ATTRACTIONS

Miami Attractions

Miami Science Museum

Nothing is staid or boring in Miami, least of all its museums. The Miami Science Museum north of Coconut Grove, contains more than 140 exhibits, all designed to be hands-on and interactive, coupled with live demonstrations and collections of rare natural history specimens that make discovering and learning a great deal of fun. The Wildlife Center boasts more than 175 live reptiles and birds of prey, and the adjacent Space Transit Planetarium provides more thrills with projected astronomy and laser light shows.

Address: 3280 South Miami Avenue; Website: www.miamisci.org; Telephone: (305) 646 4200; Opening time: Daily 10am to 6pm; closed Thanksgiving and Christmas; Admission: $18 (adults), $13 (children 3-12), free for under 3s. Other concessions available. Prices include museum galleries, planetarium shows and wildlife center

Miami Attractions

Miami Seaquarium

At least a half a day is required to fully enjoy south Florida's premier attraction. The Seaquarium is world-renowned for its marine life shows and attractions, including performing killer whales and television aquatic star and dolphin, Flipper. Another favourite star is the sea lion Salty and his colleagues, who amuse and amaze with their antics.

Address: 4400 Rickenbacker Causeway; Website: www.miamiseaquarium.com; Telephone: (305) 361 5705; Opening time: Daily 9.30am to 6pm; Admission: $35.95 (adults), $26.95 (children 3-9)

Miami Attractions

Miami-Dade Cultural Centre

The outwardly unattractive complex of the Miami-Dade Cultural Centre, in the rather unsavoury area of West Flagler Street, is worth a visit because it houses a plethora of interesting artistic and historic exhibits. The Centre contains the Miami Art Museum (www.miamiartmuseum.org), featuring a collection of modern and contemporary works by American, Latin American and Caribbean artists. There are also themed exhibits, which bring art and artists to life, as do the twice-monthly 'happy hour' parties, organised to highlight a particular exhibit. The Cultural Centre also contains the Historical Museum of Southern Florida (www.historical-museum.org) with exhibits that relate to the fascinating history of the area and the culture, folklore and archaeology of South Florida and the Caribbean.

Address: 101 West Flagler Street; E-mail: info@hmsf.org (Historical Museum); Telephone: Art Museum: (305) 375 3000; Historical Museum: (305) 375 1492; Transport: Government Center metrorail station; Opening time: Art Museum: Tuesday to Friday 10am to 5pm, Saturday and Sunday from 12pm, third Thursdays until 9pm. Historical Museum: Monday to Saturday 10am to 5pm, Sunday from 12pm, third Thursdays until 9pm; Admission: $5 (adults) to each museum. Children under 12 are free at the Art Museum and $2 at the Historical Museum (Saturdays are free for Historical Museum)

Miami Attractions

Vizcaya Villa

Lovers of antiques revel in visiting the magnificent 34-room Vizcaya bayfront villa, built in the Italian Renaissance style in 1916 as a winter retreat for wealthy industrialist, James Deering. The grand mansion took hundreds of artisans five years to complete, and the formal gardens, which surround the villa fronting on Biscayne Bay, took even longer to lay out. Today visitors can tour the villa and grounds, enjoying the original furnishings and décor in a variety of Renaissance, Baroque, Rococco and Neoclassical styles.

Address: 3251 South Miami Avenue; Website: www.vizcayamuseum.com; Telephone: (305) 250 9133; Transport: Metrorail to Vizcaya station; Opening time: Daily 9.30am to 4.30pm; closed 25 December; Admission: $15 (adults), $6 (children 6-12). Under 5s free

Miami Attractions

Spanish Monastery

Miami boasts the oldest building in the Western Hemisphere. Dating from 1133 the Monastery of St. Bernard de Clairvaux in North Miami Beach is a hugely popular tourist attraction, although not quite indigenous to the area. The monastery stood originally in Segovia in Spain, but in the early 1950s the medieval building was bought by newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst, disassembled, shipped to Miami and rebuilt on its present site.

Address: 16711 West Dixie Highway; Website: www.spanishmonastery.com; Telephone: (305) 945 1461; Opening time: Monday to Saturday 9am to 5pm; Sunday 1.30pm to 5pm; Admission: $5 (adults), $2 (children), other concessions available

Miami Attractions

Coral Castle

Legend has it that unrequited love led a Latvian immigrant to spend 25 years single-handedly carving a castle out of rock between the Florida Keys and Miami, on the South Dixie Highway. The amazing monument to the man's determination has been called America's Stonehenge and has been featured in numerous magazine and newspaper articles. Visitors are awed by the castle, which also contains affidavits from neighbours testifying to the fact that the builder had no assistance with his mammoth task.

Address: 28655 South Dixie Highway; Website: www.coralcastle.com; Telephone: (305) 248 6345; Opening time: Sunday to Thursday 8am to 6pm, Friday and Saturday until 9pm ; Admission: $9.75 (adults), $5 (children); other concessions available

Miami Attractions

Lincoln Road Mall

A pedestrian promenade lined with palm trees and colourful art deco buildings, Lincoln Road Mall is a great haunt for locals and foreigners. Once called the 'Fifth Avenue of the South', this lively seven-block shopping district serves up big name labels like G.A.P. and Banana Republic but also houses the renowned Regal Movie Theatre and the Lincoln Theatre, home to the New World Symphony. Considered one of the best people-watching streets in South Beach, take refreshment at one of the string of sidewalk cafés or soak up some local culture at the many art galleries along the mall. The Farmers Market on Sundays is the best place for fresh vegetables, fruits, juices, homemade breads and flowers and on weekends Antique vendors display their wares along the sidewalk. At night, street performers take to the mall, entertaining passersby.

Address: The Lincoln Road Shopping District runs east to west from Collins Avenue to Bay Road; Opening time: Most shops are open daily from 9am to 6pm, as is the Sunday Market

Miami Attractions

Wolfsonian Museum

A vivacious collection of art and design pieces depicting popular culture from 1885 to 1945, the Wolfsonian is the amalgamation of a long-term pursuit by eccentric heir and collector, Mitchell Wolfson Jr. Housed in the original warehouse used as a storage facility for the 70,000 pieces, visitors can pick through the origins of graphic and industrial design in the hotchpotch of distinctive propaganda art from Germany, Italy and the United States, and the remarkable industrial design pieces from modern German design to Bauhaus. Not to be missed is the über cool Dynamo café and museum shop.

Address: 1001 Washington Avenue; Website: www.wolfsonian.org; Telephone: (305) 351 1001; Opening time: Open daily from 12pm to 6pm. Closed Wednesdays. Late openings on Thursday and Friday till 9pm; Admission: $7 (adults), $5 (seniors, students and children)

Miami Attractions

Jungle Island

An offshoot of Parrot Jungle, which was established in 1936, Jungle Island is a new complex offering an exciting array of wildlife from parrots and macaws to crocodiles and penguins. You can witness over 200 parrots at the Manu Encounter, the world's only aviary replicating the clay cliffs of Manu, Peru and at the Parrot Bowl, a gaping amphitheatre, you can be entertained by the clever antics of cockatoos, parrots and macaws. Look out for the rare albino alligator and 21-foot crocodile at the Serpentarium. A new addition to Jungle Island is the waterpark featuring the 168-foot Hippo Slide, with an exhilarating 40-degree drop.

Address: 1111 Parrot Jungle Trail; Website: www.parrotjungle.com; Opening time: Daily from 10am to 6pm; Admission: $30 (adults), $25 (children)