We have a 5 hour layover in Miami and would like to leave the airport and explore. Any suggestions? We will need to eat during this period of time as well. Thanks!

Hi folks
Your best bet will be to take a taxi to Coconut Grove. It should not exceed 10 - 15 bucks. It will take no more than 15 minutes. There you can eat, drink and enjoy one of the best parts of Miami. Shopping, strolling just enjoying.
Good luck
MW

I think Miami Beach/South Beach would be best, a taxi can get you there quickly and cheaply and once there you can walk around, decide what you want to eat, high end or a quick sandwich on Ocean Drive. There are dozens of restaurants there, personally I like one of the nicer hotel restaurants.
Then maybe a walk up Lincoln Road (full of stores, restaurants, people), from there you can grab another taxi back to the airport for your next flight. You should be able to do plenty in 5 hours, approx 15 mins to the beach and 15 mins back, so that leaves 4.5 hours for eating and some sightseeing, although keep in mind traffic. I dont know what time you are arriving into MIA so can't advise, but keep that in mind.

Disclaimer: Although affiliated with http://www.limoway.com in Fort Lauderdale & Miami, Fl my opinions are unbiased and based only on my travel experience and the location I live - South Florida

My vote is also South Beach... Ocean Drive is a great walking area with its Deco Hotels and Bistros and you can also cross the street to the Beach.... consider the beach path and head over to Loews or the Delano and drink in the Sun... a couple of hours there along with lunch is a perfect choice... have fun!

I too would opt for South Beach over Coconut Grove (unless you're college kids, which flock to the Grove). Some one mentioned recently that it is now a fixed price for a taxi to South Beach. Was that $40 or $45?

The only concern is -- how much of that 5 hours do you really have? You probably need to be back to the airport 2 hours before you depart -- security can be a nightmare there. Hopefully you don't also have to claim and recheck luggage (which has taken as much as 2 and a half hours for us).

By the way, I'm really curious, abclimo, why you are now posting that disclaimer with all your posts. It seems like saying "I'm not advertising and this post has nothing to do with my website which you can see by going to ______"

If the post has nothing to do with your website, why bring it up in the first place?

I will leave it out if you want, but the disclaimer is there to inform that that my opinions are my own and because I am involved in the travel industry of South Florida as well as living here I have learned a lot about the South Florida area.

Not for me to decide. Just seemed odd to me.

Thanks everyone for the info. We have an international flight so after careful consideration we have decided to just park it in the airport for the length of our layover. I don't want to take any chances not getting back due to traffic or possible security holdups.

If you want to be outdoors and like botanic gardens, the Fairchild Tropical Gardens is about 20 minutes away, so you could spend just a little time stretching your legs. there is a small very basic cafe there.

You could take a cab to downtown Coral Gables (15 mins from MIA), walk around, get some good food and even take the free trolley over to the Biltmore Hotel to look around (very historic hotel).