Travelling Miami
Before You Travel
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 CalleOcho Street (Southwest Eighth Street) more than 20 years ago. Today, this colorful area embraces immigrants from all over Latin America.
Attractions in Miami
Miami, Florida is a vibrant resort city, commercial center and international port with a distinctly Latin American flavor. It is a favorite vacation destination for both US residents and visitors from overseas. Its primary appeal is its beautiful beaches and its mild semi-tropical climate, but it also offers many other attractions and entertainments.
Metropolitan Miami is really composed of two separate cities: Miami is the commercial, business and residential community located on the coastal mainland, while Miami Beach is the vacation resort located on a long, narrow island in the bay east of the city. They are interconnected by a series of bridges and causeways that extent from the mainland to the island.
Miami Beach is famous for its beautiful, broad sandy beach that extends for nearly ten miles along the eastern shore of the island. This white sand beach is over 100 meters wide in most places. The Atlantic Ocean waters are shallow and warm enough for swimming at least 8 months of the year. Naturally, swimming, surfing and sun bathing are the most popular activities in Miami Beach. Boating, parasailing, snorkeling, and fishing are available from nearby concessionaires.
The streets directly behind the beaches are lined with high-rising hotels, vacation apartments and condominiums catering to the many vacation visitors and seasonal residents. There are also many restaurants, bars, dance clubs and shops to occupy the spare time of the numerous visitors.
The southernmost 23 blocks of the island is the location of the oldest neighborhood on Miami Beach, known as South Beach. It is most famous for its large collection of restored buildings constructed during the 1930s in the Art Deco, Streamline Moderne, and Nautical Modernestyle of architecture. These beautiful old buildings arrayed in pastel shades of pink, yellow, peach and lime green form the largest collection of Art Deco Streamline Moderne architecture to be found anywhere.
South Beach is one of the most vibrant and upscale neighborhoods in the Miami area. Many rich and famous people now live in these beautifully refurbished art deco homes. Some of the trendiest restaurants, bars and dance clubs are located on South Beach, where the frenetic beat of the Cuban-Latin American-Salsa rhythms, known as "the Miami Sound", can be heard late into the night.
On the mainland, just south of downtown Miami is Vizcaya, the winter estate of industrialist James Deering. This elaborate facsimile of a sixteenth century Italian estate was constructed with numerous artifacts collected from European architecture and incorporated in the design. It is surrounded by an expansive garden composed of Italian and French renaissance designs. Now owned by the municipality of Miami and Dade County, the facility is open to the public.
A bit further south, lies the beautifully planned neighborhood of Coral Gables which offers one of the most beautiful public swimming pools in the world. The Venetian Pool is constructed in a quarry of native coral with waterfalls, underground grottos and caves surrounded by historic Italianate architecture and fed by natural springs of water. The neighborhood also offers one of the world's most beautiful gardens at the Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden. On the nearby campus of Miami University is the exquisite collection in the Lowe Art Museum.
The neighborhood directly west of downtown Miami is often called "Little Havana" due to its preponderance of Cuban immigrants. It is centered around Southwest Eighth Street or "CalleOcho". This is the political and cultural center of the Cuban exile community living in the USA. You can find great Cuban food and authentic Cuban music and culture throughout this neighborhood.
Miami offers some wonderful activities for children of all ages. The Miami Seaquarium is smaller than Sea World in Orlando, but it does offer a Dolphin Encounter where children can swim with and interact with dolphins. Jungle Island, a rather pricey 19-acre amusement facility, has a petting zoo, aviaries, jungle trails and several theaters with animal acts. Miami Metrozoo is located a 45-minute drive away from downtown. The facility is spread over 290 acres, so it requires a bit of walking between exhibits. Monkey Jungle is nearly an hour drive south of Miami, but is unique in that the hundreds of primates roam free while the visitors walk through protective cages.
The Miami Science Museum in Coconut Grove has a lot of interactive exhibits that fascinate children. The Miami Children's Museum likewise provides a lot of interactivity for children. The Scott Rakow Youth Center offers an ice skating rink, bowling alley, basketball court and gymnasium for older children.
Downtown Miami, Miami Beach and Coconut Grove are the places to find the best nightlife in Miami. South Beach has a great selection of trendy bars and exclusive dance clubs, but the action does not heat up until after 11 PM, and it may be difficult to gain entry into the most popular clubs at any time. Live music is available in some of the bars, but disco is king at most nightclubs and dance clubs. If you want to sample the salsa beat of the "Miami Sound", try the clubs or bars at the major hotels on Miami Beach or some of the nightspots in Coconut Grove. They tend to be a bit more accessible than the ones at South Beach.
Miami Tours
