Today’s guest blog post comes from Teresa Mears. Teresa shares cheap tips every day at Miami FL on the Cheap, Fort Lauderdale on the Cheap, Palm Beach on the Cheap, Florida Keys on the Cheap and Florida on the Cheap. You can follow her on Twitter @miamicheap.
South Florida can be an expensive destination, but it doesn’t have to be. We have plenty of free and cheap fun in Miami and Fort Lauderdale. You just have to know where to look.
These are some of my favorites:
Go to the beach.
All Florida’s beaches are public and all are free to visit, though you usually have to pay for parking. If you want nude sunbathing, visit Haulover Beach. Topless bathing, Euro-style? Check out South Beach, below 15th Street. Feeling a little pudgy in your bikini? At Hollywood Beach, you’ll find fewer models and more old men who shouldn’t be wearing Speedos.
Take a ride on the Metromover.
Riding downtown Miami’s Metromover gives you one of the best views of downtown Miami and Biscayne Bay you can get. You can even see the cruise ships in port. And it’s free.
Listen to free music.
Miami and Fort Lauderdale and the other cities that make up the metropolitan area offer lots of free music, especially outdoors this time of year. Bayside Marketplace nearly always has music playing. The shopping centers at Cocowalk and Bal Harbour Shops feature free bands at least once a week. Downtown Miami has a free concert the second Friday of the month, and Hollywood has music almost every night either at the bandshell in Hollywood Beach (where Kathleen Turner met William Hurt in “Body Heat”) or at downtown Hollywood’s Young Circle. Fort Lauderdale has a free jazz brunch the first Sunday of every month. The Museum of Contemporary Art in North Miami has free jazz the last Friday of every month, and you can find Arts in the Park, with free music, the first Friday of every month in Coral Gables. Viernes Culturales (Cultural Friday) is the last Friday of the month, in Miami’s Little Havana. Lots of clubs also play music with no cover charge.
Look at free art.
A number of Miami-area neighborhoods have free monthly art walks, some including entertainment as well and most coming with free wine and munchies. Coral Gables is the first Friday of the month, the Design District and Wynwood are the second Saturday, Little Havana is the last Friday, as part of Viernes Culturales. Art Circuits has details and maps.
Eat and drink during Happy Hour.
In this economy, it’s nearly always Happy Hour somewhere. Some bars have happy hour every day at certain hours, and others have specials on various days. Look for special meal deals between 5 and 7 p.m., which may be prime dinner time in your city but it’s way early in Miami, where dinner starts about 9 p.m. Café Prima Pasta, for example, offers meals for 50% off between 5 and 6 p.m.
Visit museums for free.
Nearly every museum in South Florida is free one day of the month. Some of those free days coincide with special family events or activities for children.
Get a deal on entertainment. If you’re a student between 13 and 22, you can get special deals on tickets to all kinds of cultural events through Culture Shock Miami. Each student can buy two tickets, and you can take someone of any age with the second ticket. People of any age can get discount tickets to same-day theater performances through Cultural Connection.
Watch people.
This is a great activity all over South Florida, but the premier people-watching spot is Lincoln Road in Miami Beach, a pedestrian mall at the north end of South Beach. The street is lined with cafes, so settle in with a half-price drink and appetizers for Happy Hour and watch the world go by.
Florida is a good destination among all the other with lots of attractive places.The Walt Disney World resort is the area’s largest attraction with its many facets such as the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Typhoon Lagoon, Blizzard Beach, and Downtown Disney.Its good to have a cheap deal to go to Florida for vacations.