We have set out on a mission to do all the best things in all the best places all around Florida. This is a pretty tall challenge, and not the least portion of the challenge is trying to do all the things that there are to do in Miami. Honestly, we still haven’t done everything that there is to do in Miami and we LIVE in South Florida!
With that in mind, we realize that, when you come to visit, it will be impossible for you to do everything, too, but we have enough experience to help you navigate the city and know how to get the most out of your trip while you’re there!
Most of the items on this list can be visited with one simple purchase of the Miami Explorer Pass or the Miami All-Inclusive Pass from Groupon.
With the Miami Explorer Pass receive admission to 2, 3, 4 or 5 Attractions and choose from a list of 25+ tours, aquarium, cruises, snorkeling, and other attractions. Purchase the pass from Groupon HERE.
Save up to 55% on things to do in Miami including the Miami Seaquarium, Hop-on Hop-off Bus, Zoo Miami, even the Kennedy Space Center, an Everglades tour & airboat ride, and more. Enjoy visiting as many attractions as you want each day. The more you see, the more you save. Purchase the pass from Groupon HERE.
MIAMI BEACHES
Let’s face it, even with all the other things there are to do throughout the city of Miami, a major reason that so many people visit the Miami area every year are its beaches (and yes we know that Miami Beach is technically a separate municipality, but for tourism purposes, that doesn’t really matter).
Miami beaches are divided into three major regions North Beach, Mid Beach, and South Beach. South beach is probably the most famous for its unique art deco-style architecture and its lively culture.
Our favorite family-friendly elements of the south beach area are the boardwalks where we typically take casual strolls, but you could rent and ride bicycles, go roller skating, jogging, etc. There is also a park with a playground in this area as well, and restaurants aren’t too far away.
We’ve never personally been impressed by any of the restaurants in this area. Gratuity is typically charged as a part of the bill rather than optional, and our experience has been that the service typically reflects that, and places tend to be crowded and noisy, but I guess some people really like that.
ZOO MIAMI
The Miami Zoo is pretty incredible. It is the largest in the state covering a land area of 750 acres. It contains about 3,000 animals representing 500 species. There are about 100 exhibits. Various regions of the world displayed are Florida (of course), Asia, Africa, Amazon, and Australia.
Even though only 324 acres of the zoo land is actually developed, that’s still a lot of land to cover, and you WILL do lots of walking, so be prepared with good shoes, but ALSO the zoo offers rickshaws for rental. We by-passed these when we visited thinking that it was worth it to save a buck—BIG MISTAKE! We highly recommend taking advantage of the transportation options offered by the zoo. We walk all over Florida theme parks (Disney World, SeaWorld, Legoland, etc.) regularly, but felt like our legs would absolutely fall off our bodies by the time we were finished with the Miami zoo.
We did Zoo Miami in one morning because that’s the way we do things (we’re trying to cover a lot of ground—see the introduction for our mission), but we really recommend carving out an entire day to actually enjoy it.
Purchase your Zoo Miami tickets from Groupon HERE.
MIAMI SEAQUARIUM
This marine animal park in Miami was absolutely so much fun! Think—SeaWorld without the rides. There are numerous exhibits and shows educating guests about marine animals. There is a stingray touch tank at the entrance, which is always popular with our little girl. There are also animal shows—orcas and dolphins and more—sit a little farther back unless you really want to get soaked. The dolphin and orca show was pretty amazing, but surprisingly, the sealion show was our favorite at this park. I don’t know why, but for some reason, it just seemed better than the one at SeaWorld.
We did Miami Seaquarium in one afternoon, but it really wasn’t enough time because we were rushing around trying to see all of the shows before everything closed, and we didn’t fully accomplish that mission.
BAYSIDE MARKETPLACE
Bayside Marketplace is located in Downtown Miami. We first discovered Bayside Marketplace when we cruised out of Port Miami for the first time. It’s actually not too far from the cruise port, so it is pretty common for cruise passengers to check out this area.
There are shops, stores, restaurants, and boutiques throughout Bayside Marketplace, and they’re all okay-ish—what we said about South Beach, that we weren’t impressed with the dining options, could be applied here, and perhaps all over Miami.
We have included this shopping center on the list because taking a casual stroll here doesn’t cost anything and there’s always something to see, but we have primarily included it because it is the hub for some of the next activities on our list.
MIAMI BIG BUS TOUR
My observation of YouTube videos about Miami and blog articles written about the best things to do in Miami is that these vlogs and blogs spend most of the time outlining the layout of the city and referring to the various sections of the city as “things to do.”
Their list of things to do include Wynwood Walls, Brickell, South Beach, Little Havana (Calle Ocho), etc., but my opinion is that you could literally spend an entire day in each of those areas exploring all the things to do.
But what do you do if you only have a limited time to spend in the city, and you want to get to all of those places?
I’m glad you asked because my recommendation for the most efficient was to do all of the major sites in Miami is to take Big Bus Tours Miami. Hop aboard this double-decker bus, and let a knowledgeable driver chauffer you around the city. This is a hop-on-hop-off tour, so you will be given the opportunity to hop off at various points of interest along the route.
You can take as much time at each one or as little as you would like, and you may even consider paying for this service for two days instead of one if you’re the kind of person who has to do everything.
Hop aboard the Miami Big Bus Tour at the Bayside Marketplace, and let them do the rest. We did the Miami Big Bus Tour in one afternoon, but it was because we didn’t get off at any of the stops except for Calle Ocho (Little Havana). If we were to do it again, we would plan to spend the entire day.
Purchase your Big Bus Tour tickets from Groupon HERE.
ISLAND QUEEN CRUISES AND TOURS
One highlight of Miami is gawking at the lifestyles of the rich and famous. I used to live in the Silicon Valley, and I thought I saw a lot of exotic sportscars there—NOPE! Miami!
Of course you know that SO MANY celebrities, millionaires, and billionaires own homes in Miami, and of course, you know that while you are in Miami you MUST check them out. If you haven’t seen Miami from the water, you haven’t seen Miami.
We recommend Island Queen Cruises and Tours. You may board the Island Queen boats at Bayside Marketplace. From there, they will give you a tour of Miami from the water. You’ll see things like Biscayne Bay, the Miami Skyline, Port of Miami, Fisher Island, Miami Beach, and Millionaire’s Row, and of course, the homes of the rich and famous—people like Gloria Estefan, Julio Iglesias, Shakira, Usher, and more.
Purchase your Island Queen Cruise tickets from Groupon HERE.
MIAMI CHILDREN’S MUSEUM
We’ve been to a lot of children’s museums, but nothing like the children’s museum in Miami. It’s pretty big and grand. In the first main area of the museum on the first floor, your family will be surrounded by the health and wellness exhibit, supermarket exhibit (sponsored by Publix, of course), the castle of dreams, and the bank exhibit (by Bank of America). If you’ve been to children’s museums, then you recognize those exhibits as being pretty standard, but just think of the ones you’ve been to before, and scale them up a little bit—yeah it’s like that!
The first floor also contains some exhibits about Florida ecology and the Everglades, but actually the second floor was the most fascinating to us—there’s a giant exhibit dedicated to the Port of Miami sponsored by Carnival and there’s a giant cruise ship in the middle of the room! Who wouldn’t love that!
The remaining second floor exhibits are dedicated to creativity and the arts. One exhibit is about music with various interactive displays allowing you to make your own music, and an exhibit which is all about the visual arts with some hands-on and interactive elements as well.
When you work up an appetite, be sure to head down to the lobby where you’ll find a subway.
VILLA VIZCAYA MUSEUM AND GARDENS
This is a can’t-miss historical home in Florida and would probably top our list as the best historical home to visit in the entire state. Villa Vizcaya is the former estate of the late industrialist James Deering and harkens back to a time when America’s wealthiest entrepreneurs built their homes reflecting the styles and architecture of Europe. This Gilded Age home is designed after an Italian style. The rooms surround a beautiful central courtyard, and though the house is fascinating in and of itself, the real story here is the gardens.
These gardens are magnificent, and it’s no wonder that as we strolled the gardens that photographers were everywhere. With fountains, and roses, and architectural elements, and exotic plants—wandering through this place is a pretty amazing experience.
EVERGLADES AIRBOAT TOUR
This is absolutely one of the most Florida things that you can do. While it is exciting to visit the beaches and all the attractions that Florida has to offer, there is nothing more Florida than zipping around wetlands and looking at all the wildlife in their natural habitat—not the least of which is ALLIGATORS!
You’ll most likely be surprised by how much you don’t know about these really cool reptiles, and if you haven’t done it before, you’ll probably bee surprised by how much fun an airboat is! It’s a pretty unique experience! We were reluctant to ride an airboat with small children, but after asking around to our friends, we were assured that Vivian would be fine, and she, in fact, was. More than that, she absolutely enjoyed the experience. We did warn her in advance that the boat would be very noisy, so she was prepared for that fact, which each rider does receive headphones anyway to cover their ears.
We enjoyed it so much that, when my mother came to Florida only a few weeks later, we brought her along and did it all over again with zero regrets.
Purchase your airboat ride tickets from Groupon HERE.
FROST SCIENCE MUSEUM
There are several other points of interest in Miami which we fully intend to visit as soon as possible—the top of the list would be the Frost Science Museum. This 250,000 square foot science museum is located in downtown Miami and is home to a planetarium and various science exhibits, but perhaps the thing that we most want to see is the three-story, 500,000 gallon, cone-shaped aquarium, which is filled with rays, and sharks, and all kinds of other fish! Sounds pretty incredible to me, and even though we haven’t made it there yet, maybe you will!
CONCLUSION:
Getting to everything in Miami is a pretty tall order, so we haven’t yet done that, but as you can see, we are working on it. We hope that these will help you, however, to see as much as possible during your vacation in Miami.
Most of the items on this list can be visited with one simple purchase of the Miami Explorer Pass or the Miami All-Inclusive Pass from Groupon.
With the Miami Explorer Pass receive admission to 2, 3, 4 or 5 Attractions and choose from a list of 25+ tours, aquarium, cruises, snorkeling, and other attractions. Purchase the pass from Groupon HERE.
Save up to 55% on things to do in Miami including the Miami Seaquarium, Hop-on Hop-off Bus, Zoo Miami, even the Kennedy Space Center, an Everglades tour & airboat ride, and more. Enjoy visiting as many attractions as you want each day. The more you see, the more you save. Purchase the pass from Groupon HERE.