Do I need to rent a car in Miami Beach?

Usually not, and often you're better off without one. On the island, distances feel short but parking is brutal and one-way streets and pedestrian crowds make South Beach slow to self-drive. For dinner and drinks along the beach, a car and driver waiting nearby beats circling for a spot or standing in a valet line in the heat.

Between Miami International Airport (MIA) and neighborhoods like South Beach, Mid-Beach, North Beach, Bal Harbour, a private captain on call covers everything a rental would, minus the counter, the parking, and the return. You ride, someone else drives.