Miami Beach & South Beach
Pastel Art Deco hotels, colorful lifeguard towers and a wide white beach on the Atlantic.
Photo: Massimo Catarinella · CC BY-SA 3.0
Miami Beach guide: South Beach, the Art Deco Historic District, Ocean Drive, the lifeguard towers, Lincoln Road, Wynwood and Little Havana in Miami, parking and the best season.
What to expect
Miami Beach is a separate city on a barrier island across Biscayne Bay from Miami, and its southern tip, South Beach, is one of the most famous stretches of sand in America. Wide, white and lined with palm trees, the beach is dotted with colorful lifeguard towers that have become an icon of their own.
Behind the beach, the Art Deco Historic District holds about 800 buildings from the 1920s to the 1940s, painted in pastel colors and trimmed with neon. Ocean Drive is the classic strip of hotels and cafés, and the Art Deco Welcome Center runs guided walking tours.
Lincoln Road is a pedestrian street of shops and restaurants, and across the causeways, Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood is covered in murals while Calle Ocho in Little Havana serves Cuban coffee and pastries.
Hurricane season runs from June to November, and summer afternoons bring heat and sudden thunderstorms.
Miami Beach: top things to do
- 1The pastel hotels of Ocean Drive
- 2The colorful lifeguard towers
- 3An Art Deco walking tour
- 4Cuban coffee on Calle Ocho in Little Havana
Best time to visit
November to April, the dry season; spring break can be crowded.
Insider tips
- Parking is expensive; use garages or the free Miami Beach trolley.
- Swim near a staffed lifeguard tower and check the flags for rip currents.
- Wear sunscreen; the sun is strong all year.
Fees, passes and parking
| What | Price |
|---|---|
| Entrance | Free |
- Federal park passes such as America the Beautiful are not valid here.
- Downtown parking is expensive and hard to find; book a garage in advance with a parking app or leave the car at the hotel.
Gas and fast charging nearby
262 gas stations within 20 km
- 0.8 km Chevron
- 0.9 km Shell open 24 hours
- 0.9 km Marathon open 24 hours
- 1.5 km Exxon
- 1.9 km Gas station
- 3.5 km Shell open 24 hours
- 0.8 km Tesla Supercharger Fast chargers (Tesla, Inc.)
- 1.0 km Tesla Supercharger Fast chargers (Tesla, Inc.)
- 6.1 km Tesla Supercharger Fast chargers (Tesla)
- 6.3 km Tesla Supercharger Fast chargers (Tesla)
OpenStreetMap data, Oct 28, 2026.
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