Downtown

High-rise skyscrapers, lit by colorful floodlights, reflected in the dark waters of Biscayne Bay – this is the nighttime skyline of Miami’s downtown. The resplendent view takes on a whole new aspect in daylight, however, as downtown booms with all the hustle and bustle of a major business, banking, and government center. The commercial crossroads of the Western Hemisphere, Miami’s busy downtown is also a major tourist destination, with Bayside Marketplace its crown jewel. Easily accessible from all public transportation, this open-air complex of shops, boutiques, restaurants and cafés also features regular live entertainment, and is the point of embarkation for the sightseeing cruise boats that sweep across the beautiful blue waves of Biscayne Bay.

Next door to Bayside is Bayfront Park – site of frequent concerts and events – as well as the new American Airlines Arena, home of the Miami Heat pro basketball team. Heading west from the bay is the downtown shopping district, where shoppers will find bargain prices on merchandise ranging from electronics and jewelry to clothing and sporting goods. Nearby is Gusman Center, which hosts the annual Miami Film Festival, and the Metro-Dade Cultural Center, home to the Miami Art Museum, the Historical Museum of Southern Florida and the Miami-Dade Public Library.

Hotels and fine dining abound to serve the business traveler as well as the holiday crowd. The international flavor of the city is reflected in its cuisine; a wide array is available in atmospheres as varied as a quiet café, Continental bistro, or a party boat serving dinner on the waters of Biscayne Bay.

Overtown

Located on the northern end of downtown Miami, Overtown was the center of the thriving African-American community in the 1920s, then went into an inner-city decline. It is now in the midst of a rebirth and a new pride. The Overtown Historic Village incorporates, in a few blocks, the highlights of the area’s history. Here you’ll find the house of D.A. Dorsey, Miami’s first African-American millionaire; the Lyric Theater, where the greats of the jazz world used to perform; and the Greater Bethel AME Church, a focal point for Civil Rights and spiritual uplift. Overtown is also the locale of the Miami Arena.

Little Havana

Just west of downtown Miami is Little Havana, an area of modest homes and shops where those who fled Communist Cuba have re-created a bit of their beloved homeland. The streets are alive with Spanish conversation, the sidewalk cafeterias serve café Cubano along with popular Cuban dishes, the parks are filled with elderly men engrossed in games of 24 Orientation dominoes, and the quaint shops offer cigars made in the finest Cuban tradition at local factories and hand-embroidered guayabera shirts made by local garment workers.

The annual festival known as Carnaval Miami celebrates Miami’s Cuban heritage and culminates each March in Calle Ocho – called the world’s largest block party – which explodes along SW 8th Street in an outpouring of music, dance, and sparkling effervescence.

Little Haiti

Immigrants from Haiti have clustered in the neighborhood formerly known as Lemon City (situated in northeast Miami, from 39th Street up to 94th Street, west of Biscayne Boulevard), and given it a flavor all their own. The walls of many buildings are decorated with stunning murals by local artists, manifesting the nostalgic pride that these folk from the first black republic in the Americas feel for their homeland. The Caribbean Marketplace in the heart of the area is a shopping center designed as a look-alike of the famed Iron Market in Port-au-Prince. The exotic architecture and the unique wares offered by local vendors bring the aura of the distant island to mid-Miami, and French/Haitian is the lingua franca of the thriving streets and many churches.