driving into Miami
 

My wife and I will be in Fort Lauderdale for a few days at the beginning of December visiting my Mother, and we would like to spend one of those days visiting South Beach.

I assume Miami is like most big cities and there is plenty of traffic going into the city in the morning and coming out in the evening. Besides driving in, do we have any other convenient options for getting from Ft. Lauderdale to South Beach??

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Forgot to mention that the only 2 days available for us will be Thursday or Friday.

There always seems to be traffic on that stretch, however driving in is really not that bad... I would recommend that you leave moms after 9:30 and plan a beach day, bring a change or two of clothing, have an early lunch and dinner on Ocean Dr. and head home after 7pm... parking can be testy, but if you're patient spaces can be found...

From your answer, I understand that there are no other travel options.

We're not going for the beach - just want to soak up the atmosphere in south beach. We haven't been in Miami for at least 20 years.

As for parking, from what I understand there are plenty of parking garages available. I don't mind paying for parking as I have read that the "parking police" are ruthless in Miami.

sssteve: Thanks for this posting. My husband & I will be staying in Lauderdale-by-the-sea for 5 days in mid-December and I was wondering if we could drive into Miami one day to see the famous South Beach.

We are beach people so I'd love to spend some time on the beach but mostly we want to walk the boardwalk (??), see the art deco buildings and of course people watch. Oh and I'd want to have lunch there too at some sidewalk cafe overlooking the street/beach.

Don't even think about driving I-95.

Take your time and make the leisurely drive down A1A from Ft. Lauderdale to South Beach.

It is a beautiful drive because most of it is ocean front.

It is also the quickest way to get there. Plan on 45 minutes at least.

With all due respect to GoTravel, I would definitely NOT take his advice. I have lived in South Florida all of my life, and I can't imagine taking A1A from Ft. Lauderdale to Miami. It will take forever. And much of it is very built-up condos and hotels and not very scenic at all. I know no one who would travel this route.

Take I-95, but avoid rush hour. The weekend is ideal. It should take about half an hour.

Make sure you walk on Lincoln Road, a pedestrian street, in addition to Ocean Drive. This is where many nice sidewalk cafes are, along with some shopping.

Cimbrone, since they are coming into South Beach to sightsee, I'm assuming they will not be traveling at midnight.

Since I-95 is a parking lot between 6-9AM, 11AM-2PM, and 4PM-7PM, what times do you suggest they drive I-95?

It is about 25 miles via A1A as opposed to 35 miles via I-95.

I travel to Miami all the time since I have family that lives there and drive A1A all the time between South Beach and FLL to visit friends.

Hi GoTravel. The traffic on I-95 between 10 and 3 on weekdays is not bad at all. And the weekends are never bad (unless there's an accident). Much better than December traffic on A1A, with traffic lights and in-season congestion.

Huh? Traffic is not bad between 10-3 and on the weekends?

Do you really live in Miami?

Seriously.

I live in Boca Raton, but I drive to Miami on the average of twice a month. It is never bad unless it's weekday rush hour. I can't remember the last time I sat in any kind of traffic.

Seriously.

A1A will be, at best, tedious. At worst a stop and go nightmare.

Well I'm glad that's all cleared up. :-)

Perhaps my best bet is drive down after 9 AM and stay into the evening. What's South Beach like in the evening?

Or maybe I should just stay in Ft. Lauderdale and visit Las Olas Boulevard and sawmill shopping center...

Evening in South Beach in December will be wonderful. Very lively, with delightful ocean breezes. Definitely a sophisticated party atmosphere. Choose a cafe on Lincoln road and enjoy the weather, the food, the people-watching.

If you aren't interested in the beach itself, I'd head down at around 7 or so and just spend the evening eating and walking around.

Forgot to mention, Las Olas is okay, but doesn't have a tiny fraction of the authenticity or sophistication of South Beach. I find it very plastic in comparison.

Worth going to since you'll be in Ft. Lauderdale anyway, but no substitute for South Beach.

I find the opposite to be true. I think Ft. Lauderdale and the Las Olas area is much nicer than South Beach.

I think the beaches from 20th and Collins Avenue South are nicer than Ft. Lauderdale.

Being that my sister and brother in law live on South Beach, I know the area very well.

sssteve, do a search under my name and South Beach and you'll find the hundreds of threads I've contributed to on this area.

One thing to add, go to the bar at The Hotel (The Tiffany) on the rooftop for drinks and a fabulous view of South Beach.

The best mojitos are at the pool bar at The Delano.

Also check out the pool bar at The Setai.

Evening, don't miss The Skyy Bar at The Shore Club.

The Raleigh has the best Sunday pool party.

sssteve one accident on I-95 no matter North or South and it turns into a parking lot. Take A1A go slow and enjoy. If you need directions in Miami speak Spanish. Saw Grass is a bit of a drive. Las Olas is not all that bad but South Beach is better.

Just to confuse things a bit more ;), when I drive to South Beach, I take I- 95 one way, usually going to at around 9:30-10 am and A1A back. Really, it's 6 of one... South Beach is lots of fun in the evening. Make a day of it. Have you been to Vizcaya? Go there first. http://www.vizcayamuseum.org/
Then have lunch, maybe in Coral Gables. Check out the Venetian pool and/or the Biltmore. Then head to South Beach, walk around. Have dinner in South Beach and head back.

Now we're cooking. You've all been great.

Where do you guys recommend for an interesting lunch?? We love good restaurants.

Mclaurie:

Viscaya looks very interesting. How much time should I expect a visit there to take?

I second Vizcaya. It should take about 2 hours, to explore the house and the lovely garden.

I live in FLL and just adding my 2 cents for whatever they are worth....I despise I-95 at any time, but it is still the quickest way to SB. I am not fan of South Beach, last time we were there on a Sat afternoon, there must have been 80-100 homeless people hanging around the beach and public bathrooms. There were a LOT of unsavory types of people walking around also. I saw NO police around. We will take visitors there, but will not go back on our own. It does not have the cache it used to have IMHO.

I agree with Cimbrone, at Vizcaya, the house takes about an hour or so if you do the tour and wander around on your own and the gardens are quite large. You could spend as much time as you like.

If you're looking for a trendy place for lunch, you might try the terrace of the Blue Door at the Delano hotel.
http://www.delano-hotel.com/vr3.html

If you live in Miami or the Greater Miami area the traffic is not all that bad. If you do not live there then the traffic will be horrendus. Its all perspective. I lived in Miami for years and when I go back to visit I don't like the traffic one little bit.

Redrock -

I used to live in the New York area, and when I was in school, I drove a truck in Manhattan during the summers, so I know about traffic.

Thanks for the advice.

I lived outside of Guadalajara if you want to see traffic drive there especially around Minerva Circle where 7 or 8 aves , converge into the circle.

Miami is a breeze.

bobrad-- I am sure you would recognize some of the Miami drivers, or at least their lack of driving skills.

Sssteve, I'm sure Cimbrone was joking. GoTravel and BoBrad are correct--I-95 always seems to have a problem. I take it six days a week, outside of the official rush hours (usually midday) and it's usually five lanes of cars sitting with their brake lights on, waiting to get to Miami. People will say that only happens "when there's an accident." Guess what? There is ALWAYS an accident. In the last six days, I have driven past 14 accidents on I-95. That's an average of two a day. And I'm not even counting the ones on I-595, which I also need to take. Count on I-95 not to move and you won't be disappointed.

A1A won't be any faster than I-95 but at least it will be a semi-scenic route.

Several years ago when we lived in South Florida we were on 95 and it had just started to sprinkle. A car about 50 yards in front of us spun around three times never getting out the lane they were in. Straightened out and never even slowed. We watched a wreck never happen. The gods of interstate 95 were with us that day.

Maybe one of you Florida experts can help me figure something out. I've been checking web maps and driving routes for when I will be in Florida and I have a question (my mother is 95 and hasn't driven much lately so I can't ask her). What is highway 91 ? I have noticed it on various web based maps of southern Florida going through Ft. Lauderdale and meeting up with 95 to the south. It looks like a major highway on the maps, but I don't remember any road like it from the last time I visited (maybe 10 years ago).

Can anybody enlighten me?

sssteve I-91 starts in New Haven , Ct. and ends up close to the Canadian boarder. Could you possibly mean US Route 1 or by its other name Federal Hwy ?

That is the Florida Turnpike. SR-91 is the state designated number for it.

ps. Florida's Turnpike is also called the 'Ronald Reagan Turnpike".

RedRoack - you are absolutely right. 91 is the Florida Turnpike. Where I was looking on the web map, it showed "91". When I scrolled farther north, the turnpike designation showed up.