Top 5 Things To Do in Miami, FL in 72 Hours!!! // 2023 Travel Guide to Culture and Food
You have only a few days in Miami to see and do everything, but it being one of the most popular tourist destinations in the US, the amount of activities in the city is endless and can be overwhelming if you have a limited time. Here are the top 5 things to do for a short visit in Miami.
1. Miami's top destination for tourists is South Beach, so of course I am not going to start there. We're going to be adventurous and head out to the Everglades. Just 30 minutes from the Miami Dade city limit is the thick of the Everglades National Park. Here you can spend a morning on the water doing an airboat tour that takes you through the famous twisting mangrove tunnels of the Everglades, spotting wildlife (like alligators) and getting up close with Florida's natural landscape. For about 40 dollars, you can get out of the city for a while and do something unique. And if you're an intrepid foodie then you might want to stop by one of the local diners of the Everglades and try the gator bites or frog legs. Hear me out. Actually they're pretty good, but I understand that might not be for everyone. Obviously the airboat expedition is a great activity if you are renting a car, which I highly recommend to get the most out of your time in Miami. Plus it's fascinating to see the landscape radically change while driving down 8th street from urban to tropical wetlands as you enter the Everglades.
2. Miami is a diverse pool of culture, ethnicities, and nationalities. As a result, the food experience in Miami is a standout must-do. When you have a limited time in a place, it's tough to really capture the full essence. Luckily you can hit up Calle Ocho, or 8th street, in Little Havana and do a food and culture walking tour. There are a couple of companies that will organize this for you and take a group of curious visitors to various local restaurants, cigar shops, mom n pop shops, and more. These tours generally last about 2 or 3 hours and are all on foot, rain or shine. Depending on what's included, they could run you about 50 or 60 dollars, but that includes everything. Some even include a mojito tasting, which is fun. I'm local to Miami and I would say this is a cost effective way of making the most out of your time, getting to try a variety of tropical cuisine dishes, and learn a bit about the history of the city. Of course you can go to Little Havana and do the tour yourself, but doing everything a la carte might take more time and cost more. Make sure you keep an eye out for the chickens and roosters who are a staple of this neighborhood.
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3. Now that we're on a culture run and I'm all about the culture... Let's talk about museums! Miami is known internationally for its music and art. Being the home of Art Basel, one of the largest annual art festivals of the year, the city is home to artists and art lovers. As a result, we have a bunch of museums. I could probably make a separate video on only the museums to visit in Miami. Let me know in the comments or on twitter if this is something you'd be interested in. For this video, I'll mention the two museums I think are worth visiting when you have a limited time in Miami. On the coast of Biscayne Bay, we have Museum Park, which is an actual green park along the water where you can walk and bike paths. Located here is the Frost Science Museum and the Perez Art Museum Miami. PAMM for short. They are so close to each other you get more bang for your buck if you just go to both. Both of these museums feature gorgeous architecture inside and out. If you love looking at beautiful buildings, Museum Park is a good spot. PAMM is a contemporary art museum that will sometimes have rotating exhibits. What makes this museum stand out is the unique building with hanging gardens and spectacular views of the bay. The Frost Science museum is family friendly and has a great display of science related exhibits. It even includes a rooftop aquarium with live wildlife. Speaking of wildlife, after a few hours of exploring both museums, you can sit on the ledge along the bay and view all sorts of sea life pass by, including bottlenose dolphins. PAMM also has a museum restaurant called Verde, which offers decent food and again, inspiring views. A visit to Museum Park could take up about 5 hours or half a day if you end up doing both museums and take time to walk around the park and eat at the museum.
4. If you love the outdoors, the Fairchild Botanical Gardens is a must-stop. This 83 acre site is home to a wide variety of plants, lakes, and animals--including a couple gators. They constantly have activities that are great for couples, families, and solo-explorers. Even if you don't partake in one of their events, the gardens provides about 3 or 4 hours of walking through different themed gardens like rainforest, desert, bamboo and more. This spot is one of my favorites as it provides plenty of space to walk and run. You can bring a blanket and unwind for a bit on one of the many green open spaces available. They have a cafe in the heart of the gardens that serves sandwiches, smoothies, coffee and whatever else you might need to fuel up. The interior of the cafe faces one of the unique features of the gardens, which is the butterfly enclosure. You can also enter the enclosure and encounter some beautiful butterflies flying freely. If you're lucky, you might even have one land on you. Just make sure to check yourself before you exit because you cannot take the butterflies home with you.
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We're almost at the last spot on my list. For links, extra info, and the names of everything I mentioned, look in the description of this video.
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5. Last, but not least there's the Vizcaya Museum and Gardens. This is a national historic landmark with about 50 acres to explore. Vizcaya was the estate of James Deering in the early 1900s. Being a conservationist, Deering was particular about preserving the natural aspects of the site during the development of his villa. The compound includes shoreline mangrove swamps, some remnants of the tropical forest from the original 180 acre property, and about 10 acres of the formal gardens inspired by Italian Renaissance. Vizcaya transports you to an atmosphere that uniquely combines the feeling of being on a tropical island with European flair. The villa itself has a number of rooms to enter with furniture and art to look at. The architecture in Vizcaya is distinctive in its combination of eccentric accents with tropical and European design. The museum also has a cafe which offers affordable food by museum standards and a nice area outside to sit and enjoy under the shade of palm trees. Being on the coast, you can get some breathtaking views of the Deering Channel and Biscayne Bay. There's even a couple resident manatees that unexpectedly stop by for some lunch. Going to Vizcaya can be a great family outing, romantic, or just plain fun. There are plenty of photo opportunities in the gardens as they always look beautiful so all you have to do is point the camera and shoot. It can take about 3 hours to see all of the villa and gardens, but well worth it to visit this prominent part of Miami's history.
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If you're visiting Miami over the weekend and you absolutely positively love food, then you must check out Smorgasburg. This is a large open-air food market that happens every Saturday and Sunday in Wynwood. Local food vendors set up booths every weekend offering their signature dishes and drinks. This is a great opportunity to try local Miami cuisine, mingle with Miamians, and get a taste for the culture in Wynwood. The Wynwood area is a colorful part of Miami full of murals and graffiti, not to mention plenty of bars, restaurants, and shops for cruising. This is the stomping grounds for many locals on the evenings and weekends to get out of the house and hang with friends. Smorgasburg comes to life with music and the sound of joy as people fill up their stomachs, so you're not going to want to miss out on that.
That's my top 5 things to do in Miami in 72 hours. Hope you enjoyed the video and get to do some of these if you're ever in town. That's it from me. I'll see you when I see you.
