Miami Living
Top things to do in Miami.
The locals' list.
What people who actually live in Miami do for fun. Not the TripAdvisor list. The list we send to a friend who just moved.
What people who actually live in Miami do for fun. Not the TripAdvisor list. The list we send to a friend who just moved.
Every "top things to do in Miami" article you read recommends Vizcaya, Wynwood Walls, and Bayside Marketplace. Those are fine. They are also the tourist version of Miami. This is the locals version. Twelve things, ranked by how often we actually do them, with the honest take on each.
The short answer: spend time on the water, eat brunch outside, get to one art opening a month, find a recurring sport, and never plan a weekend that fits inside a single zip code.
The single experience that separates Miami from every other US city. Charter a boat for four hours from Star Island or Coconut Grove, bring food and a Bluetooth speaker, anchor near Nixon Beach or Haulover sandbar, swim, eat, repeat. The cost split four ways is less than most concerts. If you do not have boat friends or a charter, Plus 1 runs yacht events roughly monthly with member pricing.
Brunch is the Miami social ritual. Three neighborhoods worth rotating: Wynwood for design-forward menus (Tropezon, Bakan), Coral Gables for old-school Miami (Caffe Abbracci, El Carajo), Coconut Grove for water views (Glass and Vine, Le Bouchon). More detail in our brunch guide.
Six to ten gallery openings, open until 10 pm, all walkable. Most are free, most have wine, most are interesting. The vibe is "art party," not "art museum." Drop into three or four, end at a Wynwood bar. Our Wynwood date guide goes deeper on this one.
The fastest-growing sport in Miami. Glass-walled doubles courts that play like tennis but social. Reserve Padel in Wynwood / North Miami / Coral Gables, Ultra Padel in Doral, or Padel Park. Book a clinic to learn in 90 minutes, then a recurring weekly doubles. Full breakdown in our padel guide.
South Beach boardwalk from 1st to 21st Street is the classic. Key Biscayne for fewer people. Hollywood Beach if you want unbroken miles. Most locals do a 3- to 5-mile beach run before brunch on Saturdays. Pair with coffee at Pura Vida and you have the perfect Miami morning.
Miami has world-class public tennis. Crandon Park on Key Biscayne (where the Miami Open used to live) and Flamingo Park on South Beach are the two best public complexes in the country, full stop. Our tennis guide covers leagues, partners, and lessons.
A 10-mile linear park under the Metrorail in Brickell. Bike from the Brickell station to Coral Gables, stop for a smoothie at one of the food halls. Quietly one of the best new urban spaces in the country. Best at sunset when the light hits the buildings.
If you want a slower water day, take a sailing lesson at the Coral Reef Yacht Club or rent a small Hobie cat from Shake-A-Leg Miami. The Grove sailing scene is older Miami, before it got loud. Different energy than Star Island yacht days. Worth doing once a season.
Not for the tourist Calle Ocho. The actual one: cortaditos at Versailles (yes, it is touristy, the coffee is still right), then dominoes at Maximo Gomez Park (just watch, do not actually play), then a guarapo at Los Pinarenos. Two hours, $15, real Miami.
Wynwood Run Club, Brickell Run Club, Plus 1's monthly beach 5k. Free, social, ends at coffee. The fastest way to meet people in Miami without using a dating app. How to meet people in Miami covers more of these.
Sugar at EAST Miami is the famous one. Bodega Brickell rooftop is the locals' version. Get there at 6 pm for the view, leave at 9 pm before it gets loud. Pairs with a Brickell dinner and a 10 pm walk along the river.
Worth planning a Miami trip around if you are coming from out of town. Five days of art fairs, parties, and pop-ups in early December. Even if you do not buy art, the design district and Wynwood transform. Our Art Basel guide covers the strategy.
Miami is more fun with a +1. Almost every item on this list works better with one other person who is also into it: a hitting partner for tennis, a yacht splitter for the charter, a brunch buddy who will sit outside in July, a date for the gallery opening. The bottleneck on enjoying Miami is rarely the activity. It is finding the person to do it with on the right Tuesday.
That is what we built Plus 1 for. Post a plan, find a +1, show up. Browse our upcoming events or download the app.