Yer

Shopping

Miami out-malls most US cities. These retail and entertainment meccas go well beyond a place to do your weekly shop; here you can spend the entire day taking in movie, seeing some theatre or any one of the dozens of activities that are always on.

The best include the Dolphin Mall, the kid-friendly Aventura Mall and the open-air The Falls. For some very upmarket retail therapy, Bal Harbour has branches of Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue as well as a large variety of luxury boutiques.

Culture

Over the past few years, Miami has been trying to shake off its sun and sand image and install some heavyweight cultural institutions. The internationally renowned Miami Beach edition of the Art Basel fair (now recognized as the most important in the US) has helped, attracting top creative talent and dealers from across the world.

Money has also been poured into large-scale cultural venues, most notably the brand new home for the New World Symphony at Miami Beach – a cutting edge landmark from architect Frank Gehry. Currently in construction is Museum Park, a mammoth urban redesign that will transform downtown Bicentennial Park with public gardens, outdoor sculpture installations and an Art Museum designed by renowned Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron.

The Adrienne Arscht Center is Miami’s principal venue for the performing arts, showcasing everything from classical music to Broadway shows and dance.