Miami Beach has been enticing travelers with its vibrant coastal setting and entertainment options for more than a century. Whether you visit for a weekend or a week, this South Florida city offers exceptional options for art and entertainment; from internationally-recognized museums to quirky only-in-Miami attractions to can’t-miss live performances.
Our arts and entertainment guide to Miami is a collection of insider favorites that are soon to be your favorite too.
Art Deco Historic District
Miami boasts the largest concentration of Art Deco-style buildings in the world (including KAYAK Miami Beach!). If the hotel’s design speaks to you, check out more of the style with a 90-minute walking tour from the Miami Design Preservation League. You’ll stroll the Miami Design District to admire the pastel-hued buildings with glass blocks, curved edges, neon lighting, and ziggurat rooflines.
Tours are offered Fridays through Mondays (except holidays) and participants must wear masks. Each participant receives a sanitized audio device and headphones, so they can maintain social distance and still hear the tour guide.
Bayfront Park
Located in downtown Miami, Bayfront Park is, as the name suggests, on a bay – Biscayne Bay, to be exact. The 32-acre park includes a number of entertainment options with two performance venues that feature an extensive calendar of events. The first is FPL Solar Amphitheatre which hosts primarily large concerts and festivals with a view of the bay (Note: there isn’t anything currently scheduled due to COVID). The second option is the Tina Hills Pavilion, which has seating as well as a lawn area and hosts smaller, more informal performances and events like twice-a-week yoga classes (that are currently being offered virtually).
For more low-key entertainment, the park also has plenty of open spaces, a beach area, and a collection of monuments – many designed by sculptor Isamu Noguchi including the Challenger Memorial, the Light Tower and the Slide Mantra.
The Bass Museum
The Bass Museum is a go-to choice for international contemporary art with a mix of temporary exhibits and a permanent collection that spans antiquity to Renaissance to Baroque. During the pandemic, the museum has adjusted hours and reduced capacity so plan your visit accordingly. They’ve also instituted temperature checks and require museum-goers over 2 years old to wear a mask. As a bonus, the museum offers a free, reusable fabric face mask designed by artist Carlos Amorales to each visitor with the purchase of admission.
Adrienne Arsht Center
More than 300 events and performances are held annually at the Adrienne Arsht Center in downtown Miami. The arts complex includes a trio of theaters that host Broadway shows and concerts from touring production companies and performances from its resident companies: Florida Grand Opera, Miami City Ballet and New World Symphony.
In response to the pandemic, the performing arts center has instituted digital tickets, wellness screenings, temperature checks, reduced occupancy and mandatory mask wearing for patrons over two years old.
Miami Design District
A creative community 10 minutes from South Beach has been thriving since it was founded by Miami-native Craig Robins. Today, Miami Design District is a pedestrian-friendly neighborhood anchored by ICA Miami, which showcases innovative contemporary art, the de la Cruz Collection, a private museum displaying the contemporary art collection of Rosa and Carlos de la Cruz, and Locust Projects, an alternative art space. It also includes design showrooms, 120 flagship luxury stores, and a variety of dining options punctuated with public art displays. Free, socially distant art tours are regularly offered.
Miami Jai-Alai
Said to be the fastest game in the world, jai-alai (pronounced ‘high lie’) is an adrenaline-fueled sport from the Basque region of Spain. For decades, Miamians have come to Miami Jai-Alai, which is now formally part of Casino Miami, to wager on the games in which players take turns hurling a pelota (a ball wrapped in goat skin) up to 180 miles per hour and catching it in a cesta (a woven basket attached to a glove) during lightning-fast matches so fierce that the the pelota has been known to be strong enough to break bulletproof glass.
Pérez Art Museum Miami
Housed in a stunning building designed by Pritzker Prize-winning Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron, who designed London’s Tate Modern, Pérez Art Museum Miami boasts an impressive collection of modern art from the 20th and 21st century that accentuates Miami and its culture.
During the pandemic, PAMM has adjusted its hours and museum-goers over two years old must wear masks. You can reserve timed tickets online with the first hour of daily ticket slots reserved for guests who are seniors (62+) and/or immunocompromised.
Vizcaya Museum and Gardens
What was once the winter home of American industrialist James Deering, who helped develop Miami, is now the sprawling Vizcaya Museum and Gardens. The 34-room compound overlooking Biscayne Bay is an Italian-Renaissance mansion filled with Deering’s personal European art collection and surrounded by 10 acres of botanical gardens punctuated with fountains and pools reminiscent of France’s Versailles. In response to COVID-19, hours are reduced and visitors must purchase tickets online and wear a mask.
Oolite Arts
Oolite Arts is more than a gallery, it’s a community. With a collection of work from local artists, a calendar of events, and art classes on offer, there’s always something on. While the physical space is located on Lincoln Road, they also have exhibitions around the city.
In response. to COVID, timed tickets are required, masks must be worn, and guests will be asked to sign a waiver.
Wolfsonian FIU
What started as a way to exhibit American businessman Mitchell Wolfson Jr.’s collection of treasures in 1986 has evolved into Wolfsonian FIU, a museum housing an eclectic collection of curiosities from Wolfson’s travels. Included in the collection are decorative and propaganda art from 1885 to 1945, rare books and periodicals, vintage movie posters and an original mailbox from New York City’s Grand Central Station. Since opening in 1995, the museum, library and research center has expanded its collection beyond Wolfson’s to include 180,000 objects from the height of the Industrial Revolution through the aftermath of World War II (1850 to 1950). COVID-19 precautions include new hours, one-way walkway through the exhibits and timed ticketing, which can be reserved online.
Wynwood
Spanning 50 city blocks north of downtown Miami, Wynwood has transformed from a warehouse district into one of Miami’s most creative communities thanks to its popular Wynwood Walls and Wynwood Doors, which highlight graffiti and street art. The outdoor museum of colorful murals pays homage to international street art. A group of Miami artists lead tours of the Wynwood Walls, a portion of which rotate each year. In 2010, Wynwood Doors, a park with dozens of roll-down gates serving as canvases for international street artists, was added.
In addition to street art, Wynwood is packed with noteworthy restaurants, hip breweries, and dozens of art spaces, including Bakehouse Art Complex, a not-for-profit incubator for artistic creativity founded by artists for artists in 1985 and the Museum of Graffiti, the world’s first museum dedicated exclusively to graffiti art.
The Rubell Museum
This contemporary art collection is a local favorite that has grown from a small family collection to more than 7,000 pieces from over 1,000 different artists. The museum recently relocated from Wynwood to a larger space in the Allapattah neighborhood. Aside from its extensive collection of contemporary art, there’s a cozy garden courtyard filled with native plants.
The museum is operating with a limited visitor capacity with social distancing and masks required by all visitors older than two.
Seasonal arts & entertainment events
Aside from the multitude of always-on museums, art galleries, cultural attractions and entertainment options, Miami is also known for its calendar of world-class events that typically happen annually. While large festivals are not currently being held due to COVID, we look forward to their future return. Some local favorites to consider timing future trips around include music festivals like South Beach Jazz Festival and the Ultra Music Festival; art festivals like Art Basel Miami Beach and the Coconut Grove Art Festival; and cultural festivals like Calle Ocho Festival, South Beach Wine & Food Festival, and the Miami Book Fair.
When in Miami, stay with us at KAYAK Miami Beach. Located at the heart of the city’s vibrant cultural and cultural scene just minutes from the beach, our first-ever hotel brings together everything we love about travel and gives it a tech-forward twist.
