If you’re planning one week in South Beach, the biggest mistake is trying to cram too much into it. A full week gives you time to actually enjoy Miami — beach mornings, great restaurants, a possible day trip, and still plenty of time to sit by the pool and do absolutely nothing for a while.
This itinerary centers around The Ritz-Carlton, South Beach because the location makes everything incredibly easy. You’re steps from the beach, close to Lincoln Road, and within walking distance of a lot of the restaurants that make South Beach fun. If you’re planning your stay, you can find hotels in South Beach here to compare options and see what fits your trip best.
If you’d rather stay slightly north and want more of a full resort-style property, take a look at Fontainebleau Miami Beach. It’s bigger, more of a traditional Miami resort, and a little removed from the main South Beach strip. If you’re considering it, see my full review of Fontainebleau Miami Beach to understand what the experience is actually like.
Here’s exactly how I’d spend a full week.
Fly into Miami International Airport in the afternoon and head to your hotel. Once you check in, unpack, freshen up, and ease into the trip.
If you have some time before dinner, take a short walk through Lummus Park, stroll along the beach path, or sit by the pool for a bit. After a travel day, keeping it simple is the right move.
Dinner on night one is Prime 112.
It’s lively, a little flashy, and feels very Miami — exactly what you want for your first night in South Beach. Order either the filet or ribeye, then add a few sides for the table. The truffle mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, and creamed spinach are all solid choices. Splitting a steak and ordering multiple sides is honestly the best way to do it. Steakhouses are one of the few places where extra sides feel completely justified.
Start the morning at Bacon Bitch. Bacon, fresh squeezed orange juice, and Cardi B is how I live my best Miami brunch life.
If you want quiet and peaceful — this is not it. If you want fun and memorable, this works. The Pink Passion Pancakes with passion fruit syrup were a special they were running and so so good, and a breakfast sandwich is a must. If you want the full breakdown of what to expect there, see my review of Bacon Bitch.
After breakfast, head back to the beach at the Ritz. The beach staff sets up chairs and umbrellas for you — just give them your room number and they take care of the rest.
Spend a few hours relaxing, swimming, and walking the shoreline. Mornings are usually the calmest time on South Beach before the heat and crowds pick up later in the afternoon. If you enjoy people watching, though, the afternoon energy can be part of the entertainment.
For lunch, walk over to La Sandwicherie. They’ve been serving sandwiches here since 1988 and it’s still a South Beach staple. The baguettes are fresh, the ingredients are simple, and their vinaigrette pulls everything together. The portions are big, the service is quick, and it’s an easy beach-day lunch.
Dinner is at Macchialina, one of the best Italian restaurants in Miami and well known for house-made pasta and a great wine list. Order at least one pasta dish and let the staff guide you on wine. If you want help deciding what to order, see my full review of Macchialina.
If you want to see more than South Beach itself, this is the day to do it.
Renting a car makes things much easier, especially if you’re planning to leave Miami Beach for the day. We rented our car here because they had the best prices.
One option is heading out to Everglades National Park for an airboat tour. The Everglades are about 45 minutes away, so it’s an easy half-day trip. You’ll skim across the marsh in a flat-bottom airboat and usually spot alligators, birds, and wildlife you won’t see anywhere else in Florida. If you want something organized ahead of time, you can book an Everglades airboat tour here.
Another option is driving down to John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park for snorkeling. The water is clear, the coral reefs are real, and it’s one of the best places in Florida to get in the water.
If you’re feeling ambitious, a day trip to Key West is technically possible, but it’s a long day — more than three hours each way. It’s a fun bucket-list trip if you’ve never been, but honestly another beach day in South Beach is also a great option. No wrong answer here.
Start the morning at The Local House.
It’s a reliable breakfast spot with good coffee and a calmer atmosphere than some of the louder brunch places around South Beach. Sometimes that’s exactly what you want after a few busy days.
After breakfast, spend the day at the pool at the Ritz. Grab a chair, order lunch poolside, and stay a few hours. Miami trips don’t always need a packed schedule — sometimes doing nothing is the plan.
Dinner tonight is Barton G. The Restaurant.
This place is dramatic, over-the-top, and very much an experience. The food presentations are huge and the dessert literally comes in a briefcase of fake money. If you’re going to go, lean into the whole concept. If you want to see exactly what the experience is like, read my review of Barton G. The Restaurant.
Start the morning at Limonada Bar + Brunch. During the week it’s a colorful breakfast spot with plenty of good options. On weekends it turns into more of a brunch party with DJs and cocktails.
Popular orders include the breakfast burrito, avocado toast with eggs, and pancakes. If you’re committing to the brunch experience, add a mimosa.
After breakfast, walk Lincoln Road. The pedestrian-only street is great for shopping and people watching and always has a lot going on.
For lunch, stop at Naked Taco and order the cowboy steak taco and the fried doughnuts. Tacos and doughnuts in the same meal may sound questionable, but it works.
Dinner is at Mister 01 Extraordinary Pizza, where you should absolutely order the coffee pizza. Yes, it sounds weird. It not only works but will blow your mind. The crust is light, the toppings are balanced, and it’s one of those things you’ll talk about long after the trip. If you’re curious why it’s so famous, see my review of Mister 01 Extraordinary Pizza.
Finish the night with ice cream from Salt & Straw, which rotates creative flavors constantly.
Take an Uber to the Miami Design District for the day. The area is known for luxury shopping, modern architecture, and a surprisingly strong food scene.
For breakfast, you can grab something quick from Zak the Baker, or sit down at Pura Vida Miami or Sadelle's at Kith.
Lunch options nearby include Mandolin Aegean Bistro, Coyo Taco, or MIA Market if you want a food hall with multiple options.
For dinner head to Little Havana.
Or, Uber over to Little Havana and do a guided food tour. It’s a fun way to try several Cuban dishes while learning more about the neighborhood and its history. You can book a Little Havana food tour here, and if you want a deeper look at what to see and eat there, check out my full breakdown of Little Havana Miami.
Start the morning at Café Bastille. Order the pistachio pancakes and add one of their creative lattes. If you want a deeper look at the menu and experience, see my full review of Café Bastille Downtown Miami.
After brunch, head back toward the beach for one last swim or walk along the shoreline.
For lunch, stop at Taquiza, where the fresh tortillas and simple tacos make for an easy, satisfying meal. If you want a full breakdown of what to order, check out my review of Taquiza.
Dinner on your final night should be Carbone.
Order the spicy rigatoni vodka and the veal parm, and dress up a little for the night. It’s the perfect place to end a week in South Beach. If you want help navigating the menu, see my review of Carbone.
Before heading to the airport, grab breakfast at Rosetta Bakery. A croissant and cappuccino is the perfect simple ending to the trip.
Traffic leaving South Beach can be unpredictable, so give yourself plenty of extra time getting back to the airport.
A full one week in South Beach should feel relaxed, not rushed. Beach mornings, great restaurants, a little exploring, and plenty of time to just enjoy Miami.
A hotel that’s also a free 24-hour contemporary art museum penguins included. We booked a Corner Suite at 21c and it was massive: separate bedroom, living room, dining area, 699 square feet to spread out in. The bathroom alone had a double vanity and custom Rookwood Pottery tile that made getting ready weirdly entertaining.
The location is downtown, two minutes from Fountain Square, walkable to Boca for dinner, and close enough to hop the free streetcar into Over-the-Rhine. If OTR is where most of your plans are, you might want to stay closer to that neighborhood instead downtown worked for us, but we spent more time in OTR than we expected to.
And yes, there’s a recycled-plastic penguin sculpture that will absolutely scare you the first time you open your door and forget it’s there. Link in bio for the full review rooms, parking, walkability, and everything else before you book 🎨
Three neighborhoods, one streetcar, and more Cincinnati specialties than I could finish in one afternoon.
We hit a goetta breakfast sandwich, chocolate chip ice cream from a shop that’s been at it since 1870, a Liège waffle that earned its Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives spot, and Cincinnati chili the way it’s actually meant to be eaten... over a hot dog, buried in shredded cheddar.
$75 got us three and a half hours, a local guide, free streetcar rides, and a genuinely full stomach. Don’t eat breakfast before this one, the portions add up fast.
My third Secret Food Tour in my third city, and it’s still undefeated.
Link in bio for the full review cost, route, parking, and every stop we hit 🥟🌶️
13 creek crossings, a canyon that keeps closing in around you, and a hike I’d genuinely put back on my itinerary, West Fork Trail was the one.
We got to Call of the Canyon at 7:15am and the lot was barely a quarter full. By 12:30 it was 85% full, so if there’s one tip that matters most, it’s this: go early.
The maintained trail is 6.6 miles round trip, mostly flat, mostly shaded, but I kept my regular tennis shoes dry the whole way by hopping across the rocks at each crossing. It’s rated moderate, and honestly that’s about the distance, not the terrain.
Here’s what nobody tells you though ✨ the maintained trail isn’t the end. We changed into water shoes at the official endpoint and kept going another mile straight through the creek, canyon walls narrowing around us the whole time. That extra mile ended up being my favorite part of the entire hike.
5/5 for me. I’d bring the water shoes again in a heartbeat.
Link in bio for the full guide parking, timing, what to pack, and everything I wish I knew before I went 🥾
Two hours, zero regrets. The Pink Jeep Broken Arrow Tour is hands down one of the most fun things we did in Sedona.
Open-air Jeeps crawling over slickrock, backcountry views you can’t reach on your own, and the famous Road of No Return, steep, thrilling, and somehow completely safe the whole way down.
If you’re picking one paid activity in Sedona, make it this one.
You have to do @pinkjeeptours 🌵🚙 Link in bio for the full review.
Dinner beside Oak Creek at Cress, and yes, it’s a splurge, but I’d do it again in a heartbeat.🤍
Candlelit tables under the trees, the creek running right beside us, a menu that mixes Arizona ingredients with French technique. We ordered a little of everything: the squash and beet salad, milk rolls with three different butters, sweet potato gnocchi that somehow felt light instead of heavy. Then two desserts because we couldn’t decide. The Vanilla Crème Caramel with Manchego cheese completely stole the show, salty and sweet in a way that sounds strange until you taste it.
Plan on $100–250 for two depending on what you order, and this isn’t the spot for a quick casual dinner, it’s slow, intentional, and worth every minute. Book ahead and ask for a creekside table if you can.
If you’re looking for one unforgettable meal in Sedona, this is it. Link in bio for the full review 🍽️
Follow @travelwithwendyplummer for Beautiful Beach Destinations, City Guides, Foodie Spots, and Luxury Hotel Recommendations.
