Top 10 Things to Do in and Around South Beach, Miami
Lincoln Road Mall | Phillip Pessar/Flickr
Visitors making a trip to Miami are very likely to end up at South Beach at some point. This is where all the magic happens—from getting a golden tan, to spending the morning drinking frozen cocktails, to getting your dance on long into the night at one of the city’s infamous clubs. Here’s 10 of the top things to do, and you won’t want to miss any of it!
Visit Espanola Way
This little area on South Beach is filled with Spanish colonial architecture and open-air European streets, where you can walk along and enjoy people-watching, grabbing a coffee, or sitting for a glass of wine or lunch. It’s absolutely beautiful during the day and would make a great place for a stroll under the warm Miami sunshine. It’s also a wonderful place to sit and have dinner with friends or partner and is very romantic. The streets are lined with restaurants and cafés, all underneath little twinkling strings of café lights.
Kylie Jenner brought a lot of attention to this Miami hot spot with photos on social media of her appearance at the grand opening of Sugar Factory. This spot boasts HUGE cocktails made for sharing with friends, that are filled to the brim with liquor, syrups, and candy! There are several to choose from, including Lollipop Passion, Bubba Bubba Gum, Ocean Blue, and sunshine Tea. These drinks will cost some bucks, but let’s face it, it’s totally worth the photo op.
If looking to hit a bunch of favorite stores all in one shot, this is the place to go. There’s nothing better than hitting the beach in the morning and then going for some afternoon lunch and shopping. Here, visitors will find stores like Zara, H&M, Urban Outfitters, Aldo, American Eagle, Anthropologie, and Lacoste. There’s also a great independent bookstore called Books and Books that is a must-see for people who love reading. The streets are lined with restaurants as well, making it a perfect stop for lunch, a drink, or dinner, and Sundays it boasts a farmer’s market.
For house and electronic music fans, Story is the club. This spot, located towards South Pointe, is one where visitors will have to dress their best to get in. Pull out your sexiest dress and highest heels, and get ready for a night of drinks, dancing, and confetti falling from the ceiling. This luxe club hosts some of the world’s greatest DJs and is always a blast. This is the place to hit if you’re looking to dance all night, and want to listen to EDM over hip-hop.
The best part about hitting Story nightclub, is that you can walk over to Big Pink afterwards for drunk munchies! This diner, which is open super late (5 a.m. on Friday and Saturday), has a menu filled with delicious foods, and the portions are great. Choose from monstrous-sized salads, to huge wraps and sandwiches, quesadillas, burgers, and buckets of buffalo chicken tenders. Nothing hits the spot late at night like Big Pink does, and you’ll be sure to get some real bang for your buck here, too.
It’s always a full house at this romantic bar located in the Freehand. Here you’ll find brilliant mixed cocktails made with fresh ingredients and house-made syrups, which kick the cheap well drinks to the curb. Order a Fruit and Nut Old Fashioned for a taste of smokey sweetness, or try one of their infamous punches from the punch bowl. The Broken Shaker serves poolside lunch and cocktails, and when the sun goes down it becomes a little oasis where people from all over come and play games, talk and unwind, and enjoy a good cocktail beneath twinkling fairy lights.
For those people who haven’t seen the WEAM yet, you need to. This quirky museum is filled with lots of historical artifacts and information about ancient sexual practices, the role of sex in different cultures, and all-around just really cool stuff. If you need to kill some time before heading out to dinner, maybe grab a friend and head to this spot. You can both enjoy the historic information about sex throughout human history while also giggling at penis-shaped things.
Spend the day at the beach (with a frozen cocktail)
This spot is the place to be when drenched in sweat from being at the beach and in need of chilling out with something tasty, and alcoholic! The name is Wet Willie’s, and you’ll want to take a break from the South Beach heat for a large cup of Call-A-Cab, Mango, and Sex on the Beach. Okay, maybe you don’t like that mix of flavors, but Wet Willie’s lets you mix all the flavors you want, no matter how weird (or pretty!) it may look. You have an entire wall to choose from, and after you’re done with one cup, you’ll be buzzed enough to go back and get more sun and water.
There is a group that meets up throughout the week for yoga on the beach right before sundown. If you’re lucky enough to catch them and really need to stretch and do some yoga to wind down from the day, this is the best spot. There is nothing like getting to heal and breathe right on the beach by the water, which is so much nicer than any yoga studio. You can breathe in the salt and sea, and engage in a beautiful yoga practice that will have you stretching while you watch the sky burst into pastel rainbows at sunset.
Miami is a great place for all kinds of water sports—kayaking, jet skiing, and yes, even stand up paddleboarding! This summer haven boasts great waves and is a perfect spot for learning SUP. Many places around the beach offer SUP classes for beginners and group classes for people who want to go out and get a workout with friends. SurfMiamiBeach.com offers surfing and SUP classes, and once visitors have mastered the basics and feel pretty comfortable, there are different places around the beach that offer night and sunset paddleboard classes.
