Things to do in Miami Beach and South Beach

Miami Beach is its own city, sitting on a barrier island across Biscayne Bay from Miami and reached by causeways such as the Julia Tuttle and the Venetian, so treat it as a separate destination rather than a Miami neighbourhood.

South Beach holds a wide public beach that costs nothing to use, plus Ocean Drive, Lummus Park and Lincoln Road for shopping and dining. The Art Deco Historic District packs in hundreds of pastel-coloured buildings from the 1920s and 1930s.

Plan on a full day for the beach and Ocean Drive, with a second evening if the nightlife is part of the trip; the crossing from Miami by car or rideshare is short but real, typically 15 to 25 minutes depending on traffic and causeway.