How to spend three days in Miami
Day 1: South Beach + Beyond
Kick off your day on South Pointe Park Pier.
This pier has some of the best views in Miami, and is the perfect place to start your 3 days in Miami!
If you stroll out along the pier and turn back, you’ll see the skyline of downtown Miami in the distance ahead of you… and the length of South Beach, framed by the sea on one side and the skyline of Miami Beach, on the other.
It is an utterly fantastic view–and as soon as you’re done gaping, you’ll have easy access to South Beach!
Walk + swim + lounge on South Beach.
We recommend dedicating the bulk of the first day of your Miami itinerary to its best-known attraction: beautiful South Beach, which is indisputably one of the best beaches in the USA.
You’ll be at the far southern end of the beach when you come down from the pier, so feel free to walk as long as you like before finding a place to set up and relax for the day.
Don’t forget to stop and take a photo with a few of the amazing Art Deco lifeguard stands that the beach is known for!
Also, fair warning: South Beach has a fairly noticeable seaweed problem, so depending on when you visit, you might be sharing the sand with a pile of weeds–but really, it’s not a big deal.
Soak up some shade at Lummus Park.
After all the sun on South Beach, your skin will likely be dying for a break.
In other words, it’s the perfect time to enjoy a bit of shade at picturesque Lummus Park!
This beautiful park is framed by South Beach on one side and Ocean Drive on the other, and its many, many palm trees create a lovely canopy of shade to rest in.
If you’d like to explore, this is a great place to rent a bike or play a game of volleyball–but it’s also a great place to simply relax.
Stroll down Ocean Drive + Collins Ave.
Miami is well-known for its Art Deco (and Meditteranean Revival, and Miami Modern) buildings: on the central streets of Miami Beach, it can sometimes feel like you’re standing inside a delightful, retro throwback, all neon signs and pastel detail.
It’s a delight to behold, and the streets–especially Ocean Drive and Collins Ave, in our opinion, though Washington Ave is popular too–are incredibly fun to walk down, with or without a tour.
However, if you’re particularly interested in the history of Miami Beach or in architecture, you might want to look into adding an Art Deco tour to your Miami itinerary!
There’s also an Art Deco museum located in the neighborhood, though our understanding is that it is fairly small.
Check out Espanola Way.
This small pedestrian street in Miami Beach was built to mimic a Spanish village, and as a result, has a very Europe-meets-Miami vibe.
It’s not big, but the twinkling fairy lights overhead and the tempting restaurants that line the streets are certainly a reason to visit (and maybe even pick up dinner here).
Not all of the restaurants get great reviews, so we do recommend doing some research before sitting down! Havana 1957 is a reliable option, and we’ve heard good things about A La Folie Cafe as well.
If you’d rather stroll through Espanola Way but sit down to eat dinner somewhere a bit quieter, Alma Mexicana is a quick walk away and a delicious, unpretentious, and affordable option.
Day 2: Little Havana + Wynwood
Head to Little Havana for an epic food tour.
Don’t eat a big breakfast this morning: instead, begin your second day in Miami with an incredible Little Havana food tour!
Despite its relatively small size and mostly residential nature, Little Havana–and its main thoroughfare, Calle Ocho, is one of the most famous neighborhoods in Miami, with a compelling history, distinct vibe, and magnificent food scene.
We adored the Little Havana food tour that we took in Miami!
Our guide, Ashley, was an incredible resource of information about the area, the tour extremely interesting and well-organized, and we ended the tour both more knowledgeable about Little Havana and barely able to move from how much we ate–the ultimate sign of a successful food tour.
Every single stop on our tour was fantastic, but particular standouts were empanadas from El Pub, mojitos from the Ball & Chain, and ice cream from Azucar (and, though we didn’t actually try this flavor, I will never forget Ashley tellings us that they once served an ice cream flavor called “Burn in Hell Fidel”–that’s the kind of creativity that can inspire excellent ice cream puns).
Though we didn’t eat or drink there, we also loved stopping by Cubaocho, a bar + museum + art venue that is not only incredibly beautiful, it’s run by a pair of brothers dedicated to preserving the history of Cuba (and a few other places, as well–they have a bar brought in from one of Frank Sinatra’s old clubs!).
Overall, we were incredibly impressed with our Little Havana food tour, and heartily recommend adding it to your 3 day Miami itinerary!
Soar above the sky in Biscayne Bay.
This is more of an option than an absolute addition to your itinerary for 3 days in Miami–Little Havana and Wynwood alone can take up a full day of exploring.
That being said, if you’re looking for a good excuse to give parasailing a try, this fun experience is a great way to cool off and break up your day!
Not only is parasailing tons of fun, but it’s also a fantastic way to get an incredible birds-eye view of Miami and Biscayne Bay.
Make your way to Wynwood for street art galore.
The story of Wynwood is one that can be told in many cities around the world: once an unloved industrial district, Wynwood has been transformed into one of Miami’s trendiest neighborhoods, bursting with everything from impressive street art to eclectic boutiques, and visiting is now considered one of the best things to do in Florida!
The first stop on any visit to Wynwood should certainly be the Wynwood Walls, a collection of incredibly impressive street art housed in a park.
Outside of these commissioned pieces, though, Wynwood’s art scene continues. The entire neighborhood is covered in colorful art, and there are more galleries, boutiques, and trendy restaurants than you can count–and once the sun sets, plenty of nightlife, too.
If you’re an artsy type, consider a Wynwood street art tour to really get under the surface of this neighborhood’s transformation.
For a sweet treat, we can definitely recommend a stop at The Salty Donut–order the Key Lime pie donut for a fabulous taste of South Florida.
Day 3: Take a Boat Tour + Say Goodbye to Miami
Stop by the Bayside Marketplace.
The Bayside Marketplace is, essentially, a shopping center–albeit one with a fabulous location on the water.
It actually reminded us quite a bit of the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town, with a modern-shopping-meets-harbor vibe–but while it is an extremely popular place to visit during a long weekend in Miami, it’s not on our most recommended spots list… however, there’s still a reason to stop by.
We recommend visiting Bayside Marketplace essentially as a way to get to your next stop in Miami–a boat tour.
Since so many boat tours leave from Bayside Marketplace, it’s certainly worth showing up a few minutes early to poke around and get an opinion on the place for yourself!
Hit the water on a boat tour.
I was honestly surprised by how much we loved our Millionaire’s Row Cruise boat tour.
We’re generally the opposite of celebrity watchers, so a tour focused on peeking into the yards of celebrities homes seemed a bit odd to me–but we desperately wanted a quick-and-easy way to admire the skyline of Downtown Miami from the water, so we booked this incredibly popular tour to do so… and we loved it.
Sure, we’re not that invested in which house Jennifer Lopez owns, but the cruise was much more than that: a glimpse at some truly impressive real estate (and while we don’t really follow celebrities, we do love pretty houses!), some fantastic views of the Miami skyline, a bit of Miami history (especially as a film location–hello Scarface mansion!), a cruise past the impressive Miami port, and an excellent way to gain context on Miami’s city layout.
Plus, time on a boat in the sunshine is never a bad experience, and definitely deserves to be part of your 3 days in Miami.
Prefer something with a bit more speed instead? This speedboat tour is very popular and gets great reviews!
Spend the afternoon saying goodbye to Miami.
Sadly, there’s no way to fit absolutely everything to do in the city into a 3 day Miami trip–so depending on your personal taste and tired you are (aka how late you’ve been staying up enjoying Miami’s nightlife), here are four great options to close out your Miami itinerary!
Option 1: Visit Everglades National Park.
Everglades National Park is one of the most unique national parks in the USA, and you can easily visit as a day trip from Miami!
Option 2: Head back to the beach.
Are you a beach bum at heart?
If so, you can’t have too much time by the water when you’re in Miami for the weekend.
Spending your final afternoon exactly where you started by soaking up the sun on South Beach is a fantastic way to close out a Miami vacation!
Option 3: Visit the Venetian.
Want to combine history and swimming?
Close out your 3 days in Miami with a visit to the Venetian Pool in Coral Gables!
The Venetian is nearly 100 years old, was created from a rock quarry, and is far more elaborate than your average public pool, boasting rock caves and waterslides to explore.
Keep in mind that the Venetian only sells a certain number of tickets per day, and they do regularly sell out, so if you have your heart set on visiting, the earlier in the day you plan your visit, the better.
Option 4: Tour the Vizcaya Mansion.
Designed to look like an elaborate Italian Villa, this early 20th-century mansion provides an interesting look into both the Gilded Age and the history of Miami.
At the time when the Vizcaya Mansion was built, Miami was not yet the playground of the rich and famous that it would soon become!
The villa and gardens are incredibly beautiful, and visiting them is among the most popular things to do in Miami.