Miami Beach

The whole eastern edge of the island is beach, about 11km of wide, pale sand facing the Atlantic. The water is around 29°C in late summer and rarely below 23°C in winter, and the beach is the reason most people come. South Beach is the scene, with lifeguard huts in pastel colours, crowds and people-watching. Mid-Beach is quieter and backed by big resort hotels. North Beach and the parks around it suit people who want space and a calmer feel. A paved beachwalk runs behind the dunes for much of the length.

The sea is usually calm and good for swimming, though summer brings jellyfish on some days and seaweed in some years, and afternoon storms clear the sand quickly. Key Biscayne's quieter beaches and Haulover to the north are close by. The water is green-blue rather than the clear turquoise of the Caribbean, and in the busy stretches you share the beach with music, vendors and crowds.

On the island, eating out runs mostly to the upscale: hotel dining rooms, chef-driven restaurants and seafood, with a strong Latin American influence. The most local dishes to look for are Cuban sandwiches, croquetas and cafecito from takeaway windows, Florida stone crabs in winter, and ceviche and arepas from the city's South American communities. Joe's Stone Crab, open since the early 20th century, is the old institution here.

The weakness is Ocean Drive and the busiest blocks of South Beach, where the menus are aimed at passing tourists, the cocktails are huge and the quality is ordinary. For better value and more character, head to the side streets of South Beach and to North Beach's casual Latin cafés, or cross the causeway to mainland Miami for Little Havana.

The main sight is the architecture. The Art Deco Historic District has hundreds of 1930s hotels and apartment blocks in pastel stucco, with porthole windows, neon and eyebrow ledges. Together with the later Miami Modern hotels further north, it makes one of the most complete sets of interwar resort buildings anywhere, and it is easy to take in on foot along Ocean Drive and Collins Avenue.

After that the list is short. The Wolfsonian museum covers design and propaganda, the Bass shows contemporary art, and there is a Jewish Museum and a moving Holocaust Memorial. Art Basel's winter fair brings in galleries once a year. The larger museums and the older historic neighbourhoods are on the mainland, across the bay.

South Beach is known around the world for going out. Big clubs with guest DJs keep going until dawn, poolside parties run in hotel courtyards in the afternoon, and many lobby bars are designed as much for being seen as for drinking. Dinner starts late, the clubs fill after midnight and the busiest stretches of Collins Avenue and Washington Avenue stay loud until the early hours. Winter weekends and the March music conferences are the peak.

The style is glamorous and expensive, with dress codes, door policies and table service, and the crowds on Ocean Drive can be rowdy. Quieter cocktail bars and wine bars are found in Sunset Harbour and Mid-Beach. The more underground, independent clubs are across the bay in the mainland's warehouse districts.

The island is flat, built up and almost entirely city. Outdoor life happens on the water, with paddleboarding and kayaking on the calm bay side, sailing, fishing trips and snorkelling or diving on the reefs and wrecks offshore. The beachwalk is good for cycling and running. Oleta River State Park, a short drive north, has mangrove paddling trails and mountain-bike loops.

The Everglades are about an hour's drive, with airboats, alligators, wading birds and boardwalks through the sawgrass, and Biscayne National Park protects a bay of reefs and keys. There are no hills or real hiking. From June to September the heat, humidity and afternoon storms push most activity to early morning.

The obvious first trip is across the bay to mainland Miami, for Little Havana, the Wynwood murals, the Italianate villa and gardens of Vizcaya, and the leafy Mediterranean Revival streets of Coral Gables. To the north, Fort Lauderdale's canals and Palm Beach's mansions and Worth Avenue are within about an hour and a half by car.

Heading south, Key Largo is the first of the Florida Keys, about an hour and a half away. The full drive to Key West is too long for a comfortable day. There is little older heritage within reach and almost no wine country, and a car or an organised tour is needed for most of these trips.

For children, the beach is the main attraction: warm, usually gentle water, lifeguards along the whole shore and parks with playgrounds behind the sand. Families do best in Mid-Beach and North Beach, or in the condo-lined stretches towards Surfside, where resort pools and calmer streets suit younger children.

There is little on the island built for children. The science museum, the zoo, the jungle and animal parks are on the mainland, some a long drive away. South Beach is a party district, loud and crowded on weekends and during spring break, and summer heat and storms mean planning the day around the middle hours.

South Beach is easy on foot. It is flat and compact, with the beach, the Art Deco streets, Lincoln Road and most hotels within a short walk of each other. Free local trolleys and county buses run up Collins Avenue to Mid-Beach and North Beach, and bike share and the beachwalk make cycling a pleasure.

Leaving the island is harder. There is no rail connection, so trips to mainland Miami, the airport or further afield mean buses that get stuck on the causeways, ride-hailing or a hire car. Parking is scarce and expensive, and traffic on weekends and event days can be heavy. A car is not needed for a beach stay, but it is needed for most excursions.

The shopping falls into two separate halves. Lincoln Road is a pedestrian mall laid out by Morris Lapidus, with palm-shaded islands, fountains and café tables between shops that are mostly international fashion chains, sportswear and beauty brands. It is more pleasant for an evening stroll than for finding anything you could not buy at home. Collins Avenue in South Beach adds larger chain stores, swimwear and resort clothing.

The serious shopping is at Bal Harbour, at the northern end of the barrier island past Surfside, where an open-air mall gathers most of the big European fashion and jewellery houses and draws wealthy shoppers from across Latin America. Beyond those two, there is not much. Local crafts are rare, there are no real markets, and the design boutiques and galleries are across the bay in mainland Miami's Design District.

Miami Beach is an expensive place to stay. Oceanfront hotels in the winter peak cost a great deal, and resort fees, parking charges, added service charges and tipping push bills higher than the headline prices. Cocktails and club entry in South Beach are expensive even by big-city standards.

There are ways to spend less. Hotels on the side streets and in North Beach charge less, summer brings much lower rates in exchange for heat and storms, and Cuban takeaway windows and the free trolleys help. The beach itself costs nothing.

The island has a better arts life than its party image suggests. The New World Symphony, a training orchestra of young professionals, plays in a Frank Gehry concert hall on 17th Street, and on some evenings the concerts are projected onto the wall of the hall for audiences on the lawn outside. Miami City Ballet is based here too, and the Jackie Gleason Theater stages large concerts and touring shows, while the restored Colony Theatre on Lincoln Road hosts smaller productions.

The main season runs from autumn to spring. Opera, Broadway tours and the larger concert halls are across the bay at the mainland's performing arts centre, and live music in clubs tends towards DJs rather than bands.

Wellness here means resort spas, and there are many large ones. Several hotels have hydrotherapy circuits with saunas, steam rooms and plunge pools, and sunrise yoga on the sand and in the beachfront parks is part of the morning. There is no traditional bathing culture behind any of it, and it all costs money.

The pace depends on where you stay. South Beach is loud and runs late, especially on weekends. Mid-Beach and the stretch north towards Surfside are much calmer, made for pool days and long, slow afternoons, and that is where to stay for a restful week.