SATURDAY

9 a.m.

4. Morning Reading

Begin the day with an international newspaper and a sidewalk table at the News Cafe, a restaurant, bar and newsstand open 24 hours. Its halcyon days are gone, but the tables still fill up with tourists and a smattering of locals thanks to the reasonably affordable prices, full breakfast menu and prime people-watching location near the beach. The breakfast special (two eggs with fries; bacon, ham, sausage or turkey sausage; juice, coffee or tea; and bread) is $10.50. French toast, pancakes or Belgian waffles are $7.75. For a more sophisticated brunch (beginning at 11:30 a.m.), head a few blocks north to BLT Steak at the Betsy Hotel, a renovated structure that captures an old-fashioned charm. Dine indoors or out on the porch from a menu that goes beyond the basics: almond brioche French toast with cinnamon-caramelized bananas ($14), buttermilk pancakes with blueberries and orange blossom water syrup ($12), and the BLT Popover, an interpretation of eggs Benedict with béchamel and Gruyère ($14).

11 a.m.

5. Sun and Surf

The afternoon is for relaxing amid miles of white sand. Do so at a free public beach. A complete list of beaches is at Miamiandbeaches.com; the South Beach area is generally considered to be from Ocean Drive and Fifth Street to 21st Street and Collins Avenue. Can’t lie still? Lummus Park (Ocean Drive between Fifth and 15th streets) has beach volleyball and a playground, while South Pointe Park (1 Washington Avenue) has interactive water features, a “tot lot” playground and an observation deck. Both parks have public restrooms. There’s no need to leave the beach for lunch, though there are plenty of waterfront restaurants. Simply pick up food at a nearby deli or grocery store, like Art Deco supermarket, before you unfurl your beach blanket. Those who want a scene (music, money, pretty young things) can dip into one of the nascent hotels, like SLS Hotel South Beach, where you can eat at Hyde Beach, a nightclub that during lunchtime offers a menu created by the chef José Andrés (burgers, $20; tuna ceviche, $16) beside the pool. Just don’t forget your wallet; calories aren’t the only things that add up.

2 p.m.

6. Art and Architecture

Miami’s sizable Art Deco district has hundreds of historic buildings from the 1920s through the 1940s, many of them prime examples of the period’s favorite architectural style. Think pastel hues and architecture evocative of ships. Ninety-minute walking tours of the district depart from the Art Deco Welcome Center each day at 10:30 a.m. (there’s an additional tour on Thursdays at 6:30 p.m.) and include stops at hotels and restaurants, and other commercial buildings ($20). If you want to go at your own pace, self-guided audio-tours are available ($15). The Welcome Center offers other, less frequent tours of the area, including a gay and lesbian walking tour ($20) about the contributions of gays and lesbians to the history of Miami Beach, and a Jewish Miami Beach tour ($20) about the area’s changing Jewish population over the last century. Rainy day? South Beach is home to the Bass Museum of Art ($8) where visitors will find more than 500 years of paintings and sculpture by Rubens, Botticelli and Ghirlandaio. Also in the area is the Wolfsonian-Florida International University Museum ($7), which houses objects from the Industrial Revolution to the end of World War II, as well as the Jewish Museum of Florida-Florida International University, itself a piece of history consisting of a restored Art Deco building and a 1929 synagogue. Art lovers who have time to venture beyond South Beach will also want to explore the dozens of galleries, bars and antiques stores in Miami’s Wynwood Arts District; it’s a short cab ride away.

6 p.m.

7. Panoramic Vistas

Venture away from kitschy Ocean Drive for a different view of the city from the penthouse of Juvia, a 10,000-square-foot indoor-outdoor restaurant and bar. The restaurant serves Japanese, French and Peruvian food as varied as salmon nashi and roasted chicken vadouvan, but the view is the real showstopper. Juvia won a 2013 James Beard Foundation award for outstanding restaurant design (over 75 seats), and from its roof, the moon over Miami can seem almost close enough to touch.

7:30 p.m.

8. A Little Night Music

South Beach has many soundtracks, but few musical institutions here are as beloved as the New World Symphony, an orchestral academy founded by the conductor Michael Tilson Thomas. You won’t find it hard to locate the symphony’s home, New World Center, which was designed by Frank Gehry. Some concerts are even free to the public and shown via “live Wallcast” on a 7,000-square-foot projection wall adjacent to the center. For other sorts of music and theatrical productions, there’s also the Art Deco-style Colony Theater.