day’s adventure all by itself. Take time out to visit the Wolfsonian-Florida International University while you’re there. Explore the institute’s modern art exhibitions, which demonstrate the provocative character of art and design.

Visiting South Beach is one of the most fun things to do in Miami if you’re looking for variety and a slice of unabashed Miami culture. 

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Miami Design District

The Design District, Miami, FL 33127

You’ll know when you arrive at the Miami Design District – and not due to the luxury fashion and jewelry boutiques, upscale cafes, or celebrity-chef restaurants pulling people from across the country. No, it’s the unique, sleek, and modern architecture, where creative passion is poured into the tarmac and foliage throughout this artsy neighborhood.

The Miami Design District is dedicated to innovation – of fashion, design, dining, and art. Walking its streets is like visiting an art installation, where a shared creative vision suffuses every activity, each dish, and every garment. This is not a place that has been built but rather designed, conjured, and created. 

If you want to experience an artsy, creative, and passionate culture in a place that puts forward-thinking design at the forefront of its experience, then the Miami Design District is one of the best places to visit in Miami.

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Vizcaya Museum and Gardens

3251 South Miami Avenue, Miami, FL 33129

The Vizcaya Museum and Gardens is a National Historic Landmark in Florida. This heritage, 1916 waterfront villa is iconic, and not only for its architectural design. Open the door to this cultural treasure trove and you’ll uncover one of the most significant Italian furniture collections in the United States. 

This estate home hosts 32 rooms and 10 acres of curated garden space. Every meter holds something special: there are statues, busts, vases, urns, and other features that date back to the Renaissance and Baroque periods through to antiquity. It’s both an exhibit and a time bubble housed in an eternal Mediterranean style.

If heritage, history, and eccentric or eclectic design interests you, then this holiday home-turned museum belongs on your Miami itinerary. 

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Zoo Miami

12400 Southwest 152nd Street, Miami, FL 33177

When talk about getting wild in Miami, they must mean the Miami-Dade Zoological Park and Gardens – that’s Zoo Miami, if you’re in the know. Housing 2,000 animals across 750 acres, a visit to Zoo Miami is a day trip that’ll take you across the globe and back.

Prowl with jaguars between the brush of the Amazon, stay at home with the crocs in the Everglades, or bounce about with the Kangaroos in Australia. It’s around the world in a day. Zoo Miami makes its exhibits interactive, as if 4 miles of walkways didn’t bring you close enough. You can crawl through an upsized python, playing whack-a-mole against environmental threats or doing a bit of poop-scooping.

Enjoy a visit to the largest zoo in Florida, filled with animal-tastic fun things to do for adults and with kids.

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Everglades National Park

40001 State Road, Homestead, Florida.

If you’re taking a trip to Miami and don’t mind a short drive out of town, then you need to visit the Everglades National Park. Unlike a zoo, this is nature that you can truly immerse yourself in. Not a replication, but a thriving ecosystem unique to Florida that protects approximately 1.5 million acres of subtropical wetland, forest, and marine habitats.

Here, a rich array of Floridian flora and fauna make this place home. Catch an abundance of alligators as they lounge on swampy embankments or float in freshwater marshes. Watch the silhouette of flamingos in streams, bending their necks into love-heart silhouettes, and watch out for the subtle skittering of scorpions and spiders. 

If you’re a nature nut, the Everglades National Park is one of the most fun things to do in and around Miami. You’ll have no shortage of snap-worthy moments amongst the bromeliads, orchids, and ancient mangroves.

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Bayside Marketplace

401 Biscayne Boulevard, Miami, FL 33132

We’re all in need of a little retail therapy now and then, so why not visit Bayside Marketplace, a two-story, open-air mall right on the water? It’s a day's shopping, without the stuffy atmosphere of a shopping center. Catch the sea breeze and enjoy the views while you shop along the banks of Biscayne Bay, only a stone's throw from the City of Miami Marina. 

Here, you’ll find share-worthy souvenirs, plenty of bars and restaurants, and an observation wheel so you can see Miami from new angles. If you’ve had your fill of shopping, you could enjoy a moment on the water with a sunset cruise sailing from island to island in Biscayne Bay. 

Whether it’s shopping, culture, sightseeing, or experiences in Miami, Bayside Marketplace has a bit of everything. Best of all, you don’t need to travel far to enjoy it. 

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Raccoon Island (Boat and Kayak)

North Miami, FL 33181

With a Raccoon Island Tour by boat or kayak, you can journey to Sandspur Island and its unique ring-tailed residents. It’s a unique opportunity to learn about the local wildlife while enjoying time on the water. 

The residents here spend most of their time in the jungle, but are ever ready for a photo op. While serene itself, the island can become busy on the weekends and crowded with boats. Try to go midweek for a better chance of saying hello to the raccoons. The eastern side can be a bit more tranquil, with beautiful sights of the horizon and overgrown with dense mangroves. 

Wildlife is abundant, even on the city’s edge. Keep an eye out, and you may even spot a gator or a manatee. That’s also an important reason why you might want to book a boat or a tour guide.

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Frost Science Museum

1101 Biscayne Boulevard, Miami, FL 33132

Spark wonder and investigation at the Frost Science Museum, a place of learning that challenges what a museum can be. Before setting foot in the Frost Science Museum, you’ll notice four distinct buildings, dedicated to different subjects. It’s a campus-like approach to entertainment and learning that takes you from the Everglades to the ocean, from outer space and down again into the human cell.

Frost Science’s architectural design promotes connection, exploration, technology, and sustainability. It’s a place that embodies the ideas and aesthetics of scientific learning, made to teach and to entertain.

Spend time amongst the planetarium exhibits and move on to the aquarium in just one day. From jellyfish to dinosaurs, reefs to stars – in the Frost Science Museum, old bones and space dust are only a room apart. As you tinker with the interactive exhibitions, you’ll find time slips through your fingers as light amongst the stars. 

Whether your interests orbit the planets, belong to the past, rest in the ocean, or reside within us, you’ll find something to pique your interest here. Visit the Frost Science Museum and enjoy one of the best things to do in Miami for those who enjoy unravelling the mysteries of science.

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Learn more about Miami

Before you get in the driver's seat with Hertz, why not learn more about Miami? Get up to speed with the need-to- and good-to-know of Magic City. Get tips on staying, eating, and traveling in Miami to make the perfect itinerary. 

• Best hotels in Miami
• Best restaurants in Miami
• Miami neighborhoods
• Travel guide to Alligator Country in Florida