Miami Itinerary: 1, 3 and 7-Day Plans

Step 1: Pick your base and your budget for a Miami itinerary

Pick one base for the whole trip, because the areas of Miami sit far apart and one base saves hours of driving. South Beach suits beach days and the Art Deco district, and downtown or Brickell suits transit and a mainland start. All-suite Nassau Suite South Beach sits on Collins Avenue in the Art Deco area, and the Hampton Inn & Suites in Brickell is a minute from a free Metromover stop. More choices are on our where to stay in Miami page.

Money comes next. Miami is not cheap, but the daily costs of a city plan are small, and you can see current miami prices for meals, drinks and rides in one place. Metrorail and Metrobus cost $2.25 a ride and are capped at $5.65 a day with a contactless card, and Miami-Dade Transit says Metromover is free. The county has approved a rise to $2.75 from January 2027.

Weather decides the order of your days. NOAA's 1991–2020 normals for Miami show December to April as the driest months and June and September at over 10 inches of rain each. Put outdoor, one-time sights like the Everglades early in the trip so a rainy day does not ruin them, and read our South Beach weather guide before you fix the dates.

No official page publishes a driving time between these areas. Plan one area per half day and leave a buffer for traffic.

Step 2: Follow a one-day Miami itinerary

The best one-day Miami itinerary is Wynwood Walls in the morning, Little Havana at midday and Ocean Drive at sunset. Start at the Wynwood Walls, which opens daily at 10:30 a.m. and closes at 6:30 p.m., with doors shutting 30 minutes earlier. Adults pay $12, and each ticket includes a spray-painting experience.

Next, spend the early afternoon on Calle Ocho in Little Havana. Eat Cuban food, watch the domino players at Domino Park and walk the street. Then end the day on Ocean Drive in South Beach, where the Art Deco hotels light up after dark.

Give each area a time block. Wynwood fills the morning, from 10:30 a.m. to about 1 p.m. Little Havana fills the afternoon, with lunch. Ocean Drive is for the evening. No official page says how many hours each area takes. No official page gives a drive time from Wynwood or Little Havana to South Beach either, so leave a buffer for traffic.

If you do not want to drive between three areas, take a bus. A convertible bus tour of Little Havana and Wynwood, from €83 per person, runs 3 hours with up to 14 people. It is run by OPEN MIAMI, rated 5.0 from 13 reviews, and has free cancellation. Thirteen reviews is a small number, so the rating tells you less than it seems. The price includes a guide, a bottle of water and USB charging. The booking page does not state a meeting point, so check it before you book. For a bigger bus with stops, see the American Dream tour Miami city tours in classic convertible car page.

Pro Tip Do Wynwood Walls first, at 10:30 a.m. when it opens, because it is the one stop on this day with a hard closing time.

A one-day plan is the wrong choice if you want a beach day, because there is no time for the sand. In that case drop Little Havana and give the afternoon to South Beach.

Step 3: Plan a weekend Miami itinerary with a South Beach day

A two-day Miami itinerary adds a full South Beach day to the city day above. Group the areas that sit close together. Wynwood and Little Havana are both on the mainland, so they share a day. South Beach and Ocean Drive are on the island, so they get their own day. Downtown, Brickell and Vizcaya in Coconut Grove share the Metrorail line, so they fit one day too. Keep day one as the Wynwood and Little Havana plan, and give day two to Art Deco and the beach. Start at the Art Deco Welcome Center, 1001 Ocean Drive, where the Miami Design Preservation League says every tour begins. The museum is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and a walking tour leaves daily from the same spot.

Use the free trolley to move along the beach. The City of Miami Beach says it runs from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. every day, about every 20 minutes on each route, and the South Beach Loop is the one for this day. For a guided look at the buildings, see our South Beach Miami ocean page for Art Deco tours. Beach rules matter too. Miami Beach bans alcohol, smoking, glass and coolers on its beaches.

Spend the afternoon on the sand and keep the evening free. Miami Beach lifeguards are on duty from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., and flags can change at any time, so check the flag before you swim. Our free things to do in Miami guide has more ideas for a low-cost second day.

Key Takeaway A weekend in Miami works with two areas, not four: day one is Wynwood and Little Havana, day two is South Beach.

Step 4: Add the Everglades for a 3-day Miami itinerary

A 3-day Miami itinerary spends day three on the Everglades, as a half day by tour or by car. Everglades National Park is the one big sight that is hard without a car. The park's directions page says there is no public transit to Shark Valley and gives no drive time from Miami. You take the Florida Turnpike to exit 25A and then US 41 west for about 25 miles.

Driving costs $35 per vehicle for 7 days, and non-US residents aged 16 and over pay an extra $100 each. Airboat rides and the Shark Valley tram cost extra on top. Shark Valley's tram is a 2-hour, 15-mile loop, and the park advises booking it from November to April.

Our verdict: if you have a car, drive to Shark Valley and take the tram. Without a car, book a tour, because there is no public transit to the park. The Everglades airboat, wildlife exhibit and round-trip bus tour, from €44 per person on GetYourGuide on October 23, 2026, takes 5 hours and is rated 4.1 from 11,210 reviews. You get a round-trip bus, a wildlife exhibit and a group photo. Big Bus Tours runs it with a group of up to 30, a 45-minute airboat ride and park admission in the listing, and free cancellation. Hotel pickup is not included, and the meeting point can change by option, so read the booking page. See our national park Everglades tour page to compare more airboat tours.

If you have only three days and want more in one ticket, the Best of Miami combo, from €88 per person on October 23, 2026, joins a 40-minute airboat ride, a 90-minute bay cruise and a 2-hour open-top bus tour. Big Bus Tours runs it, and it is rated 4.0 from 2,052 reviews. It meets at 1680 Washington Ave in Miami Beach and does not include hotel pickup. The page says 5 hours in total. It also says you can spread the parts over several days. The group size is not listed.

Airboats are loud and wildlife is not guaranteed, so skip the Everglades with small children if noise is a worry. Use Vizcaya instead, which is open every day except Tuesday, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with adult tickets at $20 through October 2026 and $25 from November 1.

Step 5: Stretch it into a 7-day Miami itinerary

A 7-day Miami itinerary repeats the first three days and then adds Vizcaya, Key West, a water day and a food day. Use day four for Vizcaya in Coconut Grove, then a walk through Brickell with a ride on free Metromover. Skip Tuesday, because Vizcaya is closed, and check the hours on Vizcaya's own site.

Day five is Key West. The drive is long. The Florida Keys tourism office says the start of the Keys is about 50 miles and an hour from Miami, and drivers can travel the full Overseas Highway in under four hours. Key West is about 159 miles from the airport, so a self-drive day is most of a day in the car. The Key West day trip from Miami, from €59 per person, takes 15 hours with pickup included. US2U Tours runs it with up to 49 people, rated 4.4 from 53 reviews, with free cancellation. It excludes tips and alcoholic drinks on the boats and is not suited to pregnant women. For all your options, read about day trips out of Miami, including Bimini and Fort Lauderdale.

Best Things to Do in Miami's count of GetYourGuide listings in October 2026 found 12 listings that last 10 hours or more, from €9 to €276, and each one fills a whole day of a plan.

Days six and seven are loose. Use day six for a boat or beach day, and day seven for food and your flight. Our food tours in Miami and Miami boat tours pages cover both. Getting around by transit is covered in getting around Miami.

The best itineraries leave one day empty for the weather.