Updated February 2024

By Yours Truly and Kendall Lambert

Things to do in Miami when it rains? It’s a good idea to have some ideas up our sleeve of things, especially if we’re planning on having out of town visitors. So next time during a downpour, try one of these activities  and see another side of the Magic City you or your guests haven’t seen before.

Go to Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. Sitting right off Florida’s Turnpike, in Hollywood, FL, Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino promises a little something for everyone. Filled with everything from its world-class casino, hotel and gambling rooms, to countless bars and concert venues, multiple restaurants, celebrity events and more, one can easily spend a day here.

The Boys Farmers Market, located in Delray Beach, carries a wide selection of fresh fruits, vegetables and many other farm-to-table goods. It’s similar to Fairway Market it New York City but on a smaller scale. Looking for fresh protein? There’s a butcher shop, poultry and fish areas. Not looking to cook? Find a wide variety of prepared foods both hot and cold. The isles contain items from all around the world, including Italian pastas, Jewish style baked goods, and a seemingly endless supply of condiments, sauces and dressings. Finish off the dinner shopping with selections from their coffee section, organic fair trade from all over the world including their Boys House Blend.

Perfect for things to do in Miami when it rains, the Parodi Costume Collection is a museum showcasing a certain kind of art – the art of fashion. This unique exhibit, located off Biscayne Boulevard and 27^th street, houses over 5000 pieces of clothing, dating from 1880 through the 20^th Open by private appointment, one might catch sight of the preserved flapper dresses from the 1920s or peruse the couture stylings of famed designer Oscar de la Renta. Walk out of the building to the annex and see where owner Paquita Parodi restores the garments. The collection represents great passion and is a wonderful treat for art and fashion lovers alike.

Visit the Historic Chapel of Our Lady of Our Merced and try to time it with the exceptional Martha/Mary Yamaha concert series that it hosts. No ordinary venue this, it’s part of the Colonial Florida Cultural Heritage Center LLC in Allapattah that operates La Merced Chapel Miami and La Casa. The Center focuses on times from the earliest Spanish Colonial influences throughout South, Central and North America and the Caribbean, with a special focus on Colonial Florida, through the 19^th century and in some cases the early 20^th.

Besides being a house of worship, the Chapel is home to significant original works of art, both Spanish Colonial Art created in the New World and works imported from Europe by colonial settlers. The façade could have been plucked from colonial days in Peru. Inside are richly gilded columns and side altars made by local craftsmen and carvers from Bolivia and inspired by traditional indigenous carving from the Andes.

Tours are available by appointment. But there’s much more. The second building in the complex, La Casa, boasts an impressive collection of historic documents ranging from documents and memorabilia related to Cuba from its beginning through the 20^th century, to original documents such as a 1492 letter from King Ferdinand and Queen Isabela, to original maps including the newly discovered New World.

The complex is located on the campus of the historic Corpus Christi Catholic Church, 3220 N.W.7th Avenue. For more information go to ColonialFlorida.org and MarthaMaryConcerts.org.

More things to do in Miami when it rains: Visit one of Miami’s private museums.   Miami is home to a variety of private art collections. Rubell Museum, which started in NYC in 1964 and recently moved to its spanking new home in Allapattah, includes 36 galleries, a flexible performance space, an art research library, a bookstore, and a restaurant that opens onto a courtyard. The gallery space is filled with multiple exhibitions and an ever-changing array of collection highlights, drawn from the couple’s extensive holdings of more than 7,200 works by 1,000 artists. Among the highlights are examples by longtime Rubell favorites such as Keith Haring, Jeff Koons, Cindy Sherman, Oscar Murillo, and Richard Prince, alongside younger buzzed-about artists such as Jonathan Lyndon Chase, Cy Gavin, and Allison Zuckerman.  Open daily except Monday and Tuesday.

While you’re there, plan on having lunch at Leku Basque restaurant where the food is tops. Here’s my review:

Leku Restaurant, A Rave Review

More Things to Do in Miami When It Rains

The de la Cruz Collection Contemporary Art Space in the Design District – which serves as an extension of the home of its sponsors, Carlos and Rosa de la Cruz – supports the community by welcoming local artists and helping fund educational initiatives. Visitors can head there to checkout its current exhibition, Possible Horizon, which features select artists, from the Cruz’s own personal art collection, with artwork that questions issues relevant to today’s world. Open Tuesday through Saturday.

Jorge Pérez’s private museum El Espacio 23 is home to thousands of works of contemporary art from around the world. The museum is located in a 28,000-square-foot warehouse in Miami’s Allapattah neighborhood, with plenty of room to display the various pieces in Pérez’s extensive collection. Open by private appointment only, El Espacio contains a variety of mixed media from sculptures to paintings to performances. The exhibitions showcase artists from different parts of the world including South America, Africa and Asia, highlighting global culture. The museum often features guest curators on all of its exhibitions working in collaboration with Pérez Collection curators and houses a residency program as well.

And don’t forget ICA in the Design District with a distinguished contemporary art collection and lovely outdoor sculpture garden.Open Wednesday through Sunday.

Miami’s largest private museum is The Margulies Collection at the Warehouse , a non-profit institution that takes up a retro-fitted warehouse in Wynwood. Home to seasonal exhibitions from renowned collector Martin Z’s personal collection, this museum currently has works of contemporary photography on display, as well as permanent exhibitions by Willem de Kooning, Flavin, Heizer, LeWitt, Anslem Kiefer, Noguchi, Segal, Serra, and Barry McGee.

Speaking of museums, The Patricia and Phillip Frost Art Museum FIU is open Tuesday to Sunday. The Bass Museum has  reopened as well and well worth a visit. It is open Wednesday through Sunday. Don’t miss Miami’s flagship museum the Perez Art Museum Miami with its iconic architecture by Herzog de Meuron, fine collection of Latin American and African American art, Verde restaurant with panoramic view, and a wonderful gift shop!

Explore one of the areas you don’t know. Check out the posts on a Day in Allapattah, A Day in Downtown and a Day in Little River (just updated).

And last but not least, more things to do in Miami when it rains — Have lunch overlooking the water – from indoors. Much of Miami is right on the water; so even if it’s raining, you can still take in its gorgeous views. Seaspice and Casablanca on the River which sit on the Miami River, are seafaring-inspired spots with indoor and outdoor dining and fresh seafood. At places like these, you can get a taste of Miami’s thriving food scene and take in the city’s natural beauty – rain or shine.

For more waterfront restaurants:

17 Best Waterfront Restaurants in Miami