City Profile: Miami Beach

By VISIT FLORIDA staff
Published: November 10, 2007
Last Updated On: July 15, 2011

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Miami

South Beach

Miami Beach

Miami Beach is exciting, hip, fashionable and on the water - who could ask for anything more?

Miami Beach is a fast growing, fashionable international hot-spot. Film and music stars, art-deco museums and shopping districts referred to as the "5th Avenue of the South" showcase the decadence and new-world architecture that lures thousands of visitors a year.

Miami Beach nightlife concludes an unforgettable vacation day with a diverse array of ethnic food and American cuisine, topped off with jazz cafes and hopping dance clubs.

In its first heyday in the 1950s and 1960s, Lincoln Road was known as the Fifth Avenue of the South: stomping grounds for jewelry-laden matrons shopping at Saks Fifth Avenue and Harry Winston. Today, Lincoln Road serves as the true heartbeat of Miami Beach, as evidenced by the constant parade of shoppers, rollerbladers, parents pushing baby strollers, and people walking dogs and making the scene.

South Beach's Art Deco District is a whimsical collection of more than 800 architecturally protected buildings from the 1930s and 1940s, which is the largest concentration of Art Deco buildings in the world -- a definite must-see.

North Beach's Ocean Terrace -- a five-block stretch just south of expansive North Shore Park – is fast becoming a smaller version of South Beach with its inviting oceanfront cafés. Hotels, restaurants, quaint shops, and an uninterrupted concentration of MiMo (Miami Modern) '50s- and '60s-era apartment buildings give the entire neighborhood a unique character, as does a recent influx of Brazilian and Argentine immigrants who have added character and flavor to the neighborhood with numerous shops and eateries. Go for a beachside stroll or toward Haulover park for fishing, bike rides, tennis or a round of golf.

Miami Beach nightlife concludes an unforgettable vacation day with a diverse array of ethnic food and American cuisine, topped off with jazz cafes and hopping dance clubs.

These elements combine to make Miami Beach the place for ocean-side relaxation, fine dining, shopping and nighttime entertainment.