What to do in Miami when it rains, with kids
Miami rain usually passes within the hour, but you do not want to wait it out in the car. Two museums, a free one, a lunch on the water under a roof, and a Cuban art room where the grown-ups get a rum while the kids look at paintings.
The short version
- Two hours downtown: Pérez Art Museum, 11 am to 6 pm, until 9 pm on Thursday.
- Free: ICA Miami in the Design District, Wednesday to Sunday.
- Lunch under a roof: La Cañita at Bayside, noon to 9 pm.
- Breakfast before the rain: Café Bastille downtown, from 8 am.
- Little Havana afternoon: Cubaocho, free to walk in and look at the art.
Pick one museum and one lunch and let the rain do what it wants: PAMM and La Cañita are both on Biscayne Boulevard downtown, a short ride or a long walk apart.
Pick by situation
| Two hours, downtown | Pérez Art Museum, Museum Park |
| Free | ICA Miami, Wednesday to Sunday 11 am to 6 pm |
| Lunch with a view, under a roof | La Cañita at Bayside Marketplace |
| Breakfast before the rain | Café Bastille, 248 SE 1st St, from 8 am |
| Little Havana afternoon | Cubaocho, art and a rum bar, from 11 am Tuesday to Sunday |
| Thursday evening | PAMM stays open until 9 pm |
Pérez Art Museum Miami
The building alone is worth the ticket, with its hanging gardens and a deck that faces the water and the port, and the collection inside is the city's most serious: modern and contemporary art from the Americas, the Caribbean and beyond, with big rotating shows. The café on the terrace is where you end up, and the terrace is shaded, so a shower is something to watch rather than run from.
Open 11 am to 6 pm Monday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and until 9 pm on Thursday. Closed Tuesday and Wednesday. Ticketed, with free days announced on the website. There is a garage under the museum, and the Metromover Museum Park station is a short walk.
ICA Miami
A real museum with real ambition, and it is free. Painting, sculpture and installations across three floors, exhibitions that change often enough to come back for, and a garden behind the building where the sculptures sit among trees for the moment the rain stops. It is a ten-minute stop or a two-hour one depending on what is up and how old the kids are.
Wednesday to Sunday, 11 am to 6 pm. Closed Monday and Tuesday. Reserve a timed slot on the website on busy weekends. The Design District garages are the parking; the museum sits right off the main pedestrian blocks.
La Cañita at Bayside
A chef-driven kitchen inside a waterfront shopping complex is a happy surprise, and on a wet day it is the right one: the terrace faces the marina and the bay, the marketplace around it is where you wait out a shower, and the menu is Cuban and Caribbean done with the care of a serious restaurant and the ease of a place where people arrive in sandals from the boat tours.
Open noon to 9 pm Sunday to Thursday and 11 am to 10 pm Friday and Saturday. $$, which is rare for a view. Weekend afternoons are busy with the Bayside crowds; early evening is calmer. The Bayside garage is the parking and the Metromover College/Bayside station is across the boulevard.
Café Bastille at 248 SE 1st St is the breakfast move before any of this: croissants, eggs the French way, 8 am to 4 pm, first come first served.
Cubaocho
Nowhere else lets you look at a serious collection of Cuban art with a glass of rum in your hand. The room is part gallery, part bar, part concert hall: paintings from Cuba's exile and pre-revolution years on the walls, a long bar of rums underneath them, and a stage for live music most nights. Afternoons are for the paintings, which is the kids' part; after 9 pm the bands take over, which is not.
Closed Monday. Open from 11 am Tuesday to Sunday, until midnight most nights and 2 am on Friday and Saturday. Walking in to see the art is free; you pay for drinks and ticketed shows. Parking is street or the paid lots on Calle Ocho.
Before you go
- PAMM is closed Tuesday and Wednesday; ICA is closed Monday and Tuesday; Cubaocho is closed Monday
- ICA is free; reserve a timed slot online on busy weekends
- PAMM has a garage under the museum; the Metromover Museum Park station is a short walk
- Bayside has its own garage and the Metromover College/Bayside station is across Biscayne Boulevard
- Café Bastille does not take reservations and closes at 4 pm
- Thursday is the long day: PAMM stays open until 9 pm
Skip it if
Where they are
Questions people ask
What can you do in Miami with kids when it rains?
Pérez Art Museum downtown (covered terrace, garage underneath), ICA Miami in the Design District (free, Wednesday to Sunday), lunch under a roof at La Cañita in Bayside Marketplace, and Cubaocho in Little Havana to look at Cuban art in the afternoon.
Which Miami museums are free?
ICA Miami at 61 NE 41st St is free every day it is open, Wednesday to Sunday 11 am to 6 pm. Cubaocho is free to walk in. PAMM is ticketed with free days announced on its website.
Where to eat downtown with kids on a rainy day?
Café Bastille at 248 SE 1st St for breakfast or lunch until 4 pm, and La Cañita on the upper level of Bayside Marketplace for Cuban and Caribbean plates from noon.
How long does Miami rain last?
Usually under an hour, often in the afternoon. Plan one indoor stop, not a whole indoor day, and keep the beach for later.
More guides
Hours and prices from Google Places, checked nightly. The rain pattern is a local's rule of thumb, not a forecast. Photos are ours.