Food + Drink • Things to Do • Miami Beach •

Miami Fall Travel Guide

Fall is one of the best times of year to plan a trip to Miami, as the temperature starts to cool while the cultural activity heats up. Whether you're looking for a fall travel itinerary full of festivals, culinary discovery, or outdoor adventure, Miami and the Beaches have it all. Check it out in our fall travel guide.

Fall Festivals

A River Running Through A City

Photo via South Beach Seafood Festival’s Facebook

Miami’s arts & culture scene truly gets into high gear in the fall, with outdoor fairs, festivals and more taking over the city. On Oct. 26, celebrate South Florida’s seafood bounty at South Beach Seafood Festival when the city’s top seafood restaurants and chefs gather to showcase their dishes and compete in culinary showdowns. From Nov. 8–10, music-lovers will flock to the inaugural Miami Beach Pop Festival, a three-day waterfront music fest on South Beach featuring headlining acts Chance the Rapper, Jack Johnson, Juanes, Daddy Yankee and Kygo, plus dozens of other cross-genre musical acts. Bookworms will love the annual Miami Book Fair – a weeklong “literary party” from Nov. 17–24, which combines a major street fair with a lineup of book talks by leading authors, illustrators and beyond. Finally, Art Basel from Dec. 5–8 is the peak of Miami’s cultural season, with art collectors, curators and critics traveling from all over the world for this exhibition featuring the crème de la crème of the international art community.

Stone Crab Season

A Plate Of Food

Mid-October marks the opening of stone crab season and you can experience the delicious delicacy at Lure Fishbar, a South Beach seafood hot spot located at Loews Miami Beach Hotel. Stone crabs are only available in South Florida from October through May, and the limited season makes this dish one of Miami’s most coveted culinary treats. If you love seafood, don’t miss this chance to try a platter of fresh Florida stone crab claws paired with mustard sauce.

Get Outdoors

Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden | Photo by @prplmonkeyman

With 83 acres of tropical plants, palm trees, oaks and vibrant flora, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden is easily one of the most stunning parks in Miami. Fairchild features its own Palmetum (an arboretum of palms), butterfly conservatory and colorful art by glass sculptor Chihuly.

For a quiet destination right in the middle of Downtown Miami (next to the Frost Museum of Science and Perez Art Museum Miami, two of our city’s most popular cultural institutions), Museum Park supplies plenty of green space with bayfront views. You can also go kayaking among the mangroves at Oleta River State Park in North Miami Beach and feel like you’ve embarked on a true outdoor adventure.

Miami’s Farmland

Fresh Fruit And Vegetables On Display

Robert Is Here Fruit Stand | @live.florida.fresh

A Person Standing In A Garden

Strawberry Fields at Knaus Berry Farm | @zeetrebbs

Picture vacation in Miami and you probably think beaches, not rows of tropical farmland. But a day trip down south to Homestead (the last stop before you hit the Keys) is the closest we get to a real fall in Miami. Celebrate the cooler weather amid South Florida’s farms, picking fresh Florida strawberries and eating hot-out-of-the-oven cinnamon sticky buns from cash-only Knaus Berry Farm (which opens for the season in November), or sipping tropical fruit wines from Schnebly Redland’s Winery. Schnebly is known for award-winning wines made from Florida’s harvest, like avocado, lychee, mango, and coconut. Take a weekend tour of the winery or, better yet, visit the Tasting Room so you can sip and sample.

On the way back, stop at Robert Is Here to pick up a milkshake for the road. The fruit stand is known for selling exotic fruits, jams, jellies and sauces, and those flavors have found their way into creamy tropical fruit milkshakes and smoothies. Choose from specialties like guava, passion fruit, and guanabana, or sweet & tangy combos like mango key lime.

A Person Holding A Sign