Hello fellow forumers from Miami/FLL and those that know the area. I'm visiting Miami and Fort Lauderdale for the first time. I can't believe I'm only going there for the 1st time, being that I travel a lot in North America and Western Europe, but I guess there's always a first-time. Anyway, I'm VERY excited, especially since I'll be staying right on Ocean Drive in Miami Beach, and in Fort Lauderdale I'll be with a VERY special guy who is meeting me there from NYC. Ya...a lot of that > :lovethem:

In either MIA or FLL,

1. What are two or three must-see/must-do things?
2. What neighborhoods should I avoid? I've heard and even read here from you guys that most of Miami is rather or very unsafe...wow!...that's kinda crazy. And is it true that parts of Washington Ave in Miami beach rather unsafe? How can that be...it's so close to Ocean Drive...I imagined ALL Miami beach a paradise...HEHE.
3. I want to experience Miami for what it is as far as culture/ethnicity goes? Is Calle Ocho the main strip of Little Habana? From where to where? I should find Cuban restaurants there, I suspect? What other ethnic or "Little-this" neighborhoods are there in Miami? Little-Haiti?
4. Is there a commuter-train from downtown Fort-Lauderdale to downtown Miami? I don't want to pay for a 45-minute taxi, but I prefer to abstain from Greyhound, and I don't want to rent a car because in FLL Mr. Special guy will have a car and while in Miami I'll be in Miami Beach where I assume I can walk (Miami Beach looks very dense on aerials and pics)
5. Do Taxi's abound and stop-to-pick-up anywhere in Downtown/Central Miami like in NYC or do you have to go to designated Taxi stations like in Paris? Maybe I should just get a car...?
6. Finally, any special events any of u know of happening in the MIA/FLL area?

Thanks!

1. I'll let someone else answer that, i'am a little selective.
2. Liberty City, Miami. By the way Miami is a very expensive high-wealth residential living, hard to find any crime in Miami Beach thats why we changed our name from Vice City to the Magic City.
3. Yea, however mixed cultural, art, fine dining, and night life are well placed in Deco Drive.
4. No idea.
5. Taxi's arent every where in Miami like they are in NYC, your better off taking a bus.
6. You should of visited earlier this weak with the Art fest, dont know much about anything else going on.

- However wait for other members respond since they know just as much as me!. :)
- P.S. enjoy your stay! :cheers:

Yeah, you are one week late for the special event. Probably the biggest yearly event of the year, Art Basel Miami, was last weekend. Of course hotel rooms would have cost about $300 a night more last weekend than this weekend I'm guessing.

For places to see, it depends on what you're into. Ft. Lauderdale and Miami are only 15 miles from each other, so transportation shouldn't be a pain. There is a train, Tri-Rail, that will take you from Miami to Ft. Lauderdale; however, you'll probably have to ride local buses to get from destination to destination wherever you wanna go in Ft. Lauderdale as far as getting there from the train station. FLL isn't as dense as Miami, unless of course you're hanging out around Las Olas and Ocean Blvd.
For FLL, King Tut is coming to town Dec. 15th at the FLL Museum of Art. For dining/show, check out Barton G's on Miami Beach (I haven't been, but I hear great things). From my experience, taxis are hard to come by. If you could rent a car, more power to you. Unfortunately, S. Florida was designed to accomadate the car, not the pedestrian (except for Downtown Miami).

Thanks for your suggestions! And thank YOU, DShoost88...I don't think I've ever been given a phone number on skyscrapercity...especially with help intended. Man skyscrapercity doesn't cease to surprise me. Although if I were you I would consider a Private Message in the future so that your number is not there for everyone ;)

I didn't realize how close Fort Lauderdale was to Miami...well, I knew it was contiguously connected but somewhere I read it was 45 miles apart. I just measured it in Google Earth and I got about 24 miles from downtown to downtown. While in Fort Lauderdale my friend will have wheels so he can drop me off at FLL airport and from there I can take the Tri-County Airport Express to my hotel in Miami Beach for around $18.00...that should be way better than dealing with Greyhound, even if not as cheap...I hope they don't ask for my airplane ticket! Once in Miami Beach, I shouldn't need a car. Ed here...thx!

you can take the tri rail train from ft lauderdale (not sure wheren the station is up therel, but i dont think its very far from downtown) to the metrorail in miami, and its only a short ride from there to downtown... the buses from downtown to south beach run quickly (more so than any other buses in the county)... but if you take the metro ull get to hang around downtown a little, and although it is not the hugely lively area it will b a few years from now, while passing through en route to south beach you will b able to see the huge amount of construction going on, which i think is the biggest see/must do when your down here...

theres parts of washington ave that arent as nice as other parts of south beach, but no part that would be considered unsafe

1. two or three must does? lol imposible to answer there is way to much to do for that small list.Fore romance visciaya estate late afternoon.Sneak into the beack on key biscayne and walk to the light house at night.for exitement south beach all the way baby and the grove also check out club space and metropolis in down town metropolis is the largest night club on the planet.south beach possibly the largest year round night club scene on the planet.ft lauderdale beach is ok to party and also holly wood beach as well .if you want to drive a ways head down to the keys.......................................................................................................... 2.Neighborhoods to avoid lol well almost all of them.lets see 1 OVER TOWN, 2 LITTLE HAITI,,3 LIBERTY CITY,4 CAROL CITY,5 OPA LOCKA,6 GOULDS 7 RICHMOND HIEGHTS 8 ALLAPATAH,9 LITTLE HAVANNA,10 HIALEAH,11 MEDLEY,12 LITTLE RIVER,13 SOUTHWEST SIDE OF COCONUT GROVE,14 PARTS OF HOMESTEAD,15 PARTS OF FLORIDA CITY,16 PERRINE,17 WEST DADE,18 NORTH MIAMI 19 MIAMI GARDENS 20 PART OF SOUTH MIAMI THAT IS WEST of US1 21 AND ANYTHING JUST TO THE NORTH OR WEST OF DOWNTOWN MIAMI ALSO MAYBE 22 CUTLER RIDGE THATS JUST IN DADE COUNTY.A S FOR BROWARD COUNTY I DONT KNOW MUCH ABOUT BUT I KNOW ITS BETTER THAN Miami dade county.i CAN TELL YOU A FEW BAD AREAS IN Broward Parts of davie a in between davie blvd and broward blvd west of i -95 as for palm beach county just west of the downtown area is bad but i dont know much about palm beach county.

3.note look up the crime rate of opa locka its the highest violent crime rate in the country. YES WASHINGTON AVENUE CAN BE SKETCHY ASPECIALLY AT NIGHT BUT PROBABLY NOT UNSAFE OR AT LEAST NOT AS UNSAFE AS MOST OF Miami BECAUSE THERE IS MANY POLICE there to protect tourists.If you are alone guys will approch you at times in a agressive way but dont worry they ussually only want your number lol.other times homeless will ask you for money.sometimes aggressive sometimes not.Some people may try to sell you things like c/ds or flowers or water bottels just ignor them they are ussually harmless.Like i said Police in Miami beach are all over the place to protect tourists.lol if only they would protect locals like that huh lol.Cuban resturaunts and many other latin resturaunts will be all over the city aspecially in Miami dade.If you do go to Little havanna go in the day not at night it is not safe.hialeah is like another little havanna but a hundred times bigger but it areas like that remember you must know spanish, I repeat you must know spanish.You will feel like you travel to south ameria or cuba trust me.

as far as cummuter trains there is a tri rail train that travels through alot of the metropolis Miami-dade broward and palm beach counties over 100 miles.ther is also the metro rail in Miami dade county that travels for about 20 - 30 miles and the people mover in down town Miami that travels maybe 4 miles through down town.so three trains in total.If you can rent a car its much better because Miami is huge and spread out its more like an L.A. type of city than NY unless you are along the metrorail line or in south beach.In south beach you dont really need a car.There is also buses.Buses are good in south beach but poor in the rest of Miami.Taxis are all rip offs.Again best rent a car.as far as special events wow the list never ends. calle ocho biggest block party on the planet 2 million people in one mile area.memorial day weekend on the beach laborday weekend on the beach.the list goes on for ever I beleive there is more to do in Miami than NYC but you just need a car.if not you may as well go to bagdad or haiti lol Some areas here really are like third world countries its true.Miami is extream good and bad but its My favorite city. You may just fall in love.Oh yea remember to try the famouse cuban coffe and the food is a bit different than anyplace in the states in many resturaunts.stay safe but most important have fun.

dont forget to take photos of all the buildings and post them.

For the most part, anywhere besides the area bounded by 37th avenue to the west, SR836 to the south, US-1/Biscayne Boulevard to the east, and the county line to the north is fine... and most of the "avoidance zone" is only REALLY bad west of I-95 (the area between 95 and US-1 is rapidly gentrifying).

Look up these areas on a map:

* Overtown
* Liberty City
* Opa-Locka

and avoid them at all costs. And for god's sake, don't try to walk from Coconut Grove to UM down Grand Avenue (lesson #1 from Freshman Orientation there...)

I have to disagree with SayHelloToMyLilFrien's characterization of Little Havana and Hialeah as "bad". Your biggest danger in Little Havana is really getting ticketed for illegally parking or getting hit by a car while crossing the street. And your biggest danger in Hialeah is just getting hopelessly lost, or blowing half the day stuck in hopeless gridlock trying to figure out how to get back to the Palmetto (Hialeah has its own street numbering system that bears no resemblance to Dade County's). Most of the people in that area speak Spanish... but that doesn't make it a "bad" or "dangerous" area.

On the "must do" list -- ride Metromover. Grab the front of the car, sit on the carpeted platform, and enjoy the view :-)