Miami is two cities joined by causeways, and most trips go wrong on that point: a hotel booked on the wrong side of Biscayne Bay, and every evening starts with a drive. The Miami City Guide, our 2026 edition, starts from that split. It reads the mainland and Miami Beach territory by territory, and for each one it answers the question that matters: stay there, or just visit?
What is inside
116 plates. 102 numbered addresses, from an eight-seat omakase counter behind a keypad door in Wynwood to a bayfront garden of more than 1,200 tropical species in Coconut Grove. 23 maps. 30 illustrations. Three itineraries. Five parts: the opening, the territory, the address book, the themes and the practical section.
The address book is the core of it: 10 places to stay, 12 to eat, 8 to drink, 6 for coffee and early hours, 10 for shopping, 10 for culture and heritage, 8 outdoors, 5 for wellness, 6 after dark, 8 experiences, 8 dates in the calendar, 6 day trips and 5 quiet addresses for readers who already know the city.
Nine territories, from Bal Harbour to Key Biscayne
The guide divides Miami into nine territories. On the island: South Beach, the Art Deco district and the obvious first stay; Mid-Beach, the resort strip of the 1950s anchored by the Fontainebleau; Bal Harbour and Surfside further north. On the mainland: Brickell and Downtown, Wynwood and the Design District, Little Havana, Coconut Grove and Coral Gables. And Key Biscayne, an island village reached only by the Rickenbacker Causeway.
The addresses are spread the way they really are. South Beach holds 21 of them, Wynwood and the Design District 15, Brickell and Downtown 12, Little Havana 10, Coconut Grove 9, Mid-Beach 6, Coral Gables 5, Bal Harbour and Surfside 3, Key Biscayne 2. Another 12 sit elsewhere in Miami, and 7 lie around it, from Palm Beach to the Everglades and the Keys.
23 maps on a single base
Every map in the guide uses the same drawing of the city: same extent, same scale, same bay, causeways, parks and streets, same place names, with the same enlarged inset of South Beach and the same inset of South Florida for the day trips. Only the addresses lit in gold change, numbered as in the index. One map shows all 102 addresses, nine show one territory each, and thirteen show one chapter of the address book.
Every address says why it is there
Each entry carries its number, its category, its territory, a detail that sets it apart and one line on why it made the book, followed by a practical block: where, when, for whom.
The Kampong, in the quiet addresses, is there for the morning it offers. It was the winter home of the plant explorer David Fairchild, who bought the land in 1916 and lived there from 1928 to 1954. Visits are by time slot, so the paths are never crowded. The guide recommends the 9am slot, before the heat, and notes that it opens Tuesday to Saturday.
Hiden is there for a different reason. It is an eight-seat counter at the back of a casual taco stand, and the code to its sliding door arrives by email on the day, working from 10 minutes before the seating. The guide explains how seats are released, and warns that late arrivals are locked out.
Three itineraries, from one day to five
Three routes built only from addresses in the guide, checked against their opening days.
One day in South Beach, on foot, on a Friday: that is the evening when The Wolfsonian is free, from 6 to 9pm. Pastries at True Loaf at 8:00, the Art Deco Walking Tour from 1001 Ocean Drive at 10:30, lunch at Joe's Stone Crab, The Bass in the afternoon, South Pointe Park when the cruise ships leave port, dinner at Stubborn Seed.
Three days on the mainland, Friday to Sunday, from a hotel in Coconut Grove. Wynwood, the Design District and Allapattah on Friday, when Zak the Baker is open; Little Havana, Downtown and Brickell on Saturday, ending with salsa at Ball & Chain; Vizcaya at the 9:30 opening and the Venetian Pool on Sunday.
Five days from the beach to the Everglades. Two nights at the Faena in Mid-Beach, two at the Four Seasons Hotel at The Surf Club, a morning kayak over the seagrasses of Stiltsville, and a last day at Shark Valley, about one hour west on the Tamiami Trail. A car is needed from day three.
Written for the way Miami really works
Temperatures are in Fahrenheit, and the guide is plain about money and weather. It explains that a hotel night in the City of Miami carries 13 percent in taxes, and that Miami Beach applies its own. It gives the stone crab season, October 15 to May 1, after which any claw on a menu comes from the freezer. It dates Miami Art Week, November 30 to December 6, 2026, when rooms and tables must be booked early. And it places the hurricane peak for Miami from mid-August to late September, with advice on flexible rates for those months.
When to read it
Before you book rather than after. In Miami the side of the bay you sleep on decides the trip more than the hotel does, and the guide says, territory by territory, who each one suits. Its page gives access to the download. It opens in the browser, and it is free.