¡Bienvenidos a Miami! We love to visit cities with the kids, particularly fascinating and diverse ones like Miami. But if you’ve been following us on 2TravelDads for long, you know that we’re all about exploring beyond the concrete jungle. That’s why we’ve plotted out our favorite easy day trips and weekend getaways outside of Miami’s South Beach and Calle Ocho (even though both are awesome). Don’t worry, you can always add beach time into any of our suggestions with a little planning.
Whether you’re taking a day trip out of Miami or heading out on a weekend getaway, pick up your rental car at Miami International Airport to start your adventure. All our suggestions here can be done as single day adventures OR weekend escapes, so use our ideas to plot and plan the most fun possible, and maybe cross off some of your wildlife viewing bucket-list.
Because we travel with kids, we know that if we’re driving more than two hours to get someplace, that’s a trip we need to do as an overnight. Having said that, these three ideas are some of the coolest and the easiest day trips from Miami. And all of them are sure to please the nature lover in anyone.
Big Cypress National Preserve
We didn’t initially plan to visit Big Cypress National Preserve, but we did and now we want to go back and do all all the boardwalk hikes possible. Located on the northern border of Everglades National Park, Big Cypress is one big, beautiful, epic swamp. That may sound unappealing, but it’s really magical and unique.
From the enormous cypress trees creating an otherworldly atmosphere to alligators and even crocodiles below and around the boardwalks, Big Cypress National Preserve is an easy and worthwhile stop in southern Florida. You can experience it just by stopping into one of the two visitor centers off the Tamiami Trail (Florida Highway 41), or you can be fully immersed in the cypress swamp while on one of many hikes through the preserve (from a few hundred yards to two miles).
Tip: Wear a light, long-sleeved shirt and light pants. Just like us, mosquitoes are also big fans of Big Cypress National Preserve.