Miami, Florida

Miami
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MiamiSouthBeachPanoramaEdit.jpg
Author: UpstateNYer


Miami is a major city in Floria. With an urbanized area population of 4.9 million people, it is the fourth largest city in the United States behind New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago. The city is an important center for finance, commerce, culture, media, education, entertainment and international trade.

Downtown Miami
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Downtown_Miami_from_north_20080408.jpg
Author: Averette


The area around Miami was first settled by the Tequestas Native Americans more than a thousand years ago. Pedro Menéndez de Avilés claimed the land for Spain in 1566. The person who actually developed the place and establish it as a township was a woman named Julia DeForest Tuttle née Sturtevant. She used the money inherited from her father's passing to buy the 640 acres of land on which the city of Miami is today located.

The birth of Miami was in a way the result of the Great Freeze of 1894-95 which destroyed the crops elsewhere buy spared the Miami area. Julia Tuttle used that as an opportunity to convince railroad magnate Henry Flagler to extend his railway line to Florida. Miami was incorporated as a city the subsequent year, on 28 July, 1896, when its population stood at a mere 300.

Due to its proximity to Cuba, Miami became the gateway for Cuba refugees subsequent to Fidel Castro's rise to power. The city has a high percentage of Hispanic population, and is a popular location for the headquarters of Latin American operations for many multinational companies.

Since the beginning of the new millennium, Miami has experience a construction boom that is radically changing its skyline. It is home to eight of the tallest skyscrapers in Florida.

Cathedral of St Mary, Miami
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Miami_Cathedral_of_Saint_Mary.jpg
Author: Jirodrig

Travel to Miami

The Miami International Airport (MIA) is located to the west of downtown Miami. It is an important transportation hub for North America and Latin America. The main airline at the airport is American Airlines, which has regular scheduled flights connecting it with most cities in the Americas and other parts of the world.

Ground transportation from the Miami International Airport includes taxis and shuttle service. The fare for shuttle service is between $8 to $20 while for taxi it is anywhere from $14 right up to $52. Check the Miami Airport website for details.

In addition to the above, there are two types of rapid transit trains: the Metrorail and the Metromover. To take these, board the free shuttle to the Tri-Rail station.

Sea Isle Marina, Miami
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sea_Isle_Marina_Miami_Florida_left_20100213.jpg
Author: Marc Averette

Travel within Miami

By Train
The Metrorail is a single light-rail transit line with 22 stations. It opened in 1984 but has not been expanded. Hence its reach is limited. Nonetheless it does cover many of the touristic areas. In addition, there is the Metromover, a free monorail system that connects to the Metrorail at the Government Center station in downtown Miami, and at Brickell Station in Brickell. The Metromover is a great way to move about downtown Miami for free, while admiring its skyline.

By Taxi The flag fall rate for taxis is $2.50 for pick up, and then $0.40 for every sixth of a mile travelled. Some destinations have fixed rates that can range from $30 to $60, making taxis a generally expensive mode of transportation in the city.

Places of Interest in Miami

Sights in Greater Miami

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Dear visitor, thank you so much for reading this page. My name is Timothy Tye and my hobby is to find out about places, write about them and share the information with you on this website. I have been writing this site since 5 January 2003. Originally (from 2003 until 2009, the site was called AsiaExplorers. I changed the name to Penang Travel Tips in 2009, even though I describe more than just Penang but everywhere I go (I often need to tell people that "Penang Travel Tips" is not just information about Penang, but information written in Penang), especially places in Malaysia and Singapore, and in all the years since 2003, I have described over 20,000 places.

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