4 Must-Do Tours in Miami

Yet again I’ve returned from a mid-winter visit to Miami with kids, and yet again I’ve encountered so many people giving me puzzled looks. Other than beaches and nightlife, they just aren’t quite sure what to make of Miami or why someone would go there… twice… with kids.

While I don’t love Miami enough that I’d want to live there, it’s really a wonderful city to visit. There are tons of great things to do in Miami and there’s energy wherever you turn. There’s also a huge variety of experiences to have in The Magic City.

Today I want to highlight four awesome tours in Miami that really showcase the diversity it has to offer visitors. We’ve done all of these Miami excursions with our kids and I recommend them all for any age of visitors.

Best tours in Miami

If you have a long weekend in Miami (or more) I recommend doing all four of these tours. to really get a sampling of what the city offers. While I prefer renting a car to get around at my own pace, you can actually do three of these while relying on Uber or even public transportation.

Little Havana walking tour

There’s no more quintessential Miami neighborhood than Little Havana! It was originally a working class neighborhood with many establishments built by the local Jewish community. As Communists rose to power in Cuba and the Jewish community migrated beyond Miami, a huge concentration of new Cuban immigrants put down their own routes along what’s now known as Calle Ocho (8th Street).

Today a visit to Calle Ocho truly feels like having one foot planted in America and the other 200 miles away in Havana. In this enclave Spanish is the dominant language and you can enjoy incredible Cuban food, drinks, music, shops and more.

But to begin to understand what’s around you, I think it’s critical to visit with a knowledgable guide. We chose this Little Havana Food & Cultural tour and it was truly excellent! Our guide Orlando came to Miami from Cuba just a few years ago and wove his own fascinating story in with the story of the neighborhood and its rich history and culture.

The food aspect of the tour was wonderful and covered sweets, savories, drinks and more. They say that the food is enough for a meal and it was no lie. The tour company does a good job at accommodating most dietary needs; our family doesn’t eat pork and I don’t eat beef but there were always either vegetarian or chicken options available. They can’t explicitly accommodate Celiac disease (which we knew in advance) but a gluten-free option was provided wherever possible.

Because of our weekend schedule we opted to take the 5pm tour on the day we arrived in Miami. If your plans allow, I recommend one of the earlier tours so that you won’t bump up against the closing times for shops in the area as daytime commerce transitions into evening entertainment. Thankfully there are five different tour times available most days! Our tour lasted nearly 3 hours so plan accordingly.

This tour was a highlight for our entire family and I really encourage you to check it out! If you’re visiting Miami on a budget and can only choose one tour, this is the one to pick.

Reserve your Little Havana tour

Wynwood art tour

Miami isn’t just a city of history, but it’s a city that keeps moving forward. There’s no better place to see that in action than in the revitalized Wynwood neighborhood. Though it began as the city’s garment district a century ago and subsequently became a hub for newly-arriving Puerto Ricans, it declined due to the simultaneous impacts of highway construction, social challenges and high crime on the neighborhood.

Fortunately in the early 2000s a few artists and real estate developers saw promise. They established studios and art galleries in formerly abandoned buildings and encouraged the opening of retail shops and eateries. These days the whole neighborhood is buzzing on weekend nights!

The neighborhood’s most distinctive feature is its stunning large-scale murals. You’ll find hundreds of them in Wynwood, which has the highest concentration of street art in the country. Muralists are brought in from around the world and commissioned to paint the sides of newly constructed buildings and “taggers” generally don’t disturb the professional pieces.

There are a few things that many first-time visitors don’t realize. First, Wynwood Walls (which you may have heard of) is a specific museum that you can visit! It has outdoor murals, some of which you can see from the sidewalk, and an inside gallery for which you have to pay an admission fee. Wynwood Walls also sponsors some programs and installations around the neighborhood. “Wynwood Walls” does not refer to all of the the large-scale murals you’ll see on buildings throughout the neighborhood.

Second, the area where you’ll find amazing street art in Wynwood is vast. The Wynwood Arts District encompasses more than 50 blocks and you’ll find cool art almost everywhere! It’s great to walk around, but you’ll need some sort of wheels if you want to see more than a few art installations.

That’s why we opted for a Wynwood golf cart tour! We spent just over an hour with a local artist who showed us his favorite works, the most famous and popular spots as well as some hidden treasures. He was also able to share a lot of fascinating information about the neighborhood’s history as well as the process involved in new pieces going up. We saw so much cool art representing many different styles and themes.

My kids loved this and we’ll probably do it again in the future since there’s new art every few years. If you’re bringing a child, they need to ride in a car seat or booster seat in compliance with Florida law.

This tour is also incredibly convenient. Wynwood is very close to the airport, cruise port and downtown. These tours last just one hour and they run at least 7 times per day, making it easy to fit in with your other plans! If you have more time, after the tour you can walk around to see more art on your own, visit the Wynwood Walls gallery or grab a bite at a local favorite like Coyo Tacos.

Reserve your Wynwood street art tour

Everglades National Park

Miami isn’t all urban adventure – south Florida is also home to Everglades National Park, the third largest National Park in the continental United States! It was created to preserve the area’s unique ecology and wildlife. Thankfully it’s incredibly easy to visit the Everglades on a day trip to Miami.

Unlike most National Parks, there isn’t a continuous road that connects all of the Everglades. Instead there are three different entrances that give you access to different parts of the park and different experiences – two of them are accessible from Miami, while the third is best visited from southwest Florida (like on a day trip from Hyatt Regency Coconut Point).

On this trip we visited the Shark Valley section, which is the closest Everglades National Park entrance to Miami. I strongly recommend taking the guided Shark Valley tram tour. We loved learning all about the park’s history – including efforts to destroy it in favor of development. But today Shark Valley is a great example of south Florida’s wetland ecology. While you won’t see any sharks here (they live on the western edge of the park in Ponce de Leon Bay) you’ll see dozens of alligators, hundreds of birds and maybe even some turtles and snakes. We even saw one crocodile – it’s the only place in the world where alligators and crocodiles coexist, and we saw them only a few yards apart.

Plan to drive about one hour each way to get from Miami to Shark Valley, and the tram tour itself lasts two hours. You can also walk or bike the 15 mile loop road – or just walk a small part after your tram tour (as we did) to catch a closer glimpse of some of the wildlife near the end. Be sure to reserve your spot in advance, as they do sell out! If you preferred time shows unavailable online, try calling – they seem to hold back some availability.

As you drive back from Shark Valley along 8th Street (yes, Calle Ocho goes all the way into the park!) you can enjoy another classic Everglades experience: an airboat ride. Airboats use a huge fan on the back combined with a flat bottom to navigate through very shallow areas like marshes, in theory with minimal damage to the plant life. Airboats are incredibly loud so you’ll be given protective ear covers. Along the way you’ll get very close to alligators, birds and more. If you’ve never been on an airboat, it’s worth doing at least once. We skipped it this time after doing it in Orlando not long ago. Be sure to bring your Everglades National Park receipt, as you may need to show it if your airboat enters the park boundaries.

Your other option from Miami is to enter the Everglades in Homestead, about 90 minutes south of Miami in typical traffic. Once you get there you’ll have tons of options for how to see the National Park! After stopping in at the Earnest Coe Visitors Center, consider continuing a few more minutes to walk among the alligators and birds along the Anhinga Trail. You can also check out a ranger-led program in the uncrowded Royal Palm section of the park.

Consider going another hour south to Flamingo Marina to rent kayaks or canoes or take a backcountry boat tour. This area will showcase the Everglades’ famous mangrove forests in addition to wildlife. There are also free ranger-led kayak and canoe trips most days but they begin at 8:30am, meaning you’d have to leave Miami before 6am to get there in time.

Biscayne Bay boat tour

Speaking of getting out on the water, there’s nothing more emblematic of Miami than a bunch of boats hanging out in Biscayne Bay on a perfectly sunny afternoon. So you should join in the fun!

One thing that’s really surprising is that boat trips out of Miami are pretty affordable – maybe because so many people have boats that there’s a ready supply. We opted for this wonderful Miami sailing trip because it’s a totally family-friendly experience. I definitely didn’t want to take my kids on a booze cruise with a few dozen strangers, so a sailing catamaran with a maximum of five guests was perfect.

We had a fun time with captain Juan Pablo checking out mangroves and a tiny island, playing on a sandbar and feeling the wind in our hair while taking in the iconic Miami skyline views. All in all it’s the perfect way to spend a half-day in Miami!

Reserve your Miami sail boat

If you’ll have a bigger group, this private boat rental is a great option! The captain has fantastic reviews, and it’s an amazing bargain for the two hours cruise since the boat holds up to 8 guests.

Where to stay in Miami

We’ve stayed the last two times at Hyatt Regency Coral Gables and been happy with our experience both times. It’s convenient enough to drive to all of the tours I mentioned here, plus you can enjoy leisurely evening meals and strolls around Coral Gables itself (particularly along Giralda Avenue). It has a lovely outdoor pool and is wonderfully quiet compared to the “scene” on Miami Beach.

Planning your perfect trip to Florida

Want to see more of Florida? Don’t miss these helpful resources: