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The barrier islands north of Miami Beach are occupied mainly by smart residential areas and a few oceanfront resorts along Collins Avenue. The North Beach areas are quieter than South Beach, but the hotels are right on the sands, and are less expensive.

A strip of sand between 79th and 87th Streets separates Miami Beach from Surfside, a simple community popular with French Canadians. At 96th Street, Surfside merges with Bal Harbour, a stylish enclave with some flashy hotels and a swanky mall. Northward is Haulover Park, with dune-backed sands facing the ocean.

This huge tropical garden, established in 1938, doubles as a major botanical research institution. Around a series of man-made lakes stands one of the largest collections of palm trees in the world, as well as an impressive array of cycads – relatives of palms and ferns that bear unusual giant red cones.

During 40-minute trolley tours, guides describe how plants are used in the manu-facture of medicines and perfumes (the flowers of the ylang-ylang tree, for example, are used in Chanel No. 5). Allow another two hours to explore independently.

Next to the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden is the waterfront Mattheson Hammock Park. There are walking and cycling trails through mangrove swamps, but most visitors head for the Atoll Pool, an artificial salt-water swimming pool, encircled by sand and palm trees alongside Biscayne Bay. There is also a marina with a sailing school, and a first-rate beachfront restaurant.

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Mattheson Hammock Park

⌂ 9610 Old Cutler Rd, Coral Gables § (305) 665-5475 # 7:30am–4:30pm daily

Key Biscayne has some of the city’s best beaches. Most impressive is the beach in Crandon Park, which is 3 miles (5 km) long with palm trees and an offshore sandbar. The view of Downtown from Rickenbacker Causeway, linking the mainland to Virginia Key and Key Biscayne, is one of Miami’s best. A fenced beachfront picnic area can accommodate up to 2,000 people. At the key’s southern end, Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park has a shorter beach joined to more picnic areas by boardwalks across dunes. The lighthouse near the tip, built in 1825, is South Florida’s oldest building.

Crandon Park

⌂ 6747 Crandon Blvd # Daily ∑ miamidade.gov

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Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park

⌂ 1200 Crandon Blvd # Daily ∑ floridastateparks.org

A vibrant arts district in the former manufacturing area of Greater Miami, Wynwood is known for its outdoor arts scene, where blocks of gray industrial buildings have seen a rebirth through colorful murals and graffiti. The gathering of artists promoted the opening of galleries and performing arts spaces. Restaurants and cafes followed, bringing more creative businesses. Now it is one of the top spots for hip culture. Wynwood features food tours, art walks, retail shops, design companies, office space for entrepreneurs, and much more. At its heart and soul is the project that started it all – The Wynwood Walls. The late Tony Goldman’s creative spotlight turned to the street art in the area and transformed the community.

Since the 1980s, many Haitian refugees have settled in this part of Miami. The Caribbean Marketplace, at NE 2nd Avenue and 60th Street, has a few craft stalls, but more interesting are the shops painted in dazzling colors. High-decibel Haitian music blares out of some; others stock herbal potions and saints’ ephemera.

EXPERIENCE Beyond the Center

From 1920 to 1940, a Latvian immigrant named Edward Leedskalnin single-handedly built this series of giant castle-like sculptures out of coral rock, using tools assembled from automobile parts. He sculpted most of the stones 10 miles (16 km) away in Florida City, moving them again on his own to their present site. Some, such as a working telescope, represent their creator’s great passion for astronomy. Others, such as the heart-shaped table, remember his Latvian fiancée Agnes, who canceled their wedding just the day before it was due to take place.

Miami’s Institute of Contemporary Art moved to its current location in the Design District in 2017. From the roadside, the building appears as a dramatic metal-clad, geometric structure containing vast amounts of display space over three floors. To the rear, however, Spanish architects Aranguren and Gallegos have created a wall of glass with a dual function: ushering in daylight and offering visitors a view of the gallery’s charming sculpture garden.

Founded by Miami-based billionaires Norman and Irma Braman, the gallery is dedicated to promoting continuous experimentation in contemporary art. The institute has its own perma-nent collection of works by contemporary European and American artists, from Tracey Emin and Louise Bourgeois to Chris Ofili and Julian Schnabel, as well as local talent like Hernan Bas and Mark Handforth. The temporary exhibitions often aim for provokingly didactic comparisons, yoking together well-known artists like Picasso and Lichtenstein with lesser-known Miami-based talents.

Admission is free, but visitors should still book tickets in advance to reserve entry to the museum.

This unusual museum is a must for railroad enthusiasts. Highlights include the presidential railroad car “Ferdinand Magellan,” two California Zephyr cars, and three old Florida East Coast Railway steam locomotives. Children can ride a two-foot gauge railroad at weekends.

This museum is dedicated to the preservation of old aircraft. Its hangars contain a superb collection of finely preserved examples of operating aircraft, including a 1943 AT-6D Texan “Old Timer,” a Douglas B-23 Dragon, and a British Provost jet, as well as other exhibits such as a machine-gun turret.

All these planes take to the sky during the Memorial Day weekend celebration. In January or February they are sometimes joined by B-17 and B-24 bombers in the Wings of Freedom event.

While his brother James enjoyed the splendor of Vizcaya, famous businessman and philanthropist Charles Deering had his own stylish winter retreat on Biscayne Bay. The 444 acre (180 ha) estate – including a stunning mansion in the Mediterranean Revival style – was acquired by the state in 1985, and offers public access to Biscayne Bay.

Among the Charles Deering Estate’s buildings are the main house and a 19th-century inn called Richmond Cottage which, when it was built, was the southernmost hotel on the US mainland.

The grounds are the main attraction, with mangrove and rockland pine forests, a saltmarsh, and what is apparently the largest virgin coastal tropical hardwood hammock on the US mainland. There is an extensive fossil site on the grounds, and youth camps, conservation programs, and canoe tours on the weekend.

EXPERIENCE Beyond the Center