HELLO! WORLD CITY SPECIAL
CITY ESCAPES
Whether it’s coastal culture and nightlife, or sunshine and foodie delights, discover new perspectives on some of the world’s most beautiful cities
A distinctively pink-hued art deco hotel facade
MIAMI BEACH LIFE
See southern Florida’s finest sights from a bicycle or in your bikini – its greatest icons are on the coast.
The waterfront at Miami’s South Beach, boasting a typically colourful lifeguard tower
The historic Courtyard Pool at Miami hotel The Betsy
WHAT TO SEE AND DO: When we think of Miami, we picture candy-coloured buildings or bikini-clad roller bladers on the boardwalk; we might bring to mind the oceanfront Versace mansion or David and Victoria Beckham posing at another impossibly cool rooftop party. What we don’t fly there for is ancient art collections, dusty museums or snaking queues to reach a historical artefact.
That’s because Miami is the definitive beachy city break; its icons are right there on the water, basking in 365 days of sunshine. The perfect example is South Beach (SoBe)’s art deco district, where peppermint and yellow confections remain in pristine 1930s condition and now house hotels and bars. The Miami Design Preservation League offers daily morning walking tours of the best (mdpl.org/tours), or you can call for a private tour with themes such as “scandalous”, LGBTQ+ or Jewish Miami.
An excellent way to link these sights is by bicycle; rent a CitiBike (citibikemiami.com)and follow the curvy, paved promenade from leafy Lummus Park, up Ocean Drive, past the hot-pink lifeguard huts, to the best beach clubs in town. Faena Miami Beach is the most bougie, where celebs and business moguls hide beneath its stripy parasols and order Faena Spritzes (vodka, champagne, rose water and hibiscus syrup) from the cute clapboard beach kiosk.
WHERE TO EAT: The News Cafe on Ocean Drive is a Miami institution – once Gianni Versace’s favourite coffee stop – and open early enough to cure your jet lag; order the famous avocado and salmon omelette, then roll back at happy hour for cut-price cocktails (newscafesouthbeach. com). Big Pink is another SoBe one-off, in retro-diner style, where its TV dinner daily specials are served on old-school metal trays (mylesrestaurantgroup.com/big-pink). The original Casa Tua – with garden tables among the ferns or indoor spots in the Library – remains the most romantic Italian restaurant on the face of the planet (casatualife.com).