Miami Beach, Florida

Miami Beach: Better Than Its Reputation, Worse Than Its Instagram

South Beach is the part of Miami Beach most people picture: the Art Deco hotels in pastel colours along Ocean Drive, the wide beach, the permanent parade of people who look like they’ve been attending a photoshoot since 1994. It is genuinely beautiful in the early morning, before 9am, when the light comes in low from the east and the streets are quiet. Later in the day the beach chairs are packed and Ocean Drive fills with tourists and overpriced drinks.

The Art Deco Historic District — the area bounded by 5th and 17th Streets, Ocean Drive and Lenox Avenue — is worth taking seriously. Around 800 Art Deco buildings survive from the 1920s–40s, which is a remarkable concentration. Many have been restored and painted in their original colours. The Miami Design Preservation League runs walking tours that cover the architectural history properly; book one if you have even a moderate interest in design history.

Beyond South Beach

Wynwood, on the mainland about 2 miles north of South Beach, is genuinely worth visiting. It started as a warehouse district, transformed into an outdoor street art museum in the late 2000s (primarily through the work of developer Tony Goldman), and has since become one of the better examples of that phenomenon globally. The Wynwood Walls — a curated block of murals by international street artists — are the anchor, but the surrounding streets have their own character. Go on a Saturday afternoon.

The Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) on Biscayne Bay has a good permanent collection of post-1945 international art and usually a strong programme of temporary exhibitions. The building, by Herzog & de Meuron, is architecturally interesting. Admission is around $16.

Eating and Drinking

Joe’s Stone Crab on Washington Avenue is the Miami Beach institution for stone crab claws, in season from October 15 through May 15. The claws are excellent; the wait without a reservation in season can be two hours. They have a takeout window if you can’t face it. Outside stone crab season, consider giving it a miss.

Versailles Restaurant in Little Havana (about 20 minutes drive across the MacArthur Causeway) is the Cuban coffee and food institution: media noche sandwiches, croquetas, and café con leche at any hour. The surrounding blocks of Calle Ocho have Latin bakeries and restaurants that are considerably better value than anything on Ocean Drive.

For drinking, the rooftop bars on South Beach are expensive but the views are fine. Brickell City Centre on the mainland has a more local crowd and better cocktail bars.

Where to Stay

The Fontainebleau is the largest and most famous of the South Beach hotels — a curved modernist building with a pool deck that’s had multiple lives since 1954. If you want to be in the Art Deco district, the Betsy or the Albion are both good and less chaotic than the strip. Budget travellers will find better rates in Mid-Beach (17th to 40th Street) or north of 40th, where the beach is less crowded and the hotels are less performatively cool.

When to Go

November through April is peak season: warm, dry, relatively uncrowded compared to summer. July and August are brutally hot and humid, with afternoon thunderstorms and hurricane risk (though actual hurricanes are rare). Spring Break in March brings crowds that are fun if you’re 21 and not your problem if you’re not.