
A Cuban American’s Guide to Miami’s Little Havana
Master cantinero and co-owner of Café La Trova, voted one of the world's best bars, gives his top tips on how to explore Little Havana.
Head to Ocean Drive to see Lummus Park Beach, or stop by Lincoln Road to shop and wander the beach promenade between Fifth and Fifteenth streets. Another main highlight is the set of pastel-hued structures on Collins Avenue in the Art Deco District, home to the largest concentration of Art Deco architecture in the world.
A typical Miami city tour combines a stop in South Beach with a Biscayne Bay cruise around Star Island, an airboat ride in the Everglades, or visits to Little Havana, Wynwood, Miami Beach, and Coconut Grove. Choose a walking tour, a Segway tour, a boat tour, a food tour, or a bus tour according to your schedule and mobility. Architecture tours are conducted by the Miami Design Preservation League, among other operators, and stop at some of the most stunning architectural examples and the Art Deco Welcome Center.
Sun protection is a must in this sunny locale.
South Beach can be very crowded on weekends and holidays.
Public restrooms can be found at the south end of Lummus Park.
Across the MacArthur Causeway from downtown Miami, South Beach stretches north from South Pointe Park all the way to 23rd Street. From Fifteenth to 23rd Street, the upper end includes the pedestrian thoroughfare of Lincoln Road and its associated shopping, eating, and nightlife, plus clusters of Art Deco buildings. Between First and Fifteenth streets is a quietly hip area that acts as a counterweight to the over-the top carnival of South Beach.
South Beach is always humming. Sun, sand, and Art Deco architecture by day, or neon and nightlife after dark—you choose which South Beach you want to see.
If you want to get out of the sun and away from the crowds, step inside the provocative World Erotic Art Museum, or visit the polar opposite Bass Museum of Art for a peek at 16th-century religious art. Venture out after dusk falls to see south Florida's nightlife come alive.