It’s true — Miami may just be one of the most expensive cities in the country, but you’d be surprised to know there are still tons of affordable and free things to do here. So if you’re on a budget, we’ve got you (and your wallet) with these awesome things to do and see, completely free of charge! Well, at least not counting parking. 😅
1. Go on a ‘Hot Girl Walk’
Ladies, lace up your sneakers and get ready to make some friends while getting your fitness on at the next Hot Girl Walk! Held weekly on Saturdays, usually at 9 or 10 a.m., this free event brings the community together with a mile-long walk before grabbing some coffee or brunch afterwards. All the info you need for the next Hot Girl Walk can be found on their Instagram.
2. Discover Miami’s landmarks on a self-guided tour
Tours are a great way to discover everything the city has to offer. It doesn’t matter if you’re really into history or into art, Miami is home to tons of gorgeous landmarks like the Art Deco District or Miami Design District that you can explore completely for free on your own or by joining a local walking tour.
3-7. Escape to a free yoga class
Get your body flowing with some free yoga! Make sure to bring along a mat and a bottle of water to keep you hydrated, but most importantly — have a fun and meditative time.
- 420 Space Yoga: Club Space completely transforms every Saturday at 4:20 p.m. for free yoga on its terrace. Led by Yogi Tiffany April Levy.
- Sunrise Beach Yoga: For the early birds who love to practice yoga, weekly yoga sessions by April May Gardner on the sands of South Beach are the perfect way to welcome the weekend. Keep up to date with locations on April’s Instagram.
- Yoga Mornings at SoundScape Park: Take a pause and share relaxation with the community at the New World Center’s monthly vinyasa yoga classes, presented by Jackson Health System. During the season, meditation teacher Marlene Arzola will guide you through all the steps.
- Bayfront and Maurice A. Ferré Parks have an evening yoga schedule that offers a variety of classes for all yogis to enjoy! Donations are accepted.
- Yoga Wednesdays and Meditation Mondays at Peacock Park: #GROVEFIT 2023 has launched wellness classes at Peacock Park for everyone and all fitness levels, from yoga and meditation to strength training and hip-hop dancing.
8. Catch a free movie on the water at PAMM
Another fantastic free plan comes in the form of catching an outdoor movie, set in true Miami fashion — on the water! On select Thursdays, Pérez Art Museum’s Floating Film Series in partnership with Ballyhoo Media allows guests to watch a movie on its terrace from a 60-foot floating screen right from the water.
9. Or an outdoor film during SoundScape Park’s Cinema Series
Every Wednesday from October through May, gather under the stars at SoundScape Park for free outdoor movies! Presented by the City of Miami Beach, the Soundscape Cinema Series is a completely free event that transforms the New World Center into a 7,000-square-foot projection movie screen for the perfect outing. Starting at 8 p.m., you can also bring your blankets, chairs, drinks and snacks along with you. Check out the full lineup of movies here.
10. Take a ride on the Metromover
Created in 1986, the Metromover is an electrically powered free mode of public transportation that provides rides to almost 40,000 passengers daily. Even if it’s quite a popular transport option you get to enjoy one of Miami’s most iconic features and the bonus is you can get to other free things to do around the city just by hopping on it!
11. Enjoy a lovely bike ride at one of these parks & trails
If you’re looking for a euphoric day out in nature, why not get on your bike and feel the breeze along a bike trail across the city? It’s not only a great way to spend your time but to honor your body and health. Plus, it offers up some amazing sunset views if you go at the right time!
- South Pointe Park, Miami Beach
- Rickenbacker Trail, Key Biscayne
- Old Cutler Trail, Coral Gables
- Venetian Causeway
- The Underline, Brickell
- Ocean Drive
12. Explore museums during free admission days
Many Miami museums offer free entrance at least one day a month as well as other fun and family-friendly activities that you can check out completely for free!
- The Bass: Free on the last Sunday of every month from 2 to 4 p.m.
- Gold Coast Railroad Museum: Free admission every first Saturday of the month from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- HistoryMiami Museum: Family Fun Day, the second Saturday of each month, offers free admission all day.
- ICA Miami: Offers free access always, as well as free guided tours which are available every day at 1 p.m.
- Jewish Museum of Florida: Free admission every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- MOCA NOMI: Entry is donation based on the last Friday of the month when you can access by paying the amount you want from 7 to 10 p.m.
- Patricia and Phillip Frost Art Museum at FIU: Offers free admission always, as well as free guest lectures by leading artists, historians, and scholars throughout the year.
- Pérez Art Museum: Admission is free every second Saturday of the month.
- Wolfsonian-FIU: Offers free admission every Friday from 6 to 9 p.m.
Plus, every third Thursday of the month from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., Miami Beach hosts its monthly dose of culture — Culture Crawl. Locals and visitors alike have the opportunity to enjoy exhibition openings for free during the program. Your public library card can also get you into local attractions for free, like the Museum of Graffiti, Patricia and Phillip Frost Science and even Zoo Miami. Click here to learn more.
13. Stroll along art and palm trees at Maurice A. Ferré Park
And speaking of artwork, this picture-perfect park in downtown Miami, set along the water, offers outdoor art installations for free. Permanent exhibits include “A Bridge of Light” collection of works by Jiménez Deredia, a 39-foot tall piece named “Awilda” by Jaume Plensa, and even a monument that honors the Spanish Navy that arrived in the Americas in 1492.
14. See the Holocaust Memorial
This breathtaking outdoor memorial in Miami Beach, dedicated to the six million lives lost during the Holocaust, is free to visit all year-long. Located on the corner of Meridian Avenue and Dade Boulevard, the memorial was designed by Kenneth Treister and features a giant hand extending upward to the sky surrounded by bronze figures of victims and a Memorial Wall.
15. Discover Miami’s vibrant Cuban culture at Little Havana
This vibrant neighborhood offers plenty of free things to see including Calle Ocho’s vibrant streets and Viernes Culturales (“Cultural Fridays”), held every third Friday of the month from 7 to 11 p.m. for a festival of plenty of art, music and food. At the famous Ball & Chain, weekly programming like Salsero Sundays, BachaTuesdays, Caramelo Wednesdays and Little Havana Under the Stars every Thursday, allows guests to come in and learn to dance for free.
16. Of course, soak up the sun at the beach
We’d be making a huge mistake to leave out the city’s famous beaches from this round-up! If there’s something Miami is known for, is its sprawling beaches and year-long sunny weather. There is a minimal fee for parking at some beaches but you can always take a stroll through the city on the way to the beach to make it completely free. So grab your parasol, your towel and your flip-flops and make a day out at the beach.
17. Explore Miami Beach Botanical Garden
What’s more relaxing than going on a stroll through a luscious oasis? Featuring more than 100 palm species, flowering trees, a koi pond, Japanese garden and more, the 3-acre Miami Beach Botanical Garden is free and the perfect spot in which to escape city life for a day.
18. Take in Wynwood’s eye-catching street art
Yes, Wynwood Walls does require a small fee to enter it, but there’s plenty of gorgeous murals and street art to check outside the Walls, from the Wynwood Jungle to the Marketplace! Heck, every single building in the neighborhood has some form of art on it. So put on your best pair of walking shoes and get on to exploring. There’s always a new piece popping up here and there, too!
19. Meander around Miami Design District
Within Miami’s Design District, you’ll find stores, galleries, museums, restaurants and major art and design installations. You might assume the neighborhood is out of your price range but without spending a dime, you can see all it has to offer! Go window shopping, take the best photos and see the world-renowned public art like Buckminster Fuller Fly’s Eye Dome and Virgil Abloh’s Dollar A Gallon III.
20. Attend Jazz at MOCA
On the last Friday of every month, the Museum of Contemporary Art in North Miami hosts its beloved free outdoor concerts, starting at 8 p.m. Featuring an exciting lineup of jazz musicians in their courtyard, it’s a rain or shine event and admission to the museum on jazz nights are by donation.
21. And listen to gospel music during Free Gospel Sundays
This series at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts pairs the community’s brightest gospel stars with nationally-renowned gospel headliners. The concerts, which take place in the center’s Knight Concert Hall, are entirely free to attend! See the full lineup here.
22. Spend the day at a farmers’ market
From Coconut Grove’s Farmers Market to the Vizcaya’s Farmers Market (for an extra $5 you could take a tour of Vizcaya Village), they’re only free if you don’t buy anything, but it’s always fun to meander around a farmer’s market for the perfect weekend day out!
23. Visit the Everglades during a fee free day
On certain days of the year, all national parks that normally charge an entrance fee instead offer free admission to everyone: On Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (January 16), the first day of National Park Week (April 22), the Great American Outdoors Act anniversary (August 4), National Public Lands Day (September 23) and Veterans Day (November 11).
24. Connect with authors at Books & Books events
While you are free to visit a Books & Books to find your next read, the indie bookstore often hosts free in-person and virtual appearances from guests, such as author conversations, celebrity author signings, lectures by local community leaders and more. Check them out here.
25. Slide down the Showfields slide
Although we can’t guarantee you’ll walk out of this unique shop empty-handed, it’s still worth a spot on this list! Showfields’ two-story Lincoln Road store reimagines traditional shopping by featuring interactive displays for each and every brand it carries. It feels more like an art exhibition than a store and makes for amazing Insta-worthy moments. One unique feature is its artfully adorned spiral slide, which we’re obsessed with!
26. Then plunge down Aventura Mall’s slide tower!
If you’re up for a ride, Aventura Mall’s 93-foot tall shiny slide tower is open every Friday through Sunday from noon to 8 p.m. Doubling as a functional art piece, it was designed by German sculptor Carsten Höller for the mall’s 2017 three-story wing expansion and features two spiral steel slides which people can actually ride down through. The best part? It’s completely free to ride!
27. Take a tour of the Adrienne Arsht Center
The performing arts center offers free tours every Monday and Saturday at noon, each lasting about an hour and 30 minutes. No reservations are required and the tours begin at the lobby of the Ziff Ballet Opera House. While you’ll get to know background about the building and the many different stars who have graced its stages, you might even get lucky and catch some behind-the-scenes action from production if the timing is right!
28. Walk along the shops at Bayside Marketplace
You can spend hours strolling through Bayside, just window shopping, basking in the sun and boat watching on the marina overlooking Biscayne Bay. Your ears will also feast on live music from time to time, often performed by local emerging musicians.
29. And Upper Buena Vista
Another zero-cost idea is walking through the boho paradise known as Upper Buena Vista. Surrounded by large banyan trees, you’ll find walkways and artwork connecting to boutiques and restaurants that make up the neighborhood. At the center of it is the large Bodhi ‘Wishtree,’ which is said to have special magnetic and spiritual values. We know it’s not free but for just $1, you can purchase a ribbon and make a wish to tie to the tree, as it could lead to eternal blessings.
30. Enjoy free music at Gulfstream Park
If you head up to Hallandale Beach, Gulfstream Park Village offers free entertainment with its Music in the Park program. The Village Center Stage comes alive every Wednesday through Sunday night with performances by popular local duos and DJs. Check out the full schedule here.