Places to Visit in Miami

Miami Metrozoo

www.miamimetrozoo.com

open daily 9.30 -5.30

Miami has a zoon to be proud in this wee-planned and thoughtfully executed, largely gazelles zoo. Metrozoo’s 290-arce site features areas of simulated African jungle and veldt, and Asian an European forest, which are home to more than 800 animals. Among the major attractions are the Tiger Temple, Wings of Asia displaying 70 species of rare and exotic birds, and eh African Plains exhibit where giraffes, ostriches and zebras graze on a simulated plan

 

Miami Seaquarium

www.miamiseaquarium.com

open daily 9.50 – 6

Founded in 1955 the Seaquarium shows its age. However, as a family attraction it is a reliable favorite and uses a huge variety of marine life, from dolphins and sea lions to rescued manatees and turtles. A wide choice of attractions includes live shows, touch tanks and nesting are for giant turtles and several species of sea birds. But the Seaquarium’s star crowd-pullers are Salty the sea lion, Lolita the killer whale, and the most famous of all Flipper the dolphin.

 

Low Art Museum

Excellent small museum on the University of Miami campus housing the fine Kress Collection of Renaissance and Baroque Art, plus American artworks, Native American Western Oriental arts and crafts.

Miami Children’s Museum

www.miamichildrensmuseum.org

Open daily 10-6

This facility was opened in 2003 and its mission is to allow kids to develop and learn through play. The 12 themed areas include child-size banks a TV studio and a cruise ship. Other galleries offer instruction through play including a wellness are with messages about diet and exercise

 

Bacardi Art Gallery

North of downtown, the eye-catching 1930s blue-and-white mosaic-tiled Bacardi Imports building makes an unusual local landmark A small museum documents the Bacardi family history

Bal Harbour

This is an exclusive beautifully laid out shopping mall with a handful of notable European designer boutiques joining the ranks of top American Stores including Saks Fifth Avenues and Neiman Marcus.

 

Barnacle State Historic Site

www.floridastateparks.org

One of the oldest homes in Miami, the Barnacle was built by Midleton Nunroe in 1901. The historic two –story building has period furnishings, a steep hipped roof in the shape of barnacle and views across the bay

Bayfront Park

The 32-acre Bay front Park skirts the shoreline form Bayside Marketplace to the cruise ships in the port of Miami, Joggers pound past the palm trees incessantly, and there is an amphitheater that hosts popular open-air concerts.

 

Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden

More than 80 acres of spreading lawns, lakes and exotic species from around the globe comprise there wonderful botanical gardens. The must-see area is the McLamore Arboretum 10 acres of flowering trees and shrubs 187yard pergola draped in exotic vines and collection of desert plans The Palmetum Walk spotlights an extraordinary variety of pal trees. The stop to the Widows to the tropics hothouse for displays of tender orchids.

 

Haulover Beach Park

This major recreational park offers the best of Florida’s natural attractions including a 2-mile stretch of hotel-free seashore, complete with golden sands Atlantic surf, a nine-hole golf course, deep-se fishing, picnic areas with barbecue facilities boat rentals and walking trails.

 

Miami Dade Cultural Center

One of downtown’s celebrated architectural showpieces, Philip Johnson’s complex houses he Miami Art Museum, which concentrates on art words from 1940s to the present and hosts major touring exhibitions, the Historical Museum of Southern Florida. Offering an interesting glimpse in to Florida’s history.

Museum of Science and Planetarium

This museum with more than 140 touchable exhibits and live demonstrations, sets out to win over children from the word go. Kids can have fun learning about science from the principles of physics to the health issues. Traveling exhibitions in conjunction with the Smithsonian Institution are a regular feature and are beautifully presented.

Parrot Jungle

www.parrotjungle.com

Set on an island between Miami and Miami Beach, parrot Jungle is par-zoo, part-animal theme park set in verdant tropical surroundings and offering over 1 mile of rails. The Parrot Bowl amphitheater plays host to some rather kitsch but renowned trained-bird shows and there are more animals antics including the drama of performing white tigers at the Jungle theater.

 

Venetian Pool

www.venetianpool.com

In a moment of inspiration, George Merrick transformed an obsolete quarry into this delightful, Venetian-themed swimming hole landscape with beaches and bridges striped poles and quaint grottoes. The astonishingly blue lagoon must rate as one of the first themed waterparks.

 

Vizcaya Museum and Gardens

www.vizcayamuseum.org

On the northern boundary of Coconut Grove, this fabulous neo-Renaissance villa was built between 1914 and 1916 as a winter residence for industrialist James Deering. A great admirer of European architecture and style, Deering was an avid collector. When he began work on Vizcaya, Deering send young designer Paul Calfin to Europe, and between them they furnished the house with carpets from Portugal, ceilings from Italy, chandeliers from France, Roman statuary and antique treasures from the finest periods of European design. The building itself is the work of F. Burrell Holfam, who was a mere 29 years old at the time and who created an elegant northern Italian-style villa arranged around a courtyard.