Miami

[slm123]

Hi,

Booked a trip up yesterday to go to Miami for 10 days in November, not been before so was wondering if any of you guys can recommend must do things whilst we're out there. Staying on ocean drive, South Beach any one got any knowledge of what this areas like? It was a bit of a spur of the moment decision to go haven't really done any research on it.

Thanks

[Simon Brooks]

Head down to the keys

[dodgydave]

I went to Miami with a group of friends in April.The best thing we did was go sea fishing.
We went on the 'Therapy IV' and had a really fun afternoon; Food, beer, and shark fishing.
It's about a 20 minute cab ride from South Beach, and well worth doing IMO.

[Tyre Tread]

Down the keys is a good call. Drive down over a couple of days stopping off at a resort or two.

Eat breakfast at The News Cafe: http://www.newscafe.com/welcome.html

Eggs beneddict

Be careful where you walk at night in Miami itself. Stay on the main road where its well populated and well lit. The wife wanted to stay in an art deco hotel so we did. It was quite interesting watching from our hotel room the drug deals going down in the back alley. One guy was waving a pistol about.

Let's be careful out there!

[Robatr0n]

As the others have said, head down to the Keys. It really is lovely down there. Try and get out on some Jet Skies if you get the time too.

Deep Sea fishing would be awesome. We were booked in with Captain Stan (I think that was Therapy IV too...?) but sadly a hurricane was brewing and he said it was far too dangerous to go out to sea so we had to abandon that idea. Gutted! We ended up walking about a mile or so towards South Beach and stumbled upon a Seafood and Grill restaurant / bar called Flanigans. It was the cheapest food we found in South Beach and it was great food too.

[justin220]

We're just back from 10 days in Miami, best holiday we've been on. Loved it.

We went to the Everglades for a boat tour, baseball game, although would have prefered basketball. The Seaquarium is a bit run down, but probably worth a visit. We spent a lot of time on the beach, and mostly headed up Lincoln Road for food/drinks.

Aventura mall is huge, and probably worth a visit if the wife likes shopping.

Which hotel are you in? We also stayed on ocean drive. Great location!

[Tyre Tread]

Oh yes, definitely make sure you do an air boat ride into the Everglades - AWESOME. Those airboat drivers(?) are amazing.

[so called]

Gator farm and air boat ride can be done in one.
Keys are beautiful.
Mango's bar on South Beach is 'interesting'

Edited by so called on Tuesday 17th July 08:25

[shakotan]

Miami itself, nothing really to do during the day, apart from shops, it's a 'clublife' city and nothing really happens/no-one really goes out until 10/11PM.

There's the Keys [long drive, stay overnight or two], and head out for airboat rides and such, but a couple of friends and I went there for a fortnight and got so bored after 5 days, we left our rented apartment early and headed up to Orlando.

[ChrisBMW]

Went down to Miami for two days last October while staying in Orlando and to be honest two days where more than enough, once you've seen south beach and done a boat ride there's not much else to see or do.

[Black can man]

Miami was the only place in the US where i felt truly intimidated , maybe we were just in the wrong part of town , we planned to stay a few days there but decided to drive back to Sarasota instead ,

I have not spoken to many people whom have shared my uneasy experience with Miami so i'm sure you will be fine , have fun

[Robatr0n]

Black can man said:

Miami was the only place in the US where i felt truly intimidated , maybe we were just in the wrong part of town , we planned to stay a few days there but decided to drive back to Sarasota instead ,

I have not spoken to many people whom have shared my uneasy experience with Miami so i'm sure you will be fine , have fun

Just out of interest, when and where did you visit?

If you went to South Beach during the Memorial Day weekend then I can completely understand why!

[alfa pint]

South Beach and Ocean Drive are fantastic. Heart of the Art Deco area. Reasonably safe, some very good bars and some very good restaurants and clubs. Awesome beach and home of the Beautiful People.

As said, worth taking a hike down to Key West - some great views on the route down and the opportunity for a swamp tour / alligator spotting tour. When you get down there, visit Hemingway's house and see the 6 toed cats, watch the sun go down in Madison Square, enjoy the culture and the TV bars!

[Mosman]

As someone said earlier, Miami is very much about nighlife. However, hanging out at South Beach and checking out the art deco architecture are two options.

A good way to see the city (from land and water) is to take the Duck tour...

http://www.ducktourssouthbeach.com/

[Dibble]

For something a bit left field go to the Venetian Pool in Coral Gables.

Cuban coffee in Little Havana.

Everglades "Jim Dale" trail (booze bootleggers during prohibition)/Shark Alley.

Vizcaya for an American take on a stately home.

Keys are good, but Key West is a bit "meh". Very touristy.

[Mandat]

justin220 said:

We're just back from 10 days in Miami, best holiday we've been on. Loved it.

We went to the Everglades for a boat tour, baseball game, although would have prefered basketball. The Seaquarium is a bit run down, but probably worth a visit. We spent a lot of time on the beach, and mostly headed up Lincoln Road for food/drinks.

Aventura mall is huge, and probably worth a visit if the wife likes shopping.

Which hotel are you in? We also stayed on ocean drive. Great location!

Sorry for the thread resurrection, but I'm off to Florida in October and also want to see a baseball or basketball game, and wondered where the best place would be to find venues and buy tickets?.

Edited by Mandat on Saturday 25th August 00:00

[m3jappa]

so called said:

Gator farm and air boat ride can be done in one.
Keys are beautiful.
Mango's bar on South Beach is 'interesting'

Edited by so called on Tuesday 17th July 08:25

I'm not one for clubbing but when me and the gf were in Miami it's one club I actively tried to go to had a good night and the music was good too.

I hope the weather is good or you, we went to the keys for a week and it rained solid for 5 days, key west flooded, the skies weRe grey, I have never ever seen rain so heavy.

Gutted as it could have been so good it pretty much ruined the whole 'vacation'

I'd agree with others too in that I wouldn't stray too far from the main bits at night. It's like any other city except they have guns

If I ever split up with the misses it would be first flight to Miami oh the woman......people may laugh at Essex accent over here but over there......

[justin220]

Mandat said:

Sorry for the thread resurrection, but I'm off to Florida in October and also want to see a baseball or basketball game, and wondered where the best place would be to find venues and buy tickets?.

Edited by Mandat on Saturday 25th August 00:00

I booked all mine on ticketmaster

[Thomasclark]

Cris BMW, I do not totally agree with you there are a lot of to do in Miami you can visit on contemporary art museums you can join art Basel Miami in December. I am sure that you will forget that “Miami” that you left in two days.

[Robatr0n]

That's not a blatant advert at all!