A MIAMI FAMILY TRAVEL GUIDE
Planning a trip to South Beach Miami with a toddler? Discover family-friendly activities, toddler-safe beaches, and helpful tips to make your trip stress-free and fun in this travel guide.
We just returned from a family vacation in South Beach Miami and had the best time! You may be wondering if South Beach Miami is safe for toddlers? I read a lot of reviews saying Miami was a terrible place to take a toddler and some say it’s great. I’m pleased to tell you, we had an amazing time. Our 2-year-old absolutely loved it.
We visited at the end of October and the weather was perfect! We’re currently living in New York and Miami is just a short 3-hour fight which made it an easy journey. You can take an M150 bus directly from Miami International Airport to South Beach.
WE ALSO HAVE GUIDES ON:
– ATLANTA – NASHVILLE – NEW ORLEANS – NEW YORK – CHARLESTON –
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WHERE TO STAY IN SOUTH BEACH MIAMI WITH A TODDLER
I would highly recommend staying somewhere near the beach. We stayed in this hotel, it’s just a 5-minute walk from the beach. This meant we could walk over to the beach easily and if my son was tired on the way back, it wasn’t too far to carry him. Not having to take a stroller (pushchair) was ideal!
We had a suite with a separate living area and kitchen. We really found this a game-changer when travelling with young children. The hotel also had a pool which was a bonus.
This was generally a good location for getting around the area so consider staying anywhere close to here. Search other options below.
BEST TODDLER-FRIENDLY THINGS TO DO IN SOUTH BEACH MIAMI
THE BEACH
As I mentioned, the beach was so easy to get to from our hotel. My son absolutely loved walking across and playing in the sand and splashing in the sea.
The 12th Street Beach Hut was the closest to our hotel and this area of the beach was generally very toddler friendly.
I also loved walking down the beach and looking at all the different coloured beach huts!
WALK THE PROMENADE
A long promenade runs parallel to the beach called South Beach Promenade. It’s brick so very stroller-friendly. My son liked to run along here and walk along the walls.
You can also bike if that’s your thing!
SPLASH IN THE POOL
Did I mention our hotel had a rooftop pool?! This was definitely a huge bonus. We would often go here first thing in the morning when no one else was there. It was great to have to pool to ourselves.
In the afternoons it was slightly busier but you could get a drink or food from the rooftop bar and enjoy the amazing view.
EXPLORE OCEAN DRIVE
Our hotel was actually on Ocean Drive. This is a cool road to walk down with a fun vibe. It also has a lot of restaurants many of which were very child friendly. Most of the menus seemed very similar, we ate at a few places here as it was so convenient.
Finding a playground is always a win with toddlers. We were lucky to find two when walking along Ocean Drive. The first one (pictured), you could see from the hotel was called Miami Beach Playground, located in Lummus Park.
The second was approximately a 20-minute walk further south down the promenade. Search Playground at Marjory Stoneman Douglas Park on Google Maps.
Continue another 10-minute walk and you’ll find a third playground, located in South Pointe Park.
STROLL LINCOLN ROAD
This is a pretty road filled with nice shops and restaurants, if your toddler naps (unlike mine) a couple of hours in the shops would be lovely!
The food here is generally better quality than Ocean Drive but is also more expensive.
VISIT THE BOTANICAL GARDEN
The Miami Botanical Garden was half an hour’s walk from our hotel. It was pretty small, but it is free and quite safe for children to run around in. I wouldn’t make it a priority to visit here, but it is something a little different if you need a break from the beach and pool!
Thank you for reading my South Beach Miami with a toddler guide, I hope we’ve helped you to plan your trip.
WE ALSO HAVE GUIDES ON:
– ATLANTA – NASHVILLE – NEW ORLEANS – NEW YORK – CHARLESTON –
Happy travelling!
Good luck!
Hi! Thanks for the tips! What hotel did you stay at? The hyper link no longer goes to the hotel page. And we are looking for a kid friendly spot. Thank you!
Hello! It was called Strand Ocean Drive Suites, my son still talks about the rooftop pool there! I just updated the link 🙂