Coral Gables

Coconut Grove is one of the oldest settlements in the Miami area and much greener than the rest of the city. The name dates back to a post office established by Horace P. Porter in 1873. Early residents included sailors, naturalists, and artists from the northeastern USA, as well as workers from the Bahamas who built many of the early structures. To this day, many families with Bahamian roots live in West Grove. In 1925, Coconut Grove was incorporated into the City of Miami.The district stretches along the shore of Biscayne Bay. In the north, at the edge of the neighborhood, lies Vizcaya, the Italianate winter residence of industrialist James Deering. In the center, around Main Highway and Grand Avenue, you'll find cafés, restaurants, and the CocoWalk shopping center. At The Barnacle, you can see how pioneers lived in the 19th century, and at Dinner Key, Miami's City Hall is located in a former terminal for Pan-Am seaplanes.If you like plants, visit The Kampong, the tropical garden of plant collector David Fairchild. Otherwise, the Grove is a place for strolling: under banyan trees, past yacht harbors, with a coffee on the terrace.Best Time: Mornings to Vizcaya, before it gets hot; afternoons stroll through the town center and to the bay for sunset.

Located west of Downtown, Little Havana has been the heart of Cuban Miami since the 1960s. After the 1959 revolution, tens of thousands of Cuban exiles arrived in what were then the Riverside and Shenandoah neighborhoods, many expecting to stay only briefly. By 1970, over 85 percent of residents were Cuban. Since the late 1990s, many people from Nicaragua, Honduras, and other Central American countries have joined them, but most businesses are still run by Cubans.Its main artery is Calle Ocho, SW 8th Street. Here, older gentlemen play dominoes in Máximo Gómez Park, Ventanitas (the street windows of cafes) offer Cafecito to go, and stars on the Calle Ocho Walk of Fame commemorate icons like Celia Cruz and Gloria Estefan. The Cuban Memorial Boulevard features monuments to the fighters of the 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion.Little Havana is not a museum district: You come here to eat, drink coffee, and listen. In the evenings, live bands play in bars like Ball & Chain, and on salsa nights, the dance floor is packed.Best Time: Late morning, when games are underway in the Domino Park. On the last Friday of each month, the district celebrates Viernes Culturales with music, art, and stalls on Calle Ocho between 14th and 17th Avenue, from noon until late, with free admission.

Downtown Miami and the adjacent Brickell to the south form the city's center: skyscrapers, banks, hotels, and amidst them, parks along Biscayne Bay. Brickell is named after William and Mary Brickell; Mary Brickell had Brickell Avenue parceled for villas in the early 20th century. From the 1970s onwards, office towers replaced the mansions, and Brickell became one of the largest financial districts in the USA. Today, it's primarily apartment tower residents, and the streets are lively even in the evenings.Much of the action for visitors unfolds along the bay. Museum Park features the Pérez Art Museum with its hanging gardens and the Frost Museum of Science with a large aquarium. Further south are Bayfront Park, designed by sculptor Isamu Noguchi, and Bayside Marketplace with its shops and boat docks. Opposite, the Freedom Tower commemorates the 1960s, when Cuban refugees were registered here.The best part: The Metromover, a free, driverless elevated train. Glide above the streets, see the skyline from above, and get off wherever interests you.Best Time: Museums in the morning, followed by a Metromover ride. Bayfront Park is worthwhile in the late afternoon, and Brickell's rooftop bars in the evening.

Miami is situated in southeastern Florida on Biscayne Bay, with Miami Beach located on a barrier island just opposite. You visit for its beaches, Art Deco architecture, and Cuban-influenced districts.The Art Deco District in Miami Beach is home to around 960 historic buildings, which have been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1979. The hotels on Ocean Drive overlook Lummus Park and the beach. In Little Havana, locals play dominoes in Máximo Gómez Park, known as Domino Park, on Calle Ocho. In Wynwood, the Wynwood Walls have showcased murals and sculptures by over 130 artists since 2009; a ticket is required for entry.Miami International is the largest aviation hub between the USA and Latin America. In Downtown and Brickell, the Metromover operates for free. The warm dry season lasts from November to April, and hurricane season from June to late November.

North of Downtown lie two neighborhoods that have completely reinvented themselves in the last two decades. From the 1920s, Wynwood was a textile district; in the 1940s and 1950s, many families from Puerto Rico moved here, earning the neighborhood the nickname Little San Juan. When the clothing factories closed in the early 1990s, the warehouses stood empty.In 2009, real estate developer Tony Goldman, together with curator Jeffrey Deitch, had the exterior walls of several of his buildings painted by street artists: The Wynwood Walls were born. Today, almost every facade in the district is painted, interspersed with galleries, breweries, cafes, and bars.Directly north lies the Design District. Here, in the 1920s, T. V. Moore built a furniture store on a former pineapple farm; starting in the late 1990s, developer Craig Robins and his company Dacra acquired numerous buildings and brought in designers and later luxury brands like Louis Vuitton, Dior, and Hermès. Among the boutiques, there is much public art, such as Buckminster Fuller's Fly's Eye Dome, and the ICA Miami showcases contemporary art with free admission.Best time: Come in the afternoon when galleries and museums are open, and stay for the evening in Wynwood. The Wynwood Art Walk takes place on the second Saturday of the month.