Miami Night city tours show you downtown, the causeway and South Beach from the road after dark, with a guide or a driver telling you what you see. You can take the 8pm open-top bus from Bayside, a smaller bus with four stops, or a van that collects you from your hotel.
An open-top double-decker from Bayside at 8pm, with a live guide over headphones: downtown, over the causeway past the port, then Ocean Drive and Lincoln Road. You stay on board for 75 to 90 minutes.
From $36 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
A small air-conditioned bus with windows that open, from the W hotel in Miami Beach. It makes four stops of 20 to 30 minutes, from Brickell to Wynwood, and prints the start time on your booking.
From $89 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Pickup from your downtown hotel in a van for up to seven, then about 50 minutes on the observation wheel at Bayside, a stop at South Pointe Park and a causeway view of the skyline before the drive back.
From $99 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Big Bus's night tour leaves Bayside at 8pm for 75 to 90 minutes with a live guide, for $36 a person. You see downtown, the causeway and South Beach from your seat.
Check availabilityIt is a ride through the city after dark with someone telling you what you are looking at. You cover downtown, the causeway over the bay and South Beach in one evening, which on your own would mean several taxis and a lot of guessing.
Big Bus runs an open-top double-decker from Bayside at a fixed 8pm, with no stops. Open Miami runs a smaller panoramic bus from Miami Beach with four stops you step off at. See Sight runs a van that collects you from your downtown hotel and puts you on the observation wheel at Bayside.
The big bus Miami night tour, the Miami night bus tours and the Miami and South Beach night tour are versions of the same evening: a seat, a voice telling the story and the city lit up outside.
The big bus crosses the MacArthur Causeway past the port, then runs along Ocean Drive and Lincoln Road before it returns by Brickell. No boat reaches Ocean Drive, and walking it is a separate evening.
On Big Bus a live guide talks through headphones, in English. On the panoramic bus a guide meets you at the start and the stops. In the van the driver narrates, and with seven seats at most you can ask questions as you go.
The van tour spends about 50 minutes at Skyviews Miami, the observation wheel at Bayside, with the ride included. It is the only night tour here that puts you above the bay rather than on it.
If the water is not for you, you still see the lit skyline: from the causeway on the bus, and from a causeway stop in the van. You also stay dry of spray, if not always of rain.
The three differ on where you start, whether you get off, and what you pay.
| Big Bus night tour | Panoramic bus | Van with the wheel | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starts | Big Bus Stop #1, Bayside | The W hotel, Miami Beach | Your downtown hotel |
| Time | 8pm; also 8:01pm from Miami Beach, Fri-Sun | On your booking | On your booking |
| Length | 75 to 90 minutes | 2 hours | 2 hours |
| Off the vehicle | No stops | Four stops of 20-30 minutes | The wheel, South Pointe, a causeway stop |
| Seats | Open top deck | Up to 14, windows open | Up to 7, in a van |
| Commentary | Live guide, English, headphones | A guide at the stops | The driver narrates |
| Fare | $36 a person | $89.54 a person | $99 a person |
Big Bus is the cheapest and the only one with a fixed time. The panoramic bus and the van cost more, carry fewer people and let you out of your seat.
The wheel's own site publishes its hours and prices if you would rather ride it without a tour. Our guide to what is open late lists what else keeps evening hours.
The small-group van collects you in downtown Miami, rides the wheel at Bayside and stops at South Pointe Park and on the causeway, from $99 a person with up to seven aboard.
Check availabilityIs it dark? The Big Bus night tour leaves at 8pm all year. From mid-September through March you leave in full dark. In April, May and August you leave at dusk, and from mid-June to mid-July the sun sets at 8:14pm, after you set off. The season and sunset guide has the dates.
The start time. The panoramic bus and the van print no start time in their listings, so look at the time on your booking before you plan dinner.
Finding the stop. Big Bus Stop #1 is at Bayside Marketplace, and travellers often struggle to find it. Check the stop on your ticket and arrive 15 minutes early. On Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays a second night bus leaves Soundscape Park in Miami Beach at 8:01pm.
Weather. The top deck is open. From June to October bring a light rain jacket, and bring a layer in winter, when the evening low at the airport averages 61°F in January. The operators may cancel for bad weather with a new date or a refund.
Where to walk after. Ocean Drive's Art Deco hotels are free to walk at any hour. The Art Deco Historic District covers about 960 buildings, and the the lit landmarks one by one say which ones the bus passes.
Want the bay as well as the streets? Every way to spend a Miami night is compared on Miami Night Tours.