The best UM experience stretches far beyond the boundaries of campus.
You do not need a perfectly planned Miami itinerary or an expensive dinner reservation to start exploring. Sometimes, you just need to know a few popular places to meet other college students.
Sunset Place
For the easiest first outing, start close to campus.
Sunset Place is only about a 15-minute walk from UM and, while it might not be the first place you hear about as a freshman, it is seriously underrated. You can catch a movie at the AMC, stop by Honey Veil, take a class at Fuze House Yoga or just walk around when you want to get off campus without making an entire day out of it.
Coconut Grove
A little farther away is Coconut Grove, just a 10-minute drive from campus and home to some of the most iconic student spots. Grab a sweet treat from Go Greek, try the must-have pizza at Mister O1 or walk around CocoWalk for a more relaxed afternoon.
The Grove is perfect for almost anything, whether it is a Sunday coffee run, shopping with friends, showing your parents around when they come to visit or a weekend night out.
For sophomore Lucy Sanford, getting off campus helped her feel like Miami was really her home.
“Exploring everything around UM was honestly one of the things that made me love the school so much,” Sanford said. “There’s so much to do right outside of campus, and once you start exploring, Miami starts to feel a lot more like home.”
Beach trip
Of course, exploring Miami would not be complete without a beach trip. Sophomore Nina Wagner, a member of UM’s scuba club, recommends one that freshmen might not even realize they have access to.
The Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric and Earth Science sits right on the water on nearby Virginia Key, giving UM students a waterfront escape away from the more crowded Miami beaches.
“Rosenstiel is probably one of the most underrated places for UM students,” Wagner said. “It feels like having our own little beach away from everything, and so many students don’t even know about it.”
Getting there is easy, too. UM offers a free Rosenstiel Shuttle that picks up students at Miller Circle on the Coral Gables campus and takes them directly to the Rosenstiel School on Virginia Key, making the trip easy without a car or an Uber.
Key Biscayne is one of the easiest beach escapes from Coral Gables and a good option when you want something beyond sitting at the campus pool.
That being said, do not underestimate the pool. On a sunny weekend, the UC Pool can look like half the student body independently had the same idea. If you want a chair, get there early. Consider this your warning.
Brickell
Your first semester should also include at least one trip to Brickell, about a 20-minute Metrorail ride from campus.
With skyscrapers, waterfront views, restaurants, shopping and nightlife, it feels like the center of modern Miami. Walk around Brickell City Centre, grab lunch or dinner, explore the shops or come back for a night out.
And getting there is easy: take the Miami Metrorail for a cheap and convenient way to explore beyond Coral Gables without constantly paying for Ubers.
Little Havana
For a different side of Miami, Professor Nicole Hospital-Medina, a UM alumna and writing professor, recommends heading to Little Havana.
“Little Havana is such a vibrant place to explore,” Hospital-Medina said, pointing freshmen toward its small shops, restaurants and Domino Park.
Her advice is to work your way outward rather than trying to see the entire city at once. Start with walkable South Miami, she said, then branch out to Coconut Grove and Brickell before exploring farther from campus.
Game day
During football season, there is one freshman experience that should be nonnegotiable: go to the games.
Yes, Hard Rock Stadium is far. Yes, Miami will probably be unbearably hot. Go anyway. Get on the student bus, wear orange and green and experience a football Saturday at least once.
But making Miami feel like home is not just about how many places you can check off a list. Professor Hospital-Medina said one of the most important things freshmen can do is establish a routine of their own.
“You no longer have that rigid schedule laid out for you in college,” Hospital-Medina said. “It’s easy to get off track or feel homesick, so you need to make your own routine. Step outside the campus a little bit here and there slowly so you don’t feel overwhelmed.”
The biggest mistake freshmen can make is treating Miami like somewhere they will explore “eventually.” Four years sounds like a long time until it isn’t.
So go to Key Biscayne. Spend an afternoon in the Grove. Get to the pool before all the chairs are taken. Take public transit somewhere you have never been. Go to Hard Rock.
Get off campus, explore and take advantage of the city you get to call home for the next four years.