Guides · Miami Beach
Miami Beach
80 places · 7 areas · a free route, then $4.99 for the whole city · offline map 3.2 MB
The free route
Free in the app, permanently, before you pay anything. 6 stops, 1 day, about 1.9 km, planned by the app's own engine.
Day 1 · ~1.9 km
1
Espanola Way
1925 Mediterranean-revival lane of arches and pastel facades, now full of cafes and shops
Wander the pedestrian-friendly block of arches, balconies and terracotta roofs running roughly between Washington and Pennsylvania Avenues. Settle at an outdoor table, browse the small shops and galleries, and look up at the stucco detailing. It photographs especially well in warm evening light.
2
Art Deco Historic District
The world's largest collection of Art Deco, around 960 historic buildings in South Beach
Wander beyond Ocean Drive onto Collins and Washington Avenues to catch the range of the district: Streamline Moderne, Tropical and Mediterranean Revival buildings side by side. Look for the recurring motifs — porthole windows, eyebrow ledges, vertical fins, terrazzo floors and rooftop finials.
3
The Tides
L. Murray Dixon's tall 1936 Decorated Moderne hotel at 1220 Ocean Drive
Note how the Tides rises taller than its neighbors, a monumental block of Decorated Moderne with porthole-style windows and a stepped crown. Its height makes it one of the strip's landmark silhouettes.
4
Villa Casa Casuarina
The 1930 Mediterranean Revival mansion where Gianni Versace lived and was killed in 1997
Stand at 1116 Ocean Drive to take in the coral-stone facade, ornamental medallions and the front steps that made the house world-famous. The elaborate courtyard, mosaic pool and interior are now part of a boutique hotel and restaurant, so the full detail is for guests.
5
The Colony Hotel
Hohauser's 1935 hotel with the blue vertical neon sign, often called the most photographed on the strip
Come at dusk to see the tall blue vertical "COLONY" neon light up over the symmetrical facade, the image most people picture when they picture Ocean Drive. It is the strip's signature neon shot.
6
Ocean Drive
The neon-and-pastel Art Deco strip facing the beach, from 5th to 15th Street
Walk the strip from South Pointe up to 15th Street, reading the pastel facades, vertical neon signs and Streamline curves that line the west side while Lummus Park and the ocean open to the east. Do it once in soft morning light and again after dark, when the neon and the sidewalk cafes come alive.
More of the top sights
A few of the 80 places in the full guide. Each one has its own written guide in the app: what to do, what to notice, the history, and why it hits.
Lincoln Road Mall
Morris Lapidus pedestrian promenade of gardens, fountains and shade shelters, lined with shops and cafes
Holocaust Memorial Miami Beach
Kenneth Treister's Sculpture of Love and Anguish, a place of remembrance and mourning
New World Center
Frank Gehry's glass concert hall, home of the New World Symphony
The Bass
Contemporary art inside a 1930 Art Deco building that once held Miami Beach's public library
Fillmore Miami Beach at the Jackie Gleason Theater
1950s auditorium that taped the Jackie Gleason Show, now a Live Nation concert hall
Temple Emanu-El
Domed South Beach synagogue serving a historic Miami Beach Jewish congregation
Joe's Stone Crab
The century-old South Beach seafood institution known nationwide for its stone crab claws
SoundScape Park
West 8-designed lawn where the symphony's free Wallcasts light up a giant projection wall
South Pointe Park
The green southern tip of South Beach, with wide lawns, a pier and open water on three sides
Areas
North Beach · Mid-Beach · Collins Park and the Cultural District · Lincoln Road and Espanola Way · Washington and Collins Avenue · Ocean Drive and the Art Deco District · South Pointe and South of Fifth
Illustrations are drawn for the app. Place descriptions are written by hand and checked against a primary source; facts draw on Wikidata (CC0) and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Maps © OpenStreetMap contributors.