Miami Downtown – without a car

I got into the habit of walking around every city for hours until my feet hurt at the end and I fall into bed totally exhausted in the evening or I used public transport (no matter how bad it is). During our Florida trip planning, I was told by the lady at the travel agency that you absolutely need a car in Miami, because there is nowhere else to go.

Ohne Auto in Miami?

Luckily, I didn’t listen too much to this lady and decided to visit Miami by public transport, despite the warning. From Miami Beach, where our hotel was, you can easily take a Metrobus (that’s what the buses are called there) to Miami Downtown. The fare is one dollar and the buses run regularly. In Miami Downtown, one attraction is also a great means of transport – namely the Metromover. This is an elevated train that serves the Downtown, Brickell, and Omni zones. The best thing about the whole thing: the Metromover is free! Since you’re floating over Miami, so to speak, you can use the ride for sightseeing at the same time (definitely better than any underground metro). But as soon as you get out and return to street level, Miami didn’t quite convince me. Above all, I found it irritating that there is so little public life along the streets. Most of the buildings consist of garage entrances (the garages then go up to the 10th floor and from the 11th floor the apartments begin…).

We then walked along Calle Ocho through the whole of Little Havana, the center of Cuban immigrants, and found the whole thing pretty, but not really pedestrian-friendly. The streets are so oversized compared to the sidewalks that you feel like you’re walking along a highway. This improves the more you get into the residential areas. We then walked to Villa Vizcaya, which is located on Biscayne Bay (and this took much longer than planned). I recommend a visit to Villa Vizcaya to anyone who likes Italian Renaissance style and beautiful gardens. The villa was built in the early 20th century and was once intended as the winter residence of James Deering (agricultural machinery manufacturer). The grounds are beautiful and everywhere you can see fashion photographers and models doing their photo shoots in front of the great backdrop.

Afterwards we took the Metromover back to Bayside Marketplace, where we recovered from the “exertions” of the city walk by eating ice cream.

The pictures are all of Villa Vizcaya, the park and the surrounding area.