4 Tourist Attractions Miami Locals Will Love

A lot of people come to Miami to visit. Like, a lot. In 2019, the Greater Miami area saw over 16.3 million overnight visitors and 7.9 million day visitors, totaling a whopping 24.2 million visitors in that year alone! 

This is one of the drawbacks to living in paradise, of course. Everyone wants a slice of that South Florida sunshine and vibrant Miami culture, and the busy tourist season from December through April means that the demand for both is higher each and every year. 

Luckily, though, the tourist population declines in May when the weather gets a little more humid and a little more rainy. Winters are drier and sunnier and tourists flock from all corners of the country to see the Florida coast, but the risk of bad weather and muggy conditions in summer months generally leaves people a little more skeptical to visit. 

This is when Miami residents can take full advantage of all the glorious attractions Miami has to offer, and usually at a discounted rate, too! Plus, if there are any chances of rain, you have the flexibility to move your plans to another day!

Ahh, it sure is good to live in Miami!

South Florida visitor attractions locals can visit

Calle Ocho

SW 8th St, Miami, FL 33135

Literally translated to “eighth street” in Spanish, Calle Ocho is at the center of Miami’s vibrant Little Havana neighborhood just west of Downtown. It’s the heart of the city’s large Cuban population and acts as a cultural center that features festivals, artists, food, music and more all throughout the year.

The biggest event is, by far, the annual Calle Ocho Music Festival in March as a celebration of Carnival Miami. It’s the largest Hispanic street festival in the Southeast, and it’s filled with music, food, traditional clothing and plenty of happy faces. 

For locals, though, a trip down to Calle Ocho during the off-season will be just as fruitful and rewarding as in the peak tourist months.

Maximo Gomez Park is famously known as Domino Park, as it’s the meeting spot for Little Havana locals to smoke a cigar, play some dominos and chat about everything under the sun. It’s like playing chess in New York City’s Central Park, but a hundred times better.

You can also visit the many restaurants, bars and eateries that stay open when tourists have filtered out for the season. Enjoy traditional and authentic Cuban foods like croquetas and ropa vieja at Versailles Restaurant or Sanguich de Miami, then grab a cup of Cuban espresso at one of the many coffee windows around town. Head to the wildly popular Azucar Ice Cream Company to try one of their hundred flavors (quite literally, they have over 100 flavors!) ranging from café con leche to flan to pineapple and more. 

Finally, end the evening with a cigar at a cigar lounge or a drink at one of the many bars that serve a wide variety of cocktails, beers, wines and more.

Honestly, what sounds better than that?

Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden & The Kampong

10901 Old Cutler Rd, Coral Gables, FL 33156

Anytime is a good time to visit a botanical garden, but there’s something special about visiting a garden and experiencing the peace and quiet of the nature it nurtures there. 

The Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden is arguably more beautiful in the off-season as many of the tropical plants kept there bloom and blossom in the more humid summer months, making for a perfect picnic location and walk among the sweet-smelling flowers. 

The lush tropical garden is the life's work of botanist David Fairchild, a 19th-century explorer who traveled the world to find foods that could grow well in the United States. It’s thanks to him that we get to enjoy foods like avocados, kale, quinoa, mangoes, oranges, pistachios, bananas, apples and much, much more!

Fairchild’s home, The Kampong, is also a magnificent garden to visit. It offers a much more intimate stroll through some of the explorer’s favorite finds, including an 80-year-old baobab tree all the way from Tanzania that the explorer planted on his property himself!

Venetian Pool

2701 De Soto Blvd, Coral Gables, FL 33134

There are a billion spots to swim in Miami. After all, Florida has the longest coastline of any state and there’s water quite literally everywhere.

But the Venetian Pool in Coral Gables is something special. Renovated in the 1920s from a rock coral quarry, architects and pool-chitects (?) designed the space to look like an idyllic Mediterranean villa, complete with waterfalls, a grotto, towers, bridges and even a pizza café!

This place gets absolutely packed in peak season, so much so that admission tickets sell out almost daily. This is where your local credit pays off, as Coral Gables residents pay less than a third of the ticket price to get in. If you don’t live in Coral Gables, consider making friends who can get you into pools when you need them to. After all, isn’t that the basis of all great friendships?

Vizcaya Museum and Gardens

3251 S Miami Ave, Miami, FL 33129

Overlooking manicured gardens, sweeping lawns and the crystal-clear Biscayne Bay is one of Miami’s most scenic and magnificent estates. 

Vizcaya Villa was built in the Italian Renaissance style in 1916, and it certainly lives up to its grandiose design. Elegant sculptures line the exterior and decorative art is packed within. A hedge maze and vast gardens stretch out to the water’s edge. Bubbling fountains, bright conservatories, stone bridges, wide ballrooms and shaded gazebos are just some of the elegant features in this century-old mansion.

Locals can enjoy the peace and quiet of these picturesque gardens all year ‘round, and the little café serving tea and sandwiches is much more accessible in the tourist off-season.

So, Miami locals and residents of our luxury South Florida apartments, if you’re itching to see some of your city without the hustle and bustle of tourists, we recommend checking out these fabulous destinations during the summer when there are a little fewer people around.

Enjoy!

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Featured photo courtesy Pixabay/Michelle_Raponi