If your next Miami vacation begins at the beach, you can certainly enjoy yourself. You can enjoy swimming, good food, taking some great photos, and going home with a bit of salt in your hair. However, if you don’t explore the other side of Miami, the side of the city that is lived-in and textured and full of life, you could miss a lot of what Miami has to offer. Travel inland before the beach, and the entire city unfolds in a completely different way.
Find The Part Of Town That Feels Like Home
Miami is not merely a postcard. It is a line of people waiting for coffee and speaking three different languages as you stand there. It is a delivery truck parked outside each restaurant; it is artists opening up their studios; it is bicyclists pedaling by colorful murals; and it is music drifting from cars as you head to breakfast.
When you begin traveling inland before reaching the beach, you become aware of the rhythm of the city before you become aware of its scenic views. This totally changes your approach to travel.
Rather than running directly to chair number seven at the oceanfront resort and grabbing towel number five, you allow yourself the time needed to discover the personality of the city. You watch how neighborhoods interact with each other. You learn where people go in the evening. And you find small eateries that do not seem to exist for tourists who count the hours until sunset.
An inland starting point does not diminish your beach experiences. Instead, it earns you your beach time. By the time you arrive at the water, you are no longer merely checking off the most obvious tourist destination in Miami. You’re arriving there having developed a greater understanding of all of the surrounding places that create Miami.
Have Art Guide You To Your First Impression
While a beach-first trip may start with relaxation; and while that’s perfectly fine; a neighborhood-first trip can start with curiosity. And maybe that will stick with you longer.
There is no better place to start to develop an awareness of Miami without a structured agenda than in Wynwood. You can meander slowly. Stop frequently. Let colors guide you from one block to another. The murals are vibrant; however, they aren’t simply a backdrop for photographs. They add to a dialogue between you and the wall.
Your day may start with coffee. Visit galleries. Pop into stores. Then realize that an hour has gone by since you last looked at your phone. That type of journey is the kind that many people remember much more vividly than a more organized, trip-planned journey.
Selecting a Wynwood hotel allows you to break up your exploration of the day into separate time blocks. It prevents you from viewing Wynwood as just another brief stop between bigger destinations. After dinner, you can return and see how different the neighborhood is at night. It also provides you with the ability to let activities start your trip instead of logistics.
Dine Before Chasing The View
More than just a hasty lunch during beach breaks, Miami’s culinary scene warrants more than a rushed lunch. Beginning away from the beach affords your meals more flexibility.
Perhaps you encounter an unassuming breakfast cafe hidden down a side street. Perhaps you stumble upon a casual taco shop that has people lined up out the door. Or perhaps you dine at a table where the music is just loud enough to make the room feel lively. Each of these meals doesn’t require perfection. Oftentimes, the best travel food comes from an unplanned meal.
By beginning inland, you also bypass the temptation of only eating where a view is working hard to impress. While oceanfront dining can indeed be stunning, away from the beaches, food typically needs to sing for itself. This may lead you to taste better flavors, pay less money for said flavors, and dine in a more laid-back manner.
Leave room for the place you drive by twice and can’t help but think about. Leave room for a bakery that smells so good you cannot resist stopping. Leave room for dinner late into the night because this neighborhood seems so interesting, you cannot bear to leave early.
Spare The Beach Until After The Rush
The beach is still part of your overall experience; it simply doesn’t have to be your first impression.
By saving it until later in your trip, you’ll arrive with less stress. You’ve had time to wander, walk, dine, and adjust to the city. So now, when you finally do reach the water, it can truly be a time to unwind.
You’re not trying to cram culture, food, shopping, nightlife, and rest into one ridiculously busy day. You’re not lying under an umbrella contemplating all that remains to be seen. You’ve already started properly.
In this case, being on the beach is quieter, even when crowds abound. You can swim without feeling like you’re squandering precious time. You can sit for longer periods. And when hunger strikes, you can cool off with a drink and let the afternoon linger.
Starting away from the beach does not preclude experiencing classic Miami. It simply prevents it from being your sole memory.
Contrast Is Key To Miami When Allowed To Flourish
If you limit your experiences on a trip to simply the time spent walking around on sand, it will be visually pleasing, however limited. On the other hand, as soon as you begin to explore the more urban, energetic, and vibrant areas of Miami, the number of possible things you could see or experience increases exponentially. Therefore, while you may want to capture many of the high-gloss moments of Miami, you may choose to do this with a backdrop that feels less like a vacation destination and more like where people live.
So, when planning your next trip, take some time and let Miami show you what is available for you beyond just its beaches. Take a stroll first. Get familiarized with things. Eat somewhere on impulse. Pay attention to murals and sounds emanating from nearby automobiles and pedestrians strolling by as dusk sets in.