Miami · MIA
Car rental in Miami
Miami is the place where the car stops being transport and becomes part of the trip — and where the most beautiful road in the United States starts.
What to do
42 bridges over the sea to Key West
US-1 leaves Miami and disappears into the ocean. There are 42 bridges linking one island to the next all the way to Key West, and on several stretches there's water on both sides of the car, out to the horizon. The Seven Mile Bridge runs seven miles over open sea, with the old bridge alongside it.
Here the road doesn't take you to the trip: the road is the trip. Along the way, Key Largo has the first underwater park in the United States; Islamorada has Robbie's, where you feed tarpon over three feet long by hand; and Bahia Honda has the prettiest beach in the islands.
- Key Largo ~1h30 · underwater park, glass-bottom boat
- Islamorada ~2h · the best lunch stop
- Bahia Honda ~2h50 · the sand beach of the Keys
- Key West ~3h30 · the end of the road
How it works
Where the car is at MIA
The exact spot is arranged for your flight, and you get the photo on WhatsApp with the level and the number.
The Dolphin garage is in the airport complex itself and is signposted from arrivals. It is not the “rental car return” area nor the rental car center: that's another route, it's for companies with a counter, and going there only delays you. Pickup day, step by step.
What to do
Wynwood, the Versace Mansion and the art deco
Wynwood used to be a district of abandoned warehouses. Today every wall is a signed mural, and the breweries and galleries have taken over the sheds. You can walk it all afternoon — but parking is the hard part, which is why arriving early by car pays off.
In South Beach, Ocean Drive lines up 1930s art deco buildings painted in ice-cream colors, and in the middle of them stands Villa Casa Casuarina — Gianni Versace's former mansion, a hotel today, which opens for guided tours.
And half an hour from downtown, the Everglades: swamp, alligators and an airboat ride, the exact opposite of the beach on the same day.
How it works
In Miami the tolls are camera-only
The region has the densest expressway network in Florida: 836, 826, 874, 878, 112 and the Turnpike. Almost all of them charge by camera only, with no booth — there is no option to pay cash. Going through without a transponder turns into a fine, and the fine costs far more than the toll. All our cars have a transponder.
| Region | Per day | Cap per rental |
|---|---|---|
| Orlando and Tampa | US$ 11.99 | US$ 99.00 |
| Miami and Fort Lauderdale | US$ 19.99 | US$ 149.99 |
Miami is in the higher band: from 8 rental days on, the amount hits the cap. How tolls work.
What to do
The beach, and the kitchen that earned a star
South Beach is the photo, but the beach keeps going for miles to the north, emptier: Mid-Beach, Surfside, Sunny Isles. In all of them the problem is the same — parking. The public garage usually works out cheaper than the hotel spot, and it's far easier than hunting the curb.
And Miami today has the largest group of starred restaurants in Florida. O L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon has two stars; Boia De, Los Félix, Stubborn Seed, Ariete, COTE e Elcielo have one each. Almost all of them want a reservation well ahead — and none of them is a walk from your hotel.
How it works
Which car makes sense in Miami
Miami is the place where the car is part of the trip, not just transport. Pick by what you're going to do — the photo changes with it.
Miami is the place where the car is part of the trip, not just transport. A convertible for the causeway to South Beach, a luxury SUV if you'll be picking people up at the hotel, electric if you drive a lot inside the city.
If the plan includes the Keys, think about the trunk and the range: it's 3h30 to Key West and US-1 has long stretches with nowhere to stop. See the whole fleet.
What to do
Where to eat along the way
In the Keys almost everything is independent — big chains barely exist down there. These five are the ones that always come up, and they're all right on the route.
How it works
How long to where you're going
Tap a destination.
Questions from people renting in Miami
Send us your dates and where you're going and we'll put together the locked price for your car in Miami.
Talk on WhatsApp See the price nowPhotos: Seven mile bridge by Tinsley Advertising (Attribution) · Bahia Honda State Park (9189349800) by KimonBerlin (CC BY-SA 2.0) · Sunset over the River of Grass, NPSphoto, by Everglades NPS from Homestead, Florida, United States (Public domain) · Southernmost point buoy, NE view by Radomianin (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Boulevard Hotel (Neon sign), Miami Beach by Photograph: Radomianin (Public domain) · Casa Casuarina at night Versace Mansion, h by CZmarlin — Christopher Ziemnowicz would appreciate a photo credit if (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Villa Vizcaya 20110228 by Averette (CC BY 3.0) · Wynwood Walls Miami Florida October 2013 by Dan Lundberg (CC BY-SA 2.0), via Wikimedia Commons.