The 3 Best Museums in Miami
Ranked by our editorial Friend Score and filterable to exactly what you want — every pick verified and sourced, the way a local friend would tell it.
- 1$$
Miami's flagship contemporary art museum, and honestly one of the best-value afternoons downtown — the Herzog & de Meuron building with its hanging gardens and bay-front terrace is worth the trip alone. Go Thursday evening when admission is free from 5-9pm. Closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays, which trips up a lot of visitors.
contemporary artmodern artmuseumlatin american artcaribbean artfree thursday“This über-high-design architectural masterpiece on Biscayne Bay...”— Fodor's Travel
- 2Vizcaya Museum & Gardens7.4/10$$
A 1916 Gilded Age villa on Biscayne Bay with formal European gardens — the closest thing Miami has to a palace, and the city's best photo backdrop by a mile. Genuinely worth the roughly $25 admission. Closed Tuesdays, and parts periodically close for restoration, so check before you build a day around it.
vizcayamuseumhistoric villagardensbiscayne bayitalian gardens“The gardens feature fountains, pools, greenery, a casino and a maze, and strolling here on a quiet summer's day can be magical.”— Time Out
- 3Frost Museum of Science7.1/10$$$
Downtown's big science museum: a three-level aquarium, planetarium, and hands-on exhibits stacked on Biscayne Bay. I'd send you here with kids in a heartbeat — it's genuinely well done. Without kids, it's a solid rainy-day pick but pricey at around $30 a head, and weekends get stroller-gridlocked by 11am.
science museumaquariumplanetariumsharkskidsfamilies“$28 gets you access to wildlife, a 3-D planetarium, interactive programming and plenty of great Instagram material to fill your feed for weeks.”— Time Out Miami