Miami on a budget

Best free attractions

Miami's free layer is mostly outdoors: a chain of urban parks, botanical gardens, and state-managed shorelines that carry the city more honestly than any paid attraction. The bundle below is exactly that: twelve public spaces, from downtown lawns on Biscayne Bay to a tropical garden on Old Cutler Road, all of which cost nothing to walk into. The mix skews green on purpose. Miami's free civic life happens under trees, on sand, and along seawalls; the museums and marquee institutions have tickets attached. What you get here is the range: a downtown park at the mouth of the Miami River, a Miami Beach greenway between Ocean Drive and the dunes, a state park at the southern tip of Key Biscayne, a botanic garden in Coral Gables, a historic homestead on Biscayne Bay. Some charge a parking fee at the gate; the grounds themselves are open. With half a day and no budget, start here and let the neighborhoods reveal themselves around each stop.