Neon Nights & Craft Bites: A 3-Day Miami Itinerary for Craft Beer Lovers and Late-Night Food in December

Spray paint still hangs faintly in the air as you walk into Wynwood, the concrete glowing with color even under the soft December sun. The morning is all crisp lines and massive murals at Wynwood Walls, camera shutters clicking and distant bass from a studio door left ajar. By lunchtime, the energy shifts to Calle Ocho, where the smell of roasted pork and pressed bread pours out of Sanguich’s walk-up window and the first hiss of a cold soda bottle cuts through the heat. Afternoon is for stories: a Little Havana Tours guide threads you through cigar smoke, domino clacks, and cafecito counters, turning the neighborhood from postcard to living memory. As the light softens, you loop back to Wynwood, where Savage Labs Wynwood feels like someone’s loft party collided with a test kitchen, the clink of cocktail shakers and the low thrum of a live band setting the tone. The night peaks at R House Wynwood, where drag performers strut between tables and the crowd roars over the beat, plates and cocktails catching the neon glow from outside. You end the day a little buzzed, a little paint-splattered from your camera roll, already curious how Miami feels when it trades murals for old-world gardens tomorrow.

The day starts quietly at Vizcaya Museum & Gardens, where Biscayne Bay lies flat and pale and the only real sound is your footsteps on old stone. Inside the villa, the air is cool and faintly dusty, tapestries and carved wood catching the slant of December light; outside, the gardens smell of damp earth and salt, with lizards darting across sun-warmed balustrades. Late morning folds into lunch at CRAFT Brickell, where the chatter of office workers and the clink of cutlery bounce off glass towers and your coffee tastes like someone actually cared. By afternoon you’ve traded skyscrapers for sand, toes in the powdery grit of Lummus Park’s beach, the soundtrack a mix of waves, distant reggaeton, and the soft squeak of bike tires on the path. As the sky blushes, South Beach Brewing Company becomes your living room: surfboards on the wall, a faint smell of hops and fryer oil, and a lineup of beers that feel tailor-made for someone who plans their trips around tap lists. The night stretches at Sweet Liberty Drinks & Supply Company, tucked just off the chaos, where the glow is warm, the bar is lined with serious bottles, and oysters hit the table with a bright ocean smell. Tomorrow will be louder, more Little Havana than bayfront mansion, so let this one be about balance—sun, salt, and a very good buzz.

Your last day starts slow on South Beach, at CRAFT South Beach on Española Way, where the cobblestone street is still wiping sleep from its eyes. The smell of espresso and buttered toast hangs in the air, string lights still faintly visible against the pale morning sky, and you can hear cutlery clinking softly as the neighborhood wakes. Lunch is a short wander away at Little Havana | Cuban Restaurant Miami Beach, where the room feels like a party even at midday—music up, plates arriving sizzling, the smell of garlic and citrus seeping into your clothes. Afternoon is for a final dose of beer and a change of scenery at Bayshore Club Bar & Grill in Coconut Grove, all open air, bay breezes, and the quiet clink of ice in tall glasses. As the sun drops, MAYU in Brickell tightens the focus: dimmer light, sleek lines, the perfume of lime and ají amarillo rising off Peruvian dishes that feel both comforting and electric. The night ends back by the sand at Delirio Tiki Bar by Swizzle, where bamboo, carved masks, and deep, layered rum drinks pull you into a softer, stranger Miami. Tomorrow, you’ll fly home with the taste of cafecito and passionfruit still ghosting your tongue, and the sense that you managed to ride Miami’s neon edge without ever getting stuck in its clichés.