What to See in Miami - Top Sights and Attractions

Sleek venue showcasing global modern art. The Pérez Art Museum Miami —officially known as the Jorge M. Pérez Art Museum of Miami-Dade County—is a contemporary art museum that relocated in 2013 to the Museum Park in Downtown Miami, Florida. Founded in 1984 as the Center for the Fine Arts, it became known as the Miami Art Museum from 1996 until it was renamed in 2013 upon the opening its new building designed by Herzog & de Meuron at 1103 Biscayne Boulevard. PAMM, along with the $275 million Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science and a city park which are being built in the area with completion in 2017, is part of the 20-acre Museum Park.

In 2014, the museum's permanent collection contained over 1,800 works, particularly 20th- and 21st-century art from the Americas, Western Europe and Africa. In 2016, the museum's collection contained nearly 2,000 works.

Since the opening of the new museum building at Museum Park, the museum has seen record attendance levels with over 150,000 visitors in its first four months. The museum had originally anticipated over 200,000 visitors in its first year at the new location. At its former location on Flagler Street, the museum received on average about 60,000 visitors annually.

Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) is directly served by rapid transit at Museum Park Metromover station.^[2]

Museum in Miami, Florida. The Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, previously known as Villa Vizcaya, is the former villa and estate of businessman James Deering, of the Deering McCormick-International Harvester fortune, on Biscayne Bay in the present day Coconut Grove neighborhood of Miami, Florida. The early 20th century Vizcaya estate also includes: extensive Italian Renaissance gardens; native woodland landscape; and a historic village outbuildings compound.

The landscape and architecture were influenced by Veneto and Tuscan Italian Renaissance models and designed in the Mediterranean Revival architecture style, with Baroque elements. F. Burrall Hoffman was the architect, Paul Chalfin was the design director, and Diego Suarez was the landscape architect.

Miami-Dade County now owns the Vizcaya property, as the Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, which is open to the public. The location is served by the Vizcaya Station of the Miami Metrorail.^[3]

Monument to Cubans who fled Castro. The Freedom Tower is a building in Miami, Florida, designed by Schultze and Weaver. It is currently used as a contemporary art museum and a central office to different disciplines in the arts associated with Miami Dade College. It is located at 600 Biscayne Boulevard on the Wolfson Campus of Miami Dade College. On September 10, 1979, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. It was designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark on October 6, 2008, for its role in hosting services for processing Cubans fleeing to Florida. On April 18, 2012, the AIA's Florida Chapter placed the building on its list of Florida Architecture: 100 Years. 100 Places as the Freedom Tower / Formerly Miami News and Metropolis Building.

The Freedom Tower is directly served by the Miami Metrorail at the Government Center Station and the Historic Overtown/Lyric Theatre station, as well as by the Metromover at the Freedom Tower Station on the Omni Loop.^[4]

Tropical attraction with exotic animals. Jungle Island, formerly Parrot Jungle, is a relaunched eco-adventure park on Watson Island, Miami, Florida, United States. The park is re-opened following a series of major renovations after the park incurred damage from Hurricane Irma. The park features new pop-up waterslides, an outdoor wind tunnel flight experience, zip lines, escape rooms, a Nerf battle stadium and other attractions.

Originally named Parrot Jungle, it was moved from its original suburban location in Pinecrest, Florida to its present location just east of downtown Miami and after the site was purchased for Pinecrest Gardens in 2002. It was renamed as Parrot Jungle Island. In 2007, the park was again renamed to Jungle Island.^[5]

Museum in University Park, Florida. The Patricia and Phillip Frost Art Museum is a museum located on the Modesto A. Maidique campus of Florida International University in Miami, Florida.

Founded in 1977 as The Art Museum at Florida International University (TAM/FIU), it has grown to achieve official recognition as a major cultural institution of the State of Florida for its unprecedented collection of Latin American and 20th century American art, its innovative exhibitions that draw on or enhance the collection, and its unparalleled service to South Florida's diverse audiences. In 2003, the museum was officially renamed The Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum.

In 1999, the museum received accreditation from the American Alliance of Museums (AAM). From the community, the Frost Art Museum has earned the accolade "Miami's Best Museum" (South Florida's New Times, 1996, 1994, 1993) and Miami's Best Art Museum 2009 (Miami New Times). It has assumed a central role in the FIU community and in the cultural life of South Florida as a whole through its mission to serve the broadest audience possible and to deliver all programs and services free of charge. The Frost Art Museum is also an affiliate within the Smithsonian Affiliations program.

Highlights from the Frost Art Museum's collection include Haitian paintings, American modern sculptures, paintings, and photographs.^[10]

The Arts & Entertainment District, or previously known as Omni, is a neighborhood of greater Downtown, Miami, Florida, United States, just south of Edgewater. It is bound roughly by North 19th Street to the north, North 10th Street to the south, North East 2nd Avenue to the west, and Biscayne Boulevard to the east.

The Arts & Entertainment District is an urban, residential neighborhood with many high-rise residential towers, as well as some smaller scale historic buildings. It is home to the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, the old Miami Herald headquarters (now located in Doral), and the Omni International Mall. Until 2014, it was one of the neighborhoods that hosted the annual Miami International Boat Show at the Sea Isle Marina. The City of Miami Cemetery, one of Miami's oldest cemeteries, is also located in the district, as well as the historic Women's Club, and some of Miami's oldest churches and synagogues.

The Arts & Entertainment District is served by the Omni Loop branch of the Metromover and by the Metrorail via Metromover at Government Center.^[11]

Museum in Miami, Florida. HistoryMiami Museum, formerly known as the Historical Museum of Southern Florida, is a museum located in Downtown Miami, Florida, United States. HistoryMiami Museum is the largest history museum in the State of Florida. HistoryMiami houses four permanent galleries and up to three traveling exhibits, Archives and Research Center, the South Florida Folklife Center, the Education Center, and City Tours program. Each February, HistoryMiami also hosts the annual Miami International Map Fair, the largest map fair in the Western Hemisphere.

Founded as the Historical Museum of Southern Florida in 1940, HistoryMiami is the second oldest cultural institution in South Florida, and is a Smithsonian affiliate. It was accredited by the American Alliance of Museums in 1979.

The Society opened its first museum in 1962. After moving twice, the museum has been located in the Miami-Dade Cultural Center since 1984. The Society and Museum were renamed in HistoryMiami in 2010. In 2014 the museum more than doubled its space when took over the space formerly occupied by the Miami Art Museum in the cultural center. The museum operates a non-circulating library, conducts city tours, and has educated more than 500,000 students in the area's rich history.

HistoryMiami Museum programs include exhibitions, city tours, education, research, collections and publications on the importance of the past in shaping Miami's future. It adopted the HistoryMiami brand name in 2010.^[12]

Performing arts center in Miami, Florida. The Arsht Center is a performing arts center located in Miami, Florida. It is one of the largest performing arts centers in the United States.

The center was partly built on the site of a former Sears department store; an Art Deco building constructed in 1929, pre-dating the Art Deco hotels on Ocean Drive. It was added to the United States National Register of Historic Places in 1997 as Sears, Roebuck and Company Department Store. However, by 2001, the only surviving part of the original structure was the seven-story tower designed by Sears as its store's grand entrance. The department store space itself had been demolished and developers decided to preserve the tower and incorporate it into the new performing arts center. It has been adaptively restored as a bookstore-café called the Café at Books & Books.^[14]

State park in Miami, Florida. The Barnacle Historic State Park is a 5-acre Florida State Park in the Coconut Grove neighborhood of Miami, Florida at 3485 Main Highway.

Built in 1891, it is the oldest house in its original location in Miami-Dade County. The Barnacle was the home of Ralph Middleton Munroe, one of Coconut Grove's founders, as well as founder and Commodore of the Biscayne Bay Yacht Club. He was also a leading designer of sailing yachts. The Florida Park Service acquired the remaining 5 acres (20,000 m2) of Munroe's original 40-acre (160,000 m2) homesite from his descendants in 1973.

The Barnacle Historic State Park is served by the Miami Metrorail at the Douglas Road and the Coconut Grove stations.^[19]

Bascule bridge in Miami, Florida. The Brickell Avenue Bridge is a bascule bridge in Downtown Miami, Florida, that carries U.S. Route 1 over the Miami River. The original Brickell Avenue Bridge was built in 1929, and replaced in 1995. The Brickell Avenue Bridge was widened by one additional northbound lane in 2006 to reduce the traffic bottleneck through downtown. Before this there were three southbound but only two northbound lanes. Currently there are three lanes in each direction as well as a pedestrian walkway on both sides. Still, the bridge causes frequent traffic delays on the busy Brickell Avenue when it opens. According to the Florida Department of Transportation, the bridge opened 4,990 times in 2010.

The statue is a 53-foot bronze monument commissioned by the Florida Department of Transportation and created by Cuban Master Sculptor Manuel Carbonell in 1995. The "Pillar of History" consist of a 36-foot high carved bas-relief column that graphically narrates the lives of the Tequesta Indians, Miami's first inhabitants, and features 158 figures. At the top stands a 17-foot bronze sculpture, "Tequesta Family" portraying a Tequesta Indian warrior aiming an arrow to the sky, looking for space in eternity, with his wife and child by his side, while the son covers his face in expectation of their extinction. top.

Carbonell also created four bas reliefs, measuring 4-feet by 8-feet, which were installed in niches on the bridge's supporting piers. Each relief honors Miami's early founders and pioneers - William and Mary Brickell, Henry Flagler, Marjory Stoneman Douglas, and Julia Tuttle.^[22]

Locust Projects is a non-profit art exhibition space located in Miami, Florida. The space was created in 1998 by three artists Westen Charles, COOPER and Elizabeth Withstandley. The space was created to serve as a place for contemporary artists to create site specific works outside of the commercial gallery system. Locust Projects was one of the first spaces to open in Miami's Wynwood area, which has since turned into a vibrant arts district. In 2000 the artist-run space became incorporated, formed a board of directors and in 2002 became an official not for profit 501.

Locust Projects moved from its original NW 23rd street location in 2009 to NE 38th Street in the Design District. Locust Projects is currently located in an area just north of Wynwood, in Miami's Design District at 3852 North Miami Ave.^[24]

The Port of Miami, styled as "PortMiami" but formally the Dante B. Fascell Port of Miami, is a major seaport located in Biscayne Bay at the mouth of the Miami River in Miami, Florida. It is the largest passenger port in the world, and one of the largest cargo ports in the United States. It is connected to Downtown Miami by Port Boulevard—a causeway over the Intracoastal Waterway—and to the neighboring Watson Island via the PortMiami Tunnel. The port is located on Dodge Island, which is the combination of three historic islands that have since been combined into one. It is named in honor of 19-term Florida Congressman Dante Fascell.

As of 2018, PortMiami accounts for approximately 334,500 jobs and has an annual economic impact of $43 billion to the state of Florida.^[26]

Bascule bridge in Miami, Florida. The Venetian Causeway crosses Biscayne Bay between Miami on the mainland and Miami Beach on a barrier island in south Florida. The man-made Venetian Islands and non-bridge portions of the causeway were created by materials which came from the dredging of the bay. The Venetian Causeway follows the original route of the Collins Bridge, a wooden 2.5 mi long structure built in 1913 by John S. Collins and Carl G. Fisher which opened up the barrier island for unprecedented growth and development.

The causeway has one toll plaza (administered by the Miami-Dade County Public Works department) on Biscayne Island, the westernmost Venetian Island. The toll for an automobile is $3.00 (US).

The causeway has two bascule bridges. At the Downtown/Western Beginning of the causeway travelers are greeted by two columns vertically saying "VENETIAN WAY" along with a sign indicating that there is a weight limit.

At the South Beach/Eastern Terminus, drivers must choose whether to go north onto Dade Boulevard or eastbound onto 17th Street to Ocean Drive, Collins Ave/A1A, Lincoln Road, City Hall, The Convention Center, Jackie Gleason Theater and the beach.

The Venetian Causeway was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. It was re-dedicated in 1999 after the completion of a $29 million restoration and replacement project.

A popular use of the causeway is for exercising, including both jogging and bicycling.^[27]

Historical landmark in Miami, Florida. The Miami Circle, also known as The Miami River Circle, Brickell Point, or The Miami Circle at Brickell Point Site, is an archaeological site in Downtown Miami, Florida. It consists of a perfect circle measuring 38 feet of 600 postmolds that contain 24 holes or basins cut into the limestone bedrock, on a coastal spit of land, surrounded by a large number of other 'minor' holes. It is the only known evidence of a prehistoric permanent structure cut into the bedrock in the Eastern United States, and considerably predates other known permanent settlements on the East Coast. It is believed to have been the location of a structure, built by the Tequesta Indians, in what was possibly their capital. Discovered in 1998, the site is believed to be somewhere between 1,700 and 2,000 years old. Some scholars have questioned both its age and its authenticity.

HistoryMiami, then known as the Historical Museum of Southern Florida, signed a 44-year lease of the site in March 2008, with plans to offer tours beginning in Spring 2009.

On February 5, 2002, the site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was declared a National Historic Landmark on January 16, 2009.

On February 3, 2014, the Miami Herald reported additional postholes had been excavated in Downtown Miami, further indicating presence of ancient habitation.^[34]