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Miami is perhaps best known for its nightlife and beaches, but this exciting southeastern Florida city offers so much more. There are enough attractions for couples, families, and singles so that no one should ever be able to claim boredom here!
Little Havana
Sometimes during a visit to Miami, be sure to stop by the Little Havana neighborhood. This area covers ten blocks and the tastes and smells alone will leave the visitor with very vivid memories of a trip here. Be sure to take the time to order a Cuban meal or snack and do some shopping while in Little Havana.
Miami’s Metrozoo
Miami’s Metrozoo is located at 12400 SW 152nd Street. The zoo is open every day of the year including the holidays and visitors can enter starting at 9:30 a.m., and closes at 5:30. Metrozoo is home to many animal species, including some that are on the endangered species list.
Miccosukee Indian Village
Any trip to Miami should include a stop at the Miccosukee Indian Village on U. S. 41 Tamiami Trail, Miami. Let the guides take you for a tour of the tribe’s history and see everything this historic village has to offer.
This includes arts and crafts, the “cooking house”, alligator wrestling, and the Museum of Tribal and Natural History.
Also found here is an air boat tour to a hammock village, a gift shop, and a restaurant. The Miccosukee also offers a twenty-four-hour gaming casino at 500 SW 177th Avenue with slots, poker, lotto, bingo, and more, as well as the Miccosukee Golf and Country Club at 6401 Kendale Lakes Drive.
Vizcaya Museum and Gardens
At 3251 South Miami Avenue, you will find the Vizcaya Museum and Gardens. The cultural beauty of this site is a perfect respite from some of the more hectic activities to do in Miami.
Vizcaya not only shows some of the history of Miami but also the Italian Renaissance architecture. A cafe is offered here, as well as a gift shop with items including Italian crafts. Vizcaya is a National Historic Landmark and world dignitaries have taken the time to visit here.
Miami Seaquarium
Opening at 9:30 a.m. every day of the year, the Miami Seaquarium is located at 4400 Rickenbacker Causeway. On their thirty-eight acres overlooking Biscayne Bay, visitors can see dolphin shows at the Flipper Lagoon (this is where the television show “Flipper” was filmed), shows with the killer whale, Lolita, and sea lion shows.
Other forms of marine life are also presented here as well as exhibits. Be sure not to miss the tropical fish aquariums (twenty-six of them in the dolphin stadium), and the “tropical wings” section where you will find animals, birds, and reptiles that thrive in the rainforest areas. Another area to visit here is Discovery Bay where you will see the endangered mangrove tree area, deer, sea turtles, alligators, and many wild birds.
Parrot Jungle Gardens
Parrot Jungle Gardens is found at 1111 Parrot Jungle Trail. The theme park covers eighteen acres and is located on Watson Island. Parrot Jungle is fulfilling the wish of its creator, Franz Scherr, to have exotic birds flying free. Eleven hundred tropical birds and more than two thousand kinds of flowers and plants call Parrot Jungle home.
Visitors will see incredible shows with trained birds, feed some of the animals, and see shows with birds and reptiles. Shopping is available here, as well as dining at the Lakeside Cafe. Diners often see flocks of flamingos while enjoying their meal. This attraction is not all birds, however. Parrot Jungle also houses orangutans, crocodiles, and other animals for visitors to see and enjoy.
Island Queen Cruises
Many visitors enjoy seeing Miami from the water and Island Queen Cruises is the way to accomplish that. Choose a tour from one of their four modern yachts that offer both air conditioning in the lower section and an open upper deck. These cruises include a full-service bar. If a speed boat is more the visitor’s style, Island Queen Cruises also offers the Bayside Blaster, a speedboat ride.
On the slower and romantic side of the spectrum, try their Natalia La Gondola. As the name suggests, this is a gondola ride, like those made famous in Venice. This thirty-foot electric gondola holds up to four passengers and is perfect for a romantic cruise.
Everglades Safari Park
The Everglades Safari Park is located at 26700 SW 8th Street, Tamiami Trail, Miami. This park’s main attraction is an Airboat ride through the Everglades. The ride lasts half an hour or a little longer. Other things to do here are an alligator nature show and the Jungle Trail, included in the tour. The Jungle Trail is for walking, and tourists may see birds, exotic plants, and reptiles while walking this trail.
Exhibits are found along the trail, including a replica of a Cherokee village. There is an observation platform for overlooking spectacular views of the Everglades. A tour guide will be narrating as your boat moves through the part of the Everglades National Park. Included with this tour is Alligator Island which is home to more than one hundred alligators doing what they do best, basking in the Florida heat.
Monkey Jungle
The motto of Monkey Jungle at 14805 SW 216th Street, is “Where humans are caged and monkeys run wild.” So it is at Monkey Jungle with their four hundred or so monkeys mostly roaming free on thirty acres. There is, however, more to see than only monkeys here. Monkey Jungle offers an aviary, an Amazonian Rain Forest, a gift shop, and a snack bar as well.
Don’t forget to see the wild monkey swimming pool where the monkeys dive for treats. One other note of interest about this attraction is that in 1994, ten thousand-year-old fossil specimens such as human teeth and animal bones were found on Monkey Jungle’s grounds, making it the biggest archaeological find in Southern Florida.
Space Miami
If hitting up popular nightclubs is your idea of a cool thing to do, check out one of Miami’s largest, Space Miami. Space Miami occupies a former warehouse now converted into a multistory nightclub with multiple bars, dance floors, lounges, and a lively cast of professional resident and guest DJs.
Space Miami has earned itself quite a reputation among club-goers, voted the best nightclub in the United States by DJ Mag (ranked No. 6 six worldwide).
Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden
The Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden provides a place for families to view exotic tropical plant life firsthand while learning about the importance of conservation and ensuring continuing biodiversity.
The 83-acre garden includes a variety of exhibits, including an area dedicated to replicating a tropical rainforest ecosystem and an exhibit of tropical fruits that allows guests a hands-on chance to use their senses to experience them. Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden also hosts a number of conservation-related events and plant sales throughout the year. See the garden’s website for further details.
Bayfront Park
Bayfront Park offers something for virtually every style of tourist, whether you want to take part in a free class, take a cruise on a tiki boat or catch a live performance. This entertainment venue offers a combination of regularly-scheduled events and seasonal concerts.
Bayfront Park offers free weekly classes such as yoga or women’s self-defense. Children can play on the state-of-the-art Lee and Tina Hills Playground, or whole families can enjoy–or even take part in–performances by the local Flying Trapeze School.
Final Thoughts
Visit Miami, Florida, for a vacation in a tropical city that offers many cool things to do. Miami has plenty of activities for the eager tourist, whether you’re into catching live entertainment, getting your thrills with a day spent on the water, checking out family attractions, or getting the most out of the city’s nightlife.
