Miami Holidays

Miami – the shiniest jewel in the crown of south Florida – is bound to knock you for six. It brandishes a batch of beautiful beaches and a ‘no worries’ attitude. The city’s sub-tropical climate is a real magnet for sun seeking tourists, while its wild neighbour – the Everglades National Park – keeps keen explorers on cloud nine, too. The shopping’s good, as well – your best bet for splashing a few dollars is in the snazzy boutiques on Lincoln Road.

A bagful of brownie points goes to Miami’s bounty of bays. Just get an eyeful of South Beach, a rollicking eight-miler that’s undoubtedly the beating heart of the city. It’s just like what you see in the movies, with tanned locals rollerblading beneath boardwalk palm trees and catching rays on the sand. The scene’s fringed by a splashback of 1920s Art Deco buildings – and they’re all painted in shades straight out of an ice-cream counter, from vanilla and strawberry to peppermint and bubble-gum.

It’s not just retail, glitz and sand in Miami. Nip inland and you’ll meet the city’s equally impressive neighbour – the Everglades. Stretching over a whopping 1.5 million acres and going by the moniker River of Grass, this world-famous national park is home to wildlife worthy of the big screen – from alligators and crocodiles to racoons and bobcats. Go the whole nine yards and explore it by a fan-powered boat. These zippy vessels can easily cruise through dense swamps, mangrove forests and grass marshes.