Things To Do in Miami & Miami Airport Layover Ideas

There are many art installations and exhibits throughout the terminals. Here are just a few to whet your art-appreciation appetite:

• The Carybé murals, two of the most iconic public artworks in the U.S. aviation sector, are on display at MIA Miami International Airport. Installed at JFK Airport in New York in 1960, the murals were the result of a competition in which Brazilian artist Carybé won first and second prizes. Massive in their scale, the murals are 16.5 x 53 feet each. South Terminal.
• Got Any Jacks? is artist Donald Lipski's tribute to Miami’s miraculous aquatic environment, and consists of nearly 100 sculptures made of fish replicas. North Terminal D, Level 2 (past Security).
• Long walks along Miami’s beaches inspired Michele Oka Doner's monumental site-specific art installation: A Walk on the Beach. This half-mile-long walkway features 2000 unique cast bronze elements embedded in a dark gray terrazzo matrix. North Terminal D, Level 2 (past Security).
• Martha Schwartz, a renowned British landscape architect and artist with a major interest in urban projects, was commissioned to create a noise abatement wall along the North perimeter of the airport. Northside of Airport on NW 36th Street.

Miami's hot spot, South Beach, boasts unique art deco architecture in a fabulous setting next to clear blue waters. Head to Lincoln Road where seven blocks have been closed to traffic: perfect for shopping, art galleries, restaurants - and people watching!

The Vizcaya Museum and Gardens is a European-inspired estate. Includes a main house filled with art and furnishings and ten acres of gardens on Biscayne Bay.

The Ancient Spanish Monastery was originally built in Segovia, Spain in 1141. How it got here is a long story, but as seen on the History Channel show Weird U.S., the church is an interesting an unusual sight to see

In the 1920s Denman Dink transformed this limestone quarry into a pool with a waterfall, an area for kids and an area for adults. The water in the Venetian Pool comes from a spring and is drained daily. In addition to the swimming facilities there is a snack bar (you cannot bring outside food into the Venetian Pool) and lockers. The Venetian Pool is best known for having Esther Williams and Johnny Weissmuller (the silver screen’s first Tarzan) swim here.

Zoo Miami is the largest and oldest zoological garden in Florida. It houses over 1,200 wild animals and is a free range zoo. Its climate allows it to keep a wide variety of animals from Asia, Australia and Africa like no other zoo in the country.

Of course, if you're in Miami, you'll want to spend some time on the beach. Miami Beach in on a barrier reef across the Biscayne Bay, and it's sandy, sunny beaches from party-hearty South Beach that continues all the way up north along the coast of Florida. As Miami has pretty temperate weather, the beaches will be active all year round, but the water will usually be too cold to swim in the winter. Topless sunbathing is allowed in Miami Beach, and if you want to take it all off, go to Haulover Beach Park in North Beach.