Welcome to Miami! We visited Miami for a week on our Florida Road Trip. We had a lot of fun! The RV park was about a 45 minute to an hour drive into Miami so we weren’t in the craziness of the city, but we were close enough to visit multiple times and found some pretty cool things to do in Miami with kids.
Here are our recommendations on the top things to do in Miami with kids!
Also, be sure to check out our Florida Road Trip as this is a stop on the route and our Florida Keys Road Trip if you want to keep exploring south Florida. Or our East Coast Road Trip if you want to explore multiple states!
Table of Contents
Shark Valley – Everglades National Park
AMAZING! This is by far the #1 thing we recommend doing when you visit the Miami area. It is located on the northern end of the park so depending on where you are staying it may be a drive, but it is worth it. And is at the top of our list of what to see in Everglades National Park.
Shark Valley is an Everglades National Park Visitor Center. If you don’t have a National Park pass you will have to pay to get in – if not it is an awesome free thing to do in Miami, and depending on how busy it is when you get there you may have to wait in your car in line to get in since they have limited parking spaces.
Some people were parking on the road outside of the park, but we decided to wait it out and after about 20 minutes we got in and got a parking spot.
The visitor center was nice. It is small but it was worth stopping at. What Shark Valley is known for is the 15 mile round trip path that takes you into the Everglades and is lined with not sharks, but alligators! And these aren’t baby alligators these are full grown adult alligators.
If you want you can walk the trail for as far as you would like and then turn around and walk back. When we were there we saw a couple of alligators within the first mile – so it is definitely an option.
Instead of walking, we opted for biking the 7 miles in to the Shark Valley lookout tower and then biking the 8 miles back to the visitor center. It is a loop so you take a different trail back than you took in.
We saw TON of alligators and they were humongous and RIGHT on the side of the path! It was crazy and scary and so cool! At one point the trail was flooded with about an inch of water so as we were biking through it we went right by an alligator laying on the side of the trail. So it totally felt like we were right in the water with them. WILD!
We also got a chance to see some of the alligators swimming around in the water on the side of the trail and it was really amazing to watch.
Once you get to the lookout tower you can climb to the top and look out over the Everglades – it is an amazing view and was well worth the trip out there.
With our 4 kids we had 2 in the bike trailer, 1 on the bike that attaches to the back of my bike, and Carson road the whole way himself. He has never biked for 15 miles (I don’t think I have either), but he did great.
There were a few times it got tough and he was tired. It mainly had to do with us riding straight into the wind for 7 miles. He pushed through and was so proud of himself when he was done.
If you aren’t up for riding your bike or walking, they also offer a tram that will drive you out to the tower, you get to stop and get out to go to the top of the tower, and then it drives you back. This would definitely be an option, but I have to say I think you get much more out of biking.
The tram moved pretty quickly, so I am assuming they missed a lot of the alligators that we found as we were biking by.
When we got there the tram was sold out. So if you do decide to go that route make sure to call ahead to get your tickets.
If you are anywhere near Shark Vally we say it is a CAN’T MISS STOP!
Want to do more in the Everglades. Check out this post on kayaking in the Everglades!
Miami Seaquarium
We had an amazing time at the Miami Seaquarium. It was not a huge facility which meant you could get up close and personal with the animals, which we love. Our first stop was feeding the seals. They are such an awesome sea creature.
They do a short educational overview and then you could purchase fish and drop them into the seal tank to feed them. The seals know the food is coming so they are eager and waiting.
Next we headed over to the sting ray touch tank where you can put your hand in the water and touch the sting ray and if you are there during a feeding you can also pay to buy food and feed the sting rays. Any time there is a hands on activity the kids love it and so do we!
They also have birds, manatee, an aquarium, and guess where the sharks are . . . in a moat surrounding the kids playground. Go figure! They also do a shark feeding, but unfortunately the water was pretty murky so it was hard to see.
If you want to visit the playground, bring an extra pair of clothes and a towel for your kids. They have water guns at the playground and our kids got soaked, but had a blast! It was a great way to break up the day and give them a chance to run around for a while and cool off.
They also have a couple of dolphin shows.
The kids can also do a scavenger hunt throughout the park to become Reef Rangers. They had a lot of fun doing the scavenger hunt and were excited to get the Reef Ranger pin at the end.
We had a great day at the Seaquarium and definitely recommend it if you are in Miami.
The Miami Seaquarium has multiple events throughout the year including Homeschool Days, and events for Easter, Halloween, Fall Festivals, and Christmas. Be sure to check out the details on the website and plan for these great family fun events.
Get your tickets to the Miami Seaquarium here!
If you just have a weekend check out this great 3 Day Miami Itinerary!
Knaus Berry Farm
I like pastiries. We have been visiting local donut shops all over the country to find the best. When we were in Miami, our friends at We Bring The Kids mentioned that we should try Knaus Berry Farm. WOW!
They don’t have donuts, but they have cinnamon rolls and they were seriously the best cinnamon rolls we have ever had! There are other pastries they sell, but we went straight for dozen cinnamon rolls and finished them off in about 20 minutes. The cinnamon rolls were so good!
They also offer berry picking, but when we were there they didn’t have many to pick. We were good with the cinnamon rolls. If you are in the area make the side trip to stop for the cinnamon rolls. But if you go on a weekend expect to wait in line and there is a chance they will sell out . . . so get there early.
Another tip we got was to buy the day old cinnamon rolls. You have to pop them in the microwave to make them warm and soft, but they cost a bit less. We went freshy fresh!
South Beach – A1A Beach Front Avenue!
Being in Miami meant we had to take a drive down South Beach to check out Miami Beach. We queued up Vanilla Ice on cassette and rolled the windows down!
It was exactly like what South Beach looks like in the movies! There was music blaring, people walking around with teeny tiny bathing suits (guys included) and people having a good time.
Be prepared it was early afternoon when we went and they already had the dancers out dancing at the restaurants in their skimpy outfits shakin’ their booties. It was just like we imagined South Beach to be. It had a cool vibe and is definitely somewhere we recommend checking out and in the future we will plan to stop to spend the day hanging out on the beach and checking out a restaurant.
Azucar and Little Havanna
We Bring The Kids had mentioned Azucar and Little Havanna as well and it was a great recommendation. Azucar is an ice cream store with gelato type of ice cream right in the heart of Little Havanna on Calle Ocho. The ice cream was great and right next store is a bar that had a Cuban band playing. After the ice cream we went out and did a little dancing in the street! Bailando!
We then walked across the street the Dominoes Park to check out all of the people playing dominoes. It was a very cool area and we loved the cuban vibe! While in Little Havana check out this great Walking Food Tour with Lunch.
Wynwood
Wynwood is an up and coming art district in Miami. Artists have used graffiti to paint the walls of the buildings into colorful murals. The art work was beautiful and it was so cool to drive around and see all of the cool buildings.
It is like an outdoor art gallery! Seeing art may not be what comes to mind when thinking of things to do in Miami with kids. Trust me, this was cool to see and very family friendly. Check out the best street art Wynwood has to offer on this 1-hour tour by golf buggy.
We then stopped to get out and walk through the Wynwood Walls. This is a fenced in area that has painted walls everywhere along with some restaurants. It was really cool and again well worth the stop to see it. We would have loved to stay for dinner. The restaurants looked really neat!
Jungle Island
We ended up getting tickets last minute to Jungle Island and they were having a cooking show/event going on. So we were able to see a show with chefs from the Food Network and we got to sample a bunch of food! It was not how Jungle Island normally is, but it was a cool experience.
After that we were able to walk around and see the animals. It was smaller than a zoo but they still had some neat animals. We were glad we got to experience the food show, sampling the food, and seeing the animals.
There are so many other things to do in Miami with kids. We would love to come back and visit again so we can do even more. Here are a few things we would want to check out:
- Super Wheels Skating Center for an indoor roller rink.
- Fun Dimension for laser tag.
- The Edge Rock Gym for a climbing wall.
- Crandon Park that is in the northern part of Key Biscayne.
- Bayfront Park in Downtown Miami, Florida that is located on Biscayne Bay.
- Miami Children’s Museum and Zoo Miami.
- Cruise ship watching.
- Rent a boat in Miami.
- Pirate Sightseeing Adventure Guided Cruise
- Miami Museum of Illusions
If you are looking for an RV resort to stay at while in Miami, be sure to check out the Miami Everglades RV Resort. We had a great stay there and definitely recommend it.
Looking for more nature options. Check out Big Cypress National Preserve.
Disclosure: Thank you to the Miami Seaquarium for hosting us on our visit. All opinions here are my own. #truth
Want more gulf coast fun? Check out this Florida Gulf Coast Road Trip Itinerary!
Where to Stay
Hotels
The Altair Bay Harbor Hotel this 4 star hotel offers an onsite restaurant, outdoor pool, hot tub, and fitness center. Located in the heart of Bay Harbor, this hotel is walking distance to many restaurants and cafes.
The Palms Hotel and Spa this oceanfront hotel offers spectactular views and many amenties for your family including fitness center, pool, and lounge chairs for the beach.
Vacation Rentals
Luxury Apartment Overlooking the ocean this amazing apartment has a pool and gym. This 2 bedroom apartment sleeps 4.
Mediterranean Style Cottage in Miami’s Upper East Side Walking distance to many great restaurants and bars, this art deco house sleeps 9.
If you like this post be sure to check out our other posts:
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Oh man, I would have been so scared of the alligators!
Looks like you’re having a great time; can’t wait to hear more!
Talk soon,
Mariana
Yeah, our kids were pretty scared at times, but we made it through 🙂 We definitely weren’t expecting how close they were going to be!
Thanks for this great post. We are going with our 11 and 12 YOs in a couple months. Am I right to assume that you brought your own bikes (via the RV) to Shark Valley? Looks like such a great way to do it, but seems like an impossible feat to get four bikes in a rental car from Miami! What time of year were you there? Thanks again for the advice!
We did have our own bikes with us. We had a 5 bike bike-rack on our car at the time and put all the bikes on that. It would be hard to fit several bikes on a rental unless it’s a truck. We were there in the spring.