The best things to do in North Miami Beach, FL sit within a ten minute drive of each other: Florida's largest urban park, a 12th century Spanish cloister that William Randolph Hearst shipped over in pieces, 249 acres of oak hammock with a nine hole golf course inside it, and a restaurant corridor locals call Chinatown. The city itself covers under five square miles and has no beach of its own, so this guide is organized by drive time. Sixteen entries, starting with what sits inside the city limits and working outward to what earns a half hour in the car.
Getting Oriented: Two Roads and Three Drive-Time Rings
North Miami Beach is a 5.37 square mile city in northeast Miami-Dade with roughly 43,700 residents, and despite the name it holds no shoreline. The sand is across the Intracoastal Waterway in Sunny Isles Beach, about ten minutes east (2020 U.S. Census figures). Locals navigate on two roads. NE 163rd Street and NE 167th Street form the east-west commercial spine and the best eating in northern Miami-Dade. Biscayne Boulevard, which is US 1, runs north and south.
Everything else is a matter of how far you are willing to drive. Ring one is under ten minutes and covers the parks, the monastery and the corridor, all with genuine North Miami Beach addresses. Ring two, ten to twenty minutes, brings in the beach at Haulover, the mall at Aventura and the museums in North Miami. Ring three, twenty to forty minutes, opens up the Miami Beach and Broward options.
The city sits beside the Golden Glades Interchange, where I-95, Florida's Turnpike and the Palmetto Expressway meet, which is why the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau describes most of South Florida as reachable from here in under thirty minutes. That interchange is the reason this compact city punches above its size as a base.
Under Ten Minutes: Parks, Cloisters and the Restaurant Corridor
Seven of the sixteen entries below have North Miami Beach or immediately adjacent addresses. If you have one day and no interest in driving, this section is the whole trip.
Oleta River State Park
Oleta River State Park is Florida's largest urban park and the best single reason to be here on a Saturday morning. Rent a kayak or paddleboard and work up the mangrove-lined estuary, ride some of the 15 miles of mountain biking trails, or swim at the sheltered beach on the bay side. Cabins are available if you want to stay overnight. Trails run exposed in stretches, so from May through September start at opening and be off the bike by eleven. Check hours and current entrance fees on the Florida State Parks page before you go. Owning the gear is the tax on living near it, and paddleboards, bikes and beach chairs are exactly what a 5×10 storage unit in North Miami Beach is sized to hold.
Greynolds Park
Greynolds Park gives you 249 acres of oak hammock, walking paths and picnic shelters at 18601 NE 22nd Avenue, and it is the free option most visitors never hear about. There are two playgrounds, six picnic shelters with grills, a boathouse with a canoe and kayak launch, and a fishing dock at East Greynolds. Parking is free Monday through Thursday and $10 Friday through Sunday according to Miami-Dade County Parks, so a weekday picnic here costs nothing at all. The bark park is at East Greynolds, not the main entrance, which trips up first-time visitors with a dog in the car.
The Ancient Spanish Monastery
The Ancient Spanish Monastery is the strangest thing in the city and the one attraction worth planning a day around. The cloisters were built in Sacramenia, Segovia in the 12th century, bought by William Randolph Hearst in the 1920s, shipped to the United States in crates and reassembled in North Miami Beach in the 1950s. You get gardens, a chapel, the church and a gift shop, and an hour is plenty. It closes every Monday and Tuesday and frequently on other days for weddings, so pull the current month's schedule from the monastery's own site before driving over. Turning up unannounced on a Saturday usually means a wedding.
Arch Creek Park and Nature Center
Arch Creek Park and Nature Center preserves a natural limestone bridge that Native American tribes used to cross Arch Creek, plus a museum of Native American and early settler artifacts. Nine acres of bird and wildlife sanctuary sit behind it, with guided nature trails and ecoadventure programming. The site is small and easy to finish in an hour, which makes it the natural pairing with Greynolds Park a few minutes north. Programming drives the schedule here, so call 305-944-6111 for current hours rather than trusting a listing, and check the county park page for camp dates if you have children ages 6 to 14.
Greynolds Golf Course
Greynolds Golf Course is the only course with a North Miami Beach address, and it sits inside Greynolds Park at 17530 W Dixie Highway. Nine holes, par 36, 3,100 yards, designed by Mark Mahannah in 1964 and run as a Miami-Dade County municipal course. It is open 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily with electric carts, club rentals and online tee times (Greynolds Golf Course). This is the most walk-on friendly course in the area and the right pick for a quick nine rather than a destination round. Golfers who play weekly here often keep clubs, a pull cart and the rest of the bag in a 5×5 locker instead of the trunk.
The 163rd and 167th Street Restaurant Corridor
The corridor along NE 163rd Street and NE 167th Street is the reason Miami food writers drive north, and residents and city officials have called it Chinatown since the early 1990s. Sang's Chinese Food and Dim Sum at 1925 NE 163rd Street runs more than 40 dim sum plates daily from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., not just on weekends, which makes it the best weekday lunch on the street. Sichuan Fish at 1242 NE 163rd Street builds its menu around mapo tofu and whole fish under chopped chilis; the peppercorn load is genuinely high, so order one non-mala dish for the table. Barra Callao on West Dixie Highway serves Peruvian seafood at a twelve seat counter, which means reservations Tuesday through Thursday and an unavoidable wait on Saturdays. Our guide to the best restaurants in North Miami Beach covers the corridor block by block. Humidity is the constant in South Florida, which is why plenty of the independent businesses along here keep paper, inventory and spare equipment in climate controlled storage in North Miami Beach rather than a back room.
Lique Miami
Lique Miami at 3957 NE 163rd Street is the closest thing the city has to a dressed-up night out that does not require crossing a causeway. Dinner on the water turns into a late lounge as the evening goes on, and reservations and private events both run through the house system. Hours are Monday to Thursday 6 p.m. to 1 a.m., Friday and Saturday 4 p.m. to 2 a.m., and Sunday 4 p.m. to midnight. Go for the waterfront tables rather than the late hours if the point is the view. For pool tables, hookah lounges and live music rooms, see our North Miami Beach nightlife guide.
Ten to Twenty Minutes: The Beach, the Pier and the Museums
Anything in this ring is a short drive east over the Intracoastal or a short run north or south on Biscayne Boulevard. This is where the beach lives, since the city itself does not have one.
Haulover Park
Haulover Park holds the largest remaining stretch of undeveloped beachfront in Miami-Dade County across a 1.4 mile beach, and it is about ten minutes east between Bal Harbour and Sunny Isles Beach. Year-round lifeguards, the Bill Bird Marina and its charter fishing fleet, a dog park, a skate park with a pump track, and kite flying on the north end. Parking runs $7 on weekdays and $10 on weekends and holidays, and lots close one hour before sunset (Miami-Dade County Parks). One thing to know before you park: the northern third of the beach, between lifeguard towers 12 and 16, is clothing optional, so families should use the southern lots.
Aventura Mall and the Aventura Slide Tower
Aventura Mall is about eight minutes north and functions as this area's rainy-day answer as much as its shopping trip. More than 100 retailers sit under one roof alongside a collection of over 25 museum-caliber artworks and the 93 foot enclosed Aventura Slide Tower in the three-story atrium. USA Today readers voted it the best mall in the United States two years running. Doors open at 10 a.m. and the slide tower is quietest in that first hour. Park in the garages rather than the surface lots on weekends, and enter from the north side, because the garages nearest Nordstrom fill first.
The Newport Fishing Pier in Sunny Isles Beach
The Newport Fishing Pier at 16701 Collins Avenue is the cheapest ocean activity in the area and it is open to people who are not staying at the hotel behind it. Walk out over the water, watch the anglers work the end of the pier, and eat at the Sandbar restaurant sitting on it. The pier belongs to The Sunny Miami Sunny Isles Beach, which is the rebranded Newport Beachside, so older directories and reviews still use the previous name. Early morning and the hour before sunset are the two windows worth timing; midday on the pier is punishing from June through September.
MOCA North Miami
MOCA North Miami puts contemporary art in the Joan Lehman Building at 770 NE 125th Street, roughly fifteen minutes south. Rotating exhibitions run alongside a permanent collection, and the JAZZ at MOCA series and Conversations at MOCA fill the calendar through the year. Free art classes for families and teens are part of the programming. The museum is closed Monday and Tuesday, open Wednesday noon to 7 p.m. and Thursday through Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (MOCA North Miami). That Wednesday evening window is the quietest time to visit and the one locals use.
Luna Star Cafe
Luna Star Cafe at 775 NE 125th Street is a live music listening room rather than a bar, and the distinction matters. Folk, Celtic, jazz and singer-songwriter sets share the calendar with open mics and jams, and the house asks patrons to keep their voices to a whisper while a performer is playing. Food, drinks and desserts are served. It is open Wednesday and Thursday 5 p.m. to 11 p.m., Friday and Saturday 5 p.m. to midnight, and closed Sunday through Tuesday. Most shows carry a cover that goes straight to the performers, so bring cash.
Twenty to Forty Minutes: Music, Museums and the Broadwalk
The last four entries are worth the drive but should anchor a whole afternoon rather than get squeezed between two other stops. Anything past this ring belongs in our day trips from North Miami Beach guide instead.
The Miami Beach Bandshell
The Miami Beach Bandshell at 7275 Collins Avenue is an open-air amphitheater in North Beach, about twenty minutes south, programmed by the Rhythm Foundation. It runs more than 140 public concerts, festivals and events a year for over 70,000 attendees, including international touring acts and children's programming. A fair share of the calendar is free to the public. Buy tickets in advance through the venue calendar, because the good shows do sell out. The venue is outdoors, so a summer evening here comes with a real chance of rain.
Hollywood Beach and the Broadwalk
Hollywood Beach sits about 12 miles north, roughly twenty minutes via I-95 or US 1, and the 2.5 mile Broadwalk is the draw. It is a wide promenade with the ocean on one side and old-school shops, restaurants and bars on the other, built for walking, jogging or riding end to end. The beach itself is free (VISIT FLORIDA). Metered parking fills up on weekends, so arrive before 10 a.m. or plan to circle. The scene peaks at sunset, which is also when parking is at its worst.
The Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science
The Frost Museum of Science at 1101 Biscayne Boulevard is the strongest rainy-afternoon option within thirty minutes, and it packs an aquarium, a planetarium and rotating exhibitions into one downtown Miami building. It is a Smithsonian affiliate accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Buy tickets online to skip the queue and check the planetarium show times first, since those set the shape of the visit. Families working through a full week of options should also see our guide to things to do in North Miami Beach with kids.
Lincoln Road
Lincoln Road is a mile-long pedestrian promenade in Miami Beach, about thirty minutes south, with more than 200 shops, restaurants, cafes and galleries and no cars anywhere on it. The whole thing is open-air, which makes it a better evening stop than a midday one in summer. Park once in a municipal garage and walk, because circling Lincoln Road looking for a space is a losing game. Miami Beach has run $1 hourly parking in July and August, the cheapest window to drive over.
Parking, Closures and Weather: The Practical Layer
Parking Costs and Where It Is Free
Parking is the quiet cost of a day out here, and it is entirely avoidable if you plan around it. Greynolds Park charges nothing Monday through Thursday and $10 Friday through Sunday. Haulover Park runs $7 on weekdays and $10 on weekends and holidays. Aventura Mall garages are free but fill from the Nordstrom end first. Lincoln Road and Hollywood Beach are the two places where you should park once and walk rather than move the car between stops.
Mondays and Tuesdays Close More Than You Expect
Two of the best things on this list close at the start of the week. The Ancient Spanish Monastery is shut Monday and Tuesday, and MOCA North Miami is shut on the same two days. A Monday visitor is left with the parks, the restaurant corridor, Haulover and Aventura Mall, which is still a full day but a very different one. If your trip is short and the monastery is the reason you came, build the itinerary around its schedule first and fit everything else in behind it.
Afternoon Storms, Hurricane Season and What They Actually Mean
Summer here follows a daily pattern rather than a forecast: clear mornings, a thunderstorm rolling through in the mid to late afternoon, and clearing again by evening. Plan outdoor plans before 1 p.m. from June through September and keep an indoor option in reserve. The Atlantic hurricane season runs June 1 through November 30 with a climatological peak on September 10, and most activity falls between mid-August and mid-October (NOAA National Hurricane Center). Residents clear patios and stack outdoor furniture when a cone appears, and a 10×10 unit holds a patio set, a grill and two bikes with room left to walk around them. For the month by month picture, see our guide to the best time to visit North Miami Beach.
What Is Walkable and What Needs a Car
Almost nothing on this list connects on foot, and pretending otherwise wastes a visitor's day. The restaurant corridor is walkable within a block or two once you have parked, and Lincoln Road and the Hollywood Broadwalk are pedestrian by design. Everything else needs a car, including the ten minute hop east to the beach. Budget for that, and pair stops that sit near each other: Greynolds Park with Arch Creek, Oleta River State Park with lunch on 163rd Street, Haulover with the pier at Sunny Isles Beach.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are some fun things to do in North Miami Beach?
Paddle the mangroves at Oleta River State Park, walk the 12th century cloisters at the Ancient Spanish Monastery, picnic in the 249 acres of Greynolds Park, and eat your way along the 163rd and 167th Street corridor. Ten minutes east adds the beach and the fishing pier. Fifteen minutes south adds MOCA North Miami and a live music room at Luna Star Cafe.
Is North Miami Beach a good area?
North Miami Beach is a residential, working city of about 43,700 people rather than a resort strip, and that is its appeal. You get a state park, two county parks, a municipal golf course and one of the best restaurant corridors in Miami-Dade at prices well below the beach. What you do not get is oceanfront, walkable nightlife or a tourist district. Visitors who want those stay in Sunny Isles Beach or Aventura and drive in.
What are free things to do in North Miami Beach?
Greynolds Park costs nothing to enter and parking is free Monday through Thursday. The Ancient Spanish Monastery gardens, Arch Creek Park and the Newport Fishing Pier walkway are all low cost or free to look around. Hollywood Beach and the Broadwalk charge nothing beyond parking, and a share of the Miami Beach Bandshell calendar is free to the public. Window shopping the Aventura Slide Tower atrium costs nothing either.
What is the difference between North Miami and North Miami Beach?
North Miami and North Miami Beach are two separate cities that share a border. North Miami sits to the south and is home to MOCA North Miami, FIU's Biscayne Bay campus and a dense Haitian American food scene along NE 125th Street. North Miami Beach sits north of it, holds Greynolds Park and the Ancient Spanish Monastery, and confusingly has no beach at all inside its limits.
What are unique things to do in North Miami Beach?
The Ancient Spanish Monastery is genuinely one of a kind: a Segovian cloister from the 1100s, bought by a newspaper magnate, crated across the Atlantic and rebuilt in Florida. Arch Creek Park's natural limestone bridge is the other unusual one, a crossing used by Native American tribes long before the city existed. Add dim sum at 2 p.m. on a Tuesday in a strip mall, which no other part of Miami-Dade does as well.
Making Room for the Gear This City Encourages
Living ten minutes from a state park, a beach and the country's most-voted-for mall has a storage problem built into it. Value Store It's North Miami Beach location rents month to month with no long term contract, and the lineup runs well past the sizes mentioned earlier. A 5×15 unit takes a small apartment's worth or a season of a business's overflow stock. A 10×15 storage unit fits the furniture from a two bedroom, and a 10×20 storage space handles a full house mid-move. The 10×30 unit is the one for a contractor's inventory or a household stuck between closings. If you are not sure which of those fits what you own, the storage size guide walks through it room by room.
Work through this list properly and you will end up with more kayaks, bikes and beach chairs than closet. When that happens, Value Store It can sort out the space.
