Visitors to Miami find great weather, white sand beaches, endless restaurants, eclectic neighborhoods, and a city that never closes. They often leave fearing their next credit card statement amid the soaring prices. However, two of the best ways to get around while also getting a birdseye view of the city are each free.
The free Miami Beach Water Taxi connects Edgewater and Miami Beach with a scenic 20-minute ride.
Doug Gollan
Miami’s Metromover is a monorail divided into three separate interconnecting loops linking Brickell, Downtown, and Edgewater.
The downtown loop opened back in 1986 with the expansion north to Edgewater and south to Brickell in 1994.
The Metromover links Brickell, Downtown, and Edgewater with access to some of the city’s top tourist attractions.
Doug Gollan
Trains run every 90 seconds during peak periods and every 3 to 7 minutes during off-peak hours.
While there are fewer than five miles of tracks, there are 21 stations.
The free water taxi takes 20 minutes to cross Biscayne Bay
Doug Gollan
Financial District, the southernmost stop, is across the street from the Four Seasons Hotel Miami.
There is a stop at Brickell City Center, a shopping and dining mecca that includes everything from Saks Fifth Avenue to H&M and, of course, an Apple Store.
The signature bridge of arches under construction in Downtown Miami.
Doug Gollan
You can get off at Bayfront Park and Bayside, where there are dozens of restaurants and bars overlooking the marina. From there you can hop on a boat tour of the multi-million dollar homes of celebrities that dot the islands of Biscayne Bay, charter a fishing boat, rent a jet ski or hop on the Skyviews ferris wheel with its glass enclosed and air-conditioned gondolas as you are lifted to 360 degree views from 300 hundred feet above the city.
The Miami Metromover has 21 stops along three separate loops.
Doug Gollan
After visiting the Perez Art Museum or the Frost Science Center and Aquarium take a walk through the adjacent Maurice A. Ferre Park where you can check out the superyachts of billionaires at Island Gardens Marina across the channel, marvel at massive cruises ships as they navigate to the Atlantic Ocean, and perhaps even catch a landing seaplane.
Beyond that are stops in Edgewater, a fast-growing residential district, and the final stop, which leaves you within walking distance of Wynwood and its famous walls.
Best of all – beyond it being free – are the great views as the train navigates the heart of Miami, several stories above the famous traffic jams.
A cruise ship navigates towards the Atlantic Ocean in front of Maurice A. Ferre Park in Downtown Miami.
Doug Gollan
Crossing the Miami River from Brickell to Downtown, you can view the eclectic combination of barges and pleasure boats. You’ll also get a work-in-progress view of the Biscayne Boulevard signature bridge with its soaring arches designed to relieve some of the bumper-to-bumper congestion.
A more recent addition is a free water taxi linking Miami Beach to the mainland.
The journey across Biscayne Bay offers views of the waterfront homes on the Venetian Islands, the towering residential buildings along the Edgewater waterfront, and Miami’s crane-filled skyline.
You can ride the Metromover to the Frost Science Museum & Aquarium.
Doug Gollan
It runs from the Venetian Marina and Yacht Club in Edgewater to Maurice Gibb Memorial Park in the Sunset Harbor neighborhood of Miami Beach.
From there, you are a short walk to the Lincoln Road pedestrian mall, and from there directly to Miami Beach with South Beach and Ocean Drive.
Miami’s free water taxi is a scenic way to get to its famous beaches if you are staying on the mainland.
Doug Gollan
The 40-foot water taxi holds up to 55 passengers and takes about 20 minutes.
The Metromover operates from 5:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily, although it sometimes closes on weekend mornings for servicing.
It also connects to the Brightline fast train service to Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach and Orlando and the Metrorail elevated train to Miami International Airport.
The water taxi operates hourly from 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and they run on the half hour until 7:30 p.m.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t operate on weekends, but it’s free after all.