The annual Art Basel Miami Beach and coinciding Miami Art Week, which take place in early December, showcase the wild city we all love—but with a twist, as art collectors and intellectuals fly in from all over the United States, Europe, and South America to pack Wynwood Art District’s mural-covered streets by day and South Beach clubs by night. You'll hear Spanish on the streets, along with French, German, and Brazilian Portuguese; and those staying on South Beach will look even more stylish than usual (when they’re dressed at all, that is).
What you don’t get during Art Week: The peak season tourists, who arrive after Christmas and remain through spring break, meaning smaller crowds and far fewer sloppy students. The season is as zen as Miami gets, but when Art Week begins (things really gear up the week of Dec. 4, with Basel running Dec. 7-10) be assured that the party atmosphere is in full swing. Considering partygoers think nothing of traveling to Austin for SXSW or the middle of the desert for Burning Man, there’s hardly a more accessible—or better—party week for East Coast residents than Miami in early December. Plus, you don’t need to be a gallery owner to take part. Here’s what you missed, and a guide to planning a killer Art Basel trip.
Where to stay
Take a walk, especially at night, along South Beach’s famous Ocean Drive strip to see its beachfront restaurants and neon lit Art Deco hotels, which resemble large mid-century refrigerators. But don’t linger long enough to get a room; the strip is about a mile south of where most of the Art Week stuff happens. Instead, head north of 15th Street to stay within walking distance of everything you’ll need.
If you’re a design lover, stay at The Betsy - South Beach. Imagined by L. Murray Dixon, one of Miami's most famous architects, the Georgian-style hotel's minimalist, fresh interiors make you feel like you’re going to bed in Copenhagen rather than SoBe. If you want a better party scene without losing the style, head for the Washington Park Hotel, a group of landmarked Art Deco and Craftsman-style buildings renovated and retrofitted to the tune of $100 million by New York hedge fund the Carlyle Group, with food and beverage by New York’s best-known speakeasy entrepreneur Billy Gilroy. The hotel has the advantage of being across the street from the Wolfsonian Museum—featuring international mixed media from 1885 to 1945, it’s a paean to the Jazz Age, speakeasy culture, and the radical changes brought on by the industrial revolution.
Seeing the art
Once you’re settled, head to Collins Park during the daylight hours. It’s right near the Miami Convention Center, where the Art Basel exposition takes place. In the park you’ll find an annual exhibition of outdoor sculptures open to the public, presented by galleries showing at the fair.
If you can snag a pass to the event and walk the exhibition floor, get there as early as your pass allows, because the post-brunch crowd shows up en masse around 3 p.m. and man, are they hungover. If you’re a hardcore art connoisseur, relocate to the Pulse Art Fair (Dec. 7–10) and don’t forget to stop by Design Miami, a major design fair that also takes place that week (Dec. 6–10), where you’ll find thousands of pieces of contemporary furniture and housewares. Handily, it’s located adjacent to the Convention Center. Sneakerheads should visit the Kith Store in Miami Beach, which of all the venues this writer saw last year, had the longest consistent queue of people, day or night, looking for limited-edition kicks.
Next, head to the Wynwood Art District on the mainland of Miami and simply follow the crowds. Wynwood is one of the largest open-air art districts in the world, with more than 70 galleries and countless murals and outdoor works spanning around one square mile. Were you looking for Art Miami? It's hard to miss—but one of the biggest contemporary art fair in the world, drawing 82,000 collectors, has relocated from Wynwood to Downtown Miami this year.
Eat, art walk, eat more
Get a late lunch in Wynwood at The Butcher Shop, which is indeed a fully-functioning butcher shop with a beer garden attached. The menu features a mix of German dishes and charcuterie, but really, you're there to try the beef—specifically the sirloin burger. The beer garden is outdoors but covered, so you can actually enjoy it in temperate December, but there are misting fans for the Miami heat. There's no need to dress up for an afternoon in Wynwood, either; put on your sneakers and be prepared to walk as you inspect mural after mural, block after block of the warehouse district.
If you’re planning on going out—and it’s Miami, so you are—then get a quick, quiet dinner at the classic 11th Street Diner, which not only has great diner food but also serves cocktails in highball glasses (for full deco effect). Move on to the Broken Shaker in the Freehand, for our favorite Old Fashioned on the East Coast. And if you can snag tickets, we hear that Icelandic goddess Björk is deejaying at Mana Wynwood on December 5.
Dance it off
From there, you would be remiss not to make the walk up to 1 Hotel South Beach, a sprawling luxury complex with an ongoing dance-party happening at its private beachfront. Three bars, a DJ, couches, and tropical trees—all directly on the sand, and open to the public (relatively speaking; there's still a bouncer)—make the hotel’s backyard feels purpose-built for Art Week parties. Take note: You can’t actually get to the beach party through the front of the hotel. Enter instead by walking down to the end of 24th Street, where you’ll find the velvet ropes. Go early, before 8 p.m., and you’ll likely get table service, which can save you a lot of waiting at the most popular bars.
If you want to do some late-night dancing off the beach, try to snag an invitation to the always-fun Scope art show opening party. Other trendy Miami nightclubs will be taken over by New York club brands, à la the Hamptons in the summertime—and the Miami New Times has every possible outing listed.
Recover and repeat
To nurse the hangover, go to breakfast at Soho Beach House—even if you're not a member. The international club’s location in Mid-Beach, the area just north of the convention center, is home to the Miami edition of Cecconi’s in an open-air first floor garden, with consistently excellent coffee, and a menu of fresh-squeezed juices and English breakfast staples. For a spot closer to your hotel, hit up Le Chic French Bakery, which New York transplants say has the best coffee (and croissants) in Miami.
This article was originally published in 2016; it has been updated with new information.