Miami

Miami Beach or the mainland, choosing which side to sleep

Two places share the name. Miami Beach sits on a barrier island across Biscayne Bay, and the mainland city of Miami holds Downtown along with Little Havana and Wynwood. Decide early which side you sleep on. The causeways jam at rush hour, so plan alternate days on each side.

• Three days: a beach day in South Beach, with a walk through the Art Deco Historic District along Ocean Drive in the cooler morning. A mainland day for Cuban coffee and cigar shops on Calle Ocho in Little Havana, then the murals of the Wynwood Walls. On the third day, ride Metrorail to Vizcaya Museum and Gardens and finish in leafy Coconut Grove.
• Five days: add an Everglades day for an airboat ride and alligators, and a slower day around Coral Gables and the Design District.
• A week: drive the Overseas Highway, US 1, down the Florida Keys. Key West is about 3 hours away, so plan to stay a night or two. Fort Lauderdale, only 30 minutes north, makes an easy half day.

The Everglades and the Keys need a rental car or an organised tour; transit does not reach them. In the December to April high season, book South Beach rooms well ahead, particularly the boutique Art Deco hotels. Their rooms are small, and there are not many of them. Spring Break turns the beach into a party zone, and the March music festivals fill the city. For quiet, Mid-Beach and Coconut Grove are the better areas for a hotel. Many cruise passengers add a night or two before sailing from PortMiami, the busiest cruise port in the world.

Fort Lauderdale's airport, 25 to 40 minutes north, is often cheaper for low-cost flights and quicker through security and immigration.

The sudden switch from dry winters to storm season

Miami has only two real seasons, and the change between them is sudden. When the air turns sticky, usually in the second half of May, the afternoon thunderstorms begin and keep coming until about mid-October. The dry months from November to April are the busy, expensive season, and the wet months bring much lower room rates.

November to April is dry, sunny and the reason the city fills up. In January expect daytime highs around 25°C and nights near 16°C, and rainfall drops to 46 mm. Local swimmers find the sea cool in winter, though visitors from the north rarely mind. This is peak season for prices. Carnaval Miami runs from late February into March, the Calle Ocho street festival is usually in March, and the Ultra electronic music festival draws huge crowds the same month.

May to October is hot and wet. Highs reach 32 to 33°C and the humidity barely lets up at night. September alone brings about 260 mm of rain. Storms usually come in the afternoon, often pouring hard for a few minutes, then stopping. Do outdoor sightseeing in the morning and keep the afternoon for museums or a siesta.

Hurricane season officially runs from June 1 to November 30, with the greatest danger from mid-August to the end of September. A summer trip can still work, and rooms are much cheaper, but watch the National Hurricane Center forecast and buy insurance that covers storms.

For bargains, try the shoulder months of May and November. Food lovers should come in August and September, when Miami Spice offers set menus at top restaurants.

Cuban espresso at walk-up windows and croquetas

Start with coffee from a walk-up window. Across the city, small cafés open a hatch onto the street, often beside a supermarket or restaurant, and sell thick, sweet Cuban espresso along with croquetas and pastries. Stand there among regulars and you will have the most Miami ten minutes of the trip.

The Cuban sandwich (roast pork with ham and cheese, pressed on Cuban bread) is the city's signature lunch, with the medianoche as its softer, sweeter cousin on egg bread. For dinner, order bistec de palomilla, a thin, pan-fried steak. Versailles in Little Havana is the landmark place to try them all. Little Havana itself now has as many Central and South Americans as Cubans, so Colombian and Peruvian kitchens are worth seeking out too.

Floribbean, or New World, cuisine is the upscale side. Born here in the 1990s, it puts local fish and tropical fruit together with Latin and Caribbean flavours: think grilled fish with mango, or ceviche next to sushi. Seafood restaurants line the Miami River and the shore of Biscayne Bay.

Spanish is everywhere. In Little Havana and Hialeah, shop staff often greet you in Spanish first, so hola and gracias go a long way. The classic drinks are the mojito and the Cuba libre.

South Beach clubs have firm door rules. Dress up, arrive early, never touch the velvet rope and do not try to tip the doorman unless you have a table booked. Mixed groups get in more easily than groups of men.