Miami is a leader in finance, commerce, culture, media, entertainment, arts, and international trade in
United States; but it is as well a city drawing millions of visitors every year for beaches, events and festivals.
Miami has a wide range of activities to offer for tourists wishing to spend their vacation in Florida.
1. Beaches
Miami first of all has beautiful beaches where to sun bath, do some sport or simply relax and have fun.
One of the most famous beaches is South Beach: a typical place to experience what a beach in Miami
means. This beach is featured by miles of white sand and crystal clear water, just across Ocean Drive, the
famous promenade. Here, you can take your lunch or dinner in one of the many restaurants serving various
cuisines and also wait for the lively nights to visit one of the clubs. In particular, The Art Deco District is
considered one of the most attractive in the world for its nightclubs, beaches, historical buildings, and
shopping. Various events take place here annually such as Sony Ericsson Open, Art Basel, and Mercedes-
Benz Fashion Week Miami.
Another very interesting beach is Virginia Key Beach: it’s situated near the Miami Seaquarium, right off the
Rickenbacker Causeway. Due to its location, the access to this beach is very easy and therefore some areas
are often very crowded, but there are also several isolated places if you walk around a bit.
On the south of Key Biscayne, you find Bill Baggs State Park, where the famous Cape Florida lighthouse is
located. Here fun and history get mixed: you can sunbath or swim and later on take a guided visit of the
lighthouse.
A special and quite place, far away from the packed beaches, is Homestead Bayfront Park: it is in the
southern part of Miami Dade County; it has various opportunities for swimming and boating with its full-
service marina.
2. Zoo Miami
With your family, it could be nice to visit during your holiday Zoo Miami, one of the most popular and
appreciated zoos in the nation. Due to the climate, it is possible to keep here a wide selection of animals
from different continents. In the zoo, the animals aren’t in cages, but they are only grouped according
their place of origin and they live quietly together. The zoo hosts lions, tigers, bears, white tigers, gibbons,
Cuban crocodiles and a komodo dragon. The funniest animal is of course the painting elephant: an elephant
equipped with a paintbrush and easel, creating a masterwork! It is also possible to climb up a special
Giraffe Feeding station and give food to the giraffes directly from your hands.
More than 300 rare and exotic birds live also in the zoo, in the biggest aviary in America.
In Miami Zoo there is also space and time for arts and culture: Zootroupia, in cooperation with the Miami
Performing Arts Centre, organizes in various areas of the zoo and at particular times special performances
of actors. The zoo is in this way an open stage, where at any time something unexpected can happen to
surprise and make fun for the visitors.
Visiting the zoo requires of course some walking; but another good way to go around is renting a bicycle
carriage (with two or four seats) at the entrance. During the summer, the zoo is a great location because of
the plenty of trees assuring shaded areas. Interesting attractions for the children are also the carousel, the
playground and the petting zoo.
An ideal way to visit Miami and all its amusement options is to rent a self catering apartment in the city, in
order to organize in the best way and freely how to spend your days.
3. Miami Seaquarium
In the middle of the tourist area, between downtown Miami and Key Biscayne, you can find the Miami
Seaquarium: here, you can observe an unique outdoor aquarium experience due to the tropical climate of
the region. Events to do not miss are the trained dolphin show, the Lolita the killer whale show and at least
one feeding and trainer presentation.
4. Everglades
Everglades National Park is one of the most extraordinary public parks in the United States: it covers 1.5
million acres of marshes, saw-grass plains and sub-tropical jungles. It is situated on the southern angle of
Florida and it hosts 14 uncommon and endangered species, including the American Crocodile, the Florida
Panther and the West Indian Manatee. The visitors have the chance to walk, camp and canoe in the park,
even if a big part of it is still primitive and it’s explored only by adventurists and researchers.
5. Miami Children’s Museum
A great spot to visit with your kids is the Miami Children's Museum. The motto of this place is "Play, Learn,
Imagine, Create": there is a wide range of interactive exhibits, where the children can discover and explore
everything from a supermarket to a television studio, learning something along the way.
In the museum, some exhibits are permanent such as the Bank, the Castle of Dreams, the Pet Central, the
Supermarket, the Television Studio, the Ocean Odyssey, the Safety Zone and many more.
6. Parrots Jungle Island
In the Parrot Jungle, the visitors have the opportunity to discover tropical birds living in reproductions
of their natural habitats. The park hosts a wide variety of animals, not only parrots: penguins, flamingos,
macaws, cranes, condors, ligers (a cross-breed of a lion and a tiger), tigers, llamas, kangaroos, reptiles,
monkeys, chimpanzees and baboons. Also various species of fishes and plants are visible in this Park.
7. Monkey jungle
Monkey Jungle is located in southern Miami-Dade County and actually it is an inimitable park. Here, the
sentence "Where the humans are caged and the monkeys run wild" is not only a catch-phrase. While you
walk through the paths, many species of monkeys run above your head, sway through trees and interrelate
with each other in a very special way, difficult to see in other locations.
The Monkey Jungle has been opened in 1935 by Joseph DuMonds and his wife: they brought to Florida six
monkeys to observe them living in a natural habitat very similar for climate to their origin’s place. Later,
the park started to receive visitors, but Joseph refused to put monkeys in cages: they have to be free and
the visitors have to respect them. The park grew up since the opening and it is still operated by Joseph
DuMonds' son, Frank. The monkeys are still observed for researches about the primate behaviour.
The park is divided in three main areas: the wild monkey swimming pool, the Orang-utans, and the
Amazonian Rainforest. One of the funniest activities in the park is feeding the monkeys: you can buy
peanuts and dried fruit in baskets at the entrance and wait the monkeys to come near you and take the
food. You have to take care, because the monkeys often are naughty and they can throw the basket on
your head, after they took the food!
8. Coral Castle
The distinctiveness of Miami is represented by Coral Castle. This monument has been built by a Latvian-
born Miami resident called Ed Leedskalnin as a tribute to his lover. He took nearly 30 years to complete his
1100-ton coral creation, only with the effort of his two hands refusing to allow anyone to watch him during
the work. The visit of the castle is surely an amazing experience to witness the wonder of Ed's engineering
achievement. Audio tours of the castle are organized in English, Spanish, French or German.
Author Resource:
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