Miami
Florida, USA · South Beach · Key Biscayne · Little Havana
5 places pinned — click any one for its story.
The place
Miami is where America meets the Caribbean and Latin America — a subtropical city of turquoise water and pastel Art Deco, built on tourism, trade, and waves of Cuban and Latin migration that gave it its bilingual, salsa-and-cafecito soul.
Our trip mixed the beach and the city — the Art Deco strip and warm water of South Beach, the Cuban rhythm of Little Havana, the villa gardens of Vizcaya, and the murals of Wynwood.
Places I visited
History & facts for each spot — with a “then & now” archival photo where one exists. Every one has its own page; open it for the full write-up and all the photos.
The famous stretch of Miami Beach — turquoise water, pastel 1930s Art Deco hotels along Ocean Drive, and the neon and café culture of the most glamorous beach in America.
Full history & photos →Archival photo: Miami Beach - Sand Dunes Flora - Plant with Yellow Flowers Growing Through Wooden Fence — Wikimedia Commons
The barrier island south of the city — Crandon Park's calm beaches, the Cape Florida lighthouse, and a quieter, greener side of Miami across the Rickenbacker Causeway.
Full history & photos →Archival photo: Miami, Florida, the shores of Biscayne Bay — Wikimedia Commons
The heart of Cuban Miami along Calle Ocho — cafecito windows, cigar rollers, domino players in Máximo Gómez Park, and the sound of salsa on the street.
Full history & photos →Archival photo: Corner bakery in Little Havana - Miami — Wikimedia Commons
The 1916 Italian-Renaissance villa of industrialist James Deering on Biscayne Bay — a European palazzo of formal gardens and a stone barge, dropped onto the Florida shore.
Full history & photos →Archival photo: Vizcaya Deering to Chalfin 19131001gardens — Wikimedia Commons
The former warehouse district turned open-air museum of large-scale street art and murals — Miami's creative, color-drenched heart.
Full history & photos →