Miami in 3 Days: A Locals' Itinerary
Three days, organised so that no day has more than one big anchor. The bay and the strip on day one, the murals and the Cuban food on day two, the wild part on day three.
Most three-day Miami itineraries are a list of forty places, and they produce three days of taxis. This one is built around one anchor per day, because the mistake people make in Miami is trying to cover the beach, the bay, the murals and the Everglades in the same afternoon and then spending the whole trip in a car.
Before you book anything
- Base yourself on South Beach. Almost everything on this itinerary is walkable from there, and the Art Deco strip is where you will want to eat.
- Book the boat for day one. It is the one item with a fixed timetable, and it also happens to be the best hour of the trip.
- Book the Everglades for day three. It is a full day with a long drive, and putting it in the middle breaks the trip.
- Check the calendar. Miami in late November and December is warm and dry. In the summer it is 90 degrees and humid and the afternoon is unusable.
Day one: the water and the strip
This day is about seeing the city from the bay and then walking through it at night.
| Time | Plan |
|---|---|
| 8:00 | Breakfast on Collins Avenue, then the beach at South Pointe |
| 10:00 | Swim, then the Art Deco walk north from 12th Street |
| 12:30 | Lunch in Little Havana, or a cafecito and a sandwich at a ventanita |
| 14:00 | The hot middle of the day: pool, or the Pérez Art Museum |
| 16:00 | Hotel, or the Bass Museum of Art in South Beach |
| 18:30 | Sunset boat from Miami Beach Marina, two hours on Biscayne Bay |
| 21:00 | Dinner and the neon walk on Ocean Drive |
If the boat is booked for 6:30pm, eat an early light dinner before boarding, because the two hours on the water are the thing and you do not want to miss the first one for food. After the boat, walk Ocean Drive north on foot from 11th Street. The facades are lit and the beach is still busy.
Day two: murals, coffee and Cuban food
This day stays on the mainland, and it is the day that surprises people who only came for the beach.
| Time | Plan |
|---|---|
| 9:00 | Drive north over the causeway to Wynwood |
| 9:30 | Wynwood gallery walls on NW 2nd Avenue, 20th to 26th Street |
| 11:30 | Brunch in Wynwood, or coffee and pastelitos in Little Haiti |
| 13:00 | Little Haiti: the murals on NW 2nd, the Bakery on 7th Avenue |
| 15:00 | Back over the causeway for the museums, or a siesta |
| 17:00 | Coral Castle or a bay sunset cruise if you skipped day one |
| 19:00 | Dinner in Little Havana, then Calle Ocho at night |
Two things to know about Little Havana. First, the pastelitos and the cafecito are better and cheaper than anything on Ocean Drive, and you should eat standing at the window. Second, Calle Ocho is not a street you walk down for souvenirs; it is a street where you walk in to eat, and the restaurants that look least like restaurants from the outside are the ones worth the table.
Day three: the wild part
There are two versions of day three, and they depend on whether you want the Everglades or the Keys.
Option A: the Everglades
Leave by 8am for the airboat tour, the boardwalk and the viewing tower, and be back in Miami by early afternoon. It is a long day in a vehicle, so reward yourself with a long dinner. If you would rather not do the boat, the van tour covers two boardwalks and a marina at a slower pace, and it works for anyone.
Option B: the Keys
Leave by 7am for Key Largo and Islamorada, stop at the marinas and the dockside bars, and either drive to Marathon for the Seven Mile Bridge or take the boat route out to the reef. Do not attempt the drive to Key West and back in one day on top of a beach day.
Whichever you pick, leave the last evening free. A trip that ends with a booked activity ends badly. The last evening should be a walk on Ocean Drive with no plan.
Costs, honestly
| Item | Typical cost |
|---|---|
| Beach day, food and coffee | $40 - $70 |
| Art Deco, Wynwood, Little Havana on foot | Free |
| Museums (one or two) | $15 - $25 |
| Sunset boat, two hours | from $50 |
| Everglades airboat tour | from $79 |
| Keys boat trip | from $95 |
| Car hire for two days | $70 - $120 |
You can do this trip for $250 all in if you walk, eat at the ventanitas and do the free parts hard, and for $600 if you want the boat and the Everglades as well. The transport is what changes the number, not the activities.
What most people get wrong
- Trying to see the skyline from the beach. It is a hundred times better from the water, and the boat is cheap.
- Scheduling the Everglades and the Keys in the same trip. They are on opposite sides of the state and both want a whole day.
- Eating on Ocean Drive for every meal. Little Havana and Little Haiti are ten minutes away and half the price.
- Skipping the museums because it is a beach holiday. The Pérez and the Wolfsonian are genuinely good and they are the afternoon solution.
- Coming in late September or October. That is hurricane season, and the weather is genuinely uncertain until November.
A note on the 2026 launch
If you are in Miami in November for the game's launch, put the boat on day one and the Everglades on day three, and leave the middle day unplanned. The city will be busier than usual, and the things worth doing do not require a reservation, except the boat.
Frequently asked questions
How do you do Miami in three days?
Day one is the bay and the Art Deco strip with a sunset boat. Day two is Wynwood, Little Haiti and Little Havana on foot. Day three is the Everglades or the Florida Keys, depending on what you want more.
What is the best first thing to do in Miami?
Get on the water. Almost everyone arrives on the beach and leaves having only seen the beach, and the skyline from Biscayne Bay is the thing people remember.
Should I do the Everglades or the Keys in three days?
Everglades if you want wildlife and landscape, and it is half a day each way. Keys if you want a boat trip and a drive, and it is a longer, more spread-out day. Do not try both.
How much does three days in Miami cost?
Around $250 per person on a budget, walking and eating at the ventanitas, and up to $600 if you add the sunset boat and the Everglades tour. Car hire is the biggest variable.
What is the best time to visit Miami?
December to March for warm, dry weather and the best swimming. November and April are also good. Late August to October is hurricane season and the least predictable.
Do I need a car in Miami?
For South Beach, no, it is walkable. For Wynwood, Little Havana and the Everglades, yes, or use the shuttle on our tours. Miami's traffic is genuinely bad and the transit is not a substitute for a car outside the beach.
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2026-10-14 · 6 min readUnofficial tours. Leonida Tours is an independent tour company. Our tours are not affiliated with, endorsed, sponsored or licensed by any game publisher or their affiliates. All game titles, characters, place names and trademarks belong to their respective owners and are used here only to describe the real-world locations that inspired them. Every stop on our tours is a real, publicly accessible place. Photography via Unsplash.