The Bayside Marketplace is Miami's premier shopping center, located right downtown next to the beautiful Biscayne Bay. It is located next door to the Port of Miami cruise ship terminal and the American Airlines Arena.

It's beautiful location makes it a popular destination for honeymooners and couples out shopping before their big cruise the next day. The mall boasts a vast selection of merchants, including Gap, Bath and Body Works, the Havana Shirt Company, Victoria's Secret, the Best of Miami, and many more interesting merchants.

It's beautiful decor really adds a nice touch. The mall is somewhat open-air and the nice bay breezes work wonders on a sticky hot summer evening.

The mall features a decent sized food court featuring the fast food chains you know and love, including the Cajun Grill, Pretzel Twister, Captain Joe's seafood, and many others. There are a number of good sit-down restaurant on site, including Chili's, Miami's Hard Rock Cafe, the Latin American Cafe, Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, and Lombardi's restaurant.

The mall features live entertainment on many evenings, and is quite family-friendly. The views of Biscayne Bay are quite good from many areas of the mall, so bring your camera.

The mall does rent wheelchairs and strollers out for those who require this, and you will find lockers here as well. Valet parking is available.

The mall is open from 10am to 10pm weekdays, from 10am to 11pm on Saturdays, and from 10am to 9pm on Sundays.

Getting here is easy. The mall is located right off of Biscayne Blvd., along the waterfront in downtown Miami. Take I-395 to Biscayne Blvd., then Biscayne south to the mall. It will be on your right hand side.

The mall is a perfect short walk from the downtown Greyhound stop. Considering the Greyhound station is in a seedy area, you will welcome the chance to head down here if you're on a layover. The mall is four blocks east of Greyhound.

The nearest hotel to the mall is the Holiday Inn downtown, which is also a perfect hotel if you're catching a cruise at the nearby port.

You can also access the mall via the MetroMover trains. Get off at Freedom Tower Station and walk two blocks southeast to the mall entrance.

Visit the Bayside Marketplace online at: http://www.baysidemarketplace.com

Indulge yourself at Bayside—the best food, fun, and shopping Miami has to offer. Whether you are interested in our vibrant marketplace, exotic restaurants, daily live entertainment, or national brand name stores. Bayside's wealth of activity offers something for everyone. Come experience Miami, visit Bayside!

Bayside is a shopping center in the Miami Port bay. There are several shops, dining, boat tours, and games. It reminded me of a carnival almost, only a little more upscale. Bayside had tons of retail shops, like Guess, Victoria's Secret, Bath & Body Works, Brookstone, Champs, Foot Locker, Gap, a Nike shop, and many others. It's pretty much like a mall, only all the store entrances are outside rather than in a building.

There are also several restaurants, including Hard Rock, Bubba Gump Shrimp Co., Captain Joe's, Chili's, Fat Tuesdays, and some Latin and Italian places; whatever other type of food you are looking for, they have it. Bayside also has places like Starbucks and Coco Gelato, and an ice-cream place.

Bayside also offers boat tours, carriage rides, and dancing in the afternoon. There is always something to do and the scenery is great

The mall hours are:
Monday - Friday: 10:00am - 10:00pm
Saturday: 10:00am - 11:00pm
Sunday: 11:00am - 9:00pm

SHOPS:
This semi-outdoor mall has many chain stores like Banana Republic, Gap, Victoria's Secret, and the Disney store, many tourist T-shirt and souvenir shops, and lots of local boutiques. Bayside is in a very nice setting on the waterfront.

RESTAURANTS:
There are many restaurants where you can eat and enjoy a beautiful waterfront view of Biscayne Bay. From Italian to Cuban, seafood to steaks, it’s hard to choose.

You can have a fruity tropical drink from a stand in the centre of the water-facing side of the market. Relax and enjoy, then do some shopping. It’s a great way to spend your afternoon. A whole day is something too much for me. I had seen it all in about 2 hours.

For shopping or just a lunchtime stop, I highly recommend you try the Bayside Marketplace. Many local sightseeing cruises leave from ports nearby.

Just look for the 60-foot guitar above the Hard Rock Cafe, and you know you have arrived.

DIRECTIONS:
By car:

Take I-95 North or South to Biscayne Blvd (Exit #3). Head north on Biscayne Blvd. to Port Blvd., where you will find convenient parking in the Bayside parking garage or on the street.

PHONE:
305-577-3344

WEBSITE:
www.baysidemarketplace.com

Off of Biscayne Boulevard you will find the Bayside Marketplace. This waterside shopping center is located near the cruise port. If you happened to arrive at the port very early, then you can just head over to Bayside for some shopping. Here you will find a wide variety of shops, restaurants, and entertainment. You will also find that the majority of people here do not speak English. There is some parking here, but it is very hard to find. Your best bet is to park in the adjacent parking area and pay the $2 rather than driving around trying to find a spot. They have valet parking located at the back of the Hard Rock.

Once you arrive at Bayside, if you go all the way to the back along the water and turn to the left, you can see the Miami cruise port. If you are here between 3 and 7pm, sit back and watch the ships sail out. Walk around the pier and check out the boats. In the middle of the market they have a lake area where you can take a boat tour. They offer a variety of cruises, from dancing to gambling to sightseeing. Near the waterfront you can take a peaceful horse-drawn carriage ride. That was my favorite thing here. They do have photographers around to take your photo, offering a great souvenir for home. They also have live music. When we were here, they had a Latin band, and many people were sitting around while others were up showing off their impressive salsa skills.

There are more than 100 shops here. Chain stores run from the Disney Store to Victoria's Secret. They have a number of specialty stores here, too. This is where you run into most of the problems of trying to find anyone who speaks English. You will find a variety of restaurants here, from Bubba Gump Shrimp to Latin America Café to Hooters, and this is where the Miami location of the Hard Rock is. You will find a variety of nightclubs here, and Gloria Estefan’s Bongos is nearby.

Overall, this was an enjoyable place. I loved the horse-drawn carriage ride and watching the cruise ships leave. This is a great place to stop while in Miami, or a great place to kill some time before your cruise ship leaves. I would have enjoyed it more, though, if more people spoke English. I just have a problem when I go into a shopping area in the US and more people don’t speak English than do. And apparently I am not the only one who feels this way since a large portion of my clients have made this complaint. From what I have heard, though, there have been enough complaints that they are trying to rectify this by having more English-speaking employees. You can visit them on the web at www.baysidemarketplace.com.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Chuck wished to try the local buses and go downtown for dinner. This "spontaneous" method has smiled upon us many times. As we crossed the street, we asked a group of people about bus schedules and destinations. It turned out they were tourists themselves, from Istanbul. After our amazing trip to Turkey a couple of years ago, we had many things to discuss. They recommended the Bayside Market Place as the "most beautiful thing they had ever seen", so why not?

The bus was painfully slow on the way there, and painfully rare on the way back. The fare is $1.25, which is reasonable by any standard. What we always find is advantageous on public transportation is that you can glimpse all of those nooks and crannies you wish to revisit. Lincoln Road was jumping, and so it went down on the list.

We arrived at the Bayside Market and immediately, my thoughts were of the Baltimore Harbor and New York's South Street Seaport. The welcoming sounds of a live salsa band had us skipping like kids; the port of Miami was right there and a huge guitar pierced the sky from the rooftop of the Hard Rock Cafe.

We took photos of our newly found friends and set out to explore. The air was balmy, but tolerable. Don't ever forget that the weather in Miami can be merciless, and the combination of heat and humidity can drive more than your hair crazy. So stay hydrated and avoid the mid-afternoon sun.

This is for everyone: families bring their kids to eat, listen to music, even ride a carousel. There must be 1,000 shops there and when you can't handle the weather, sneak into one that's air-conditioned. Aside from the well-known brand names, there are several charming local boutiques offering everything from tropical themed jewelry, to Asian decorative objects and accessories, tops, tops, and more tops. At the entrance are several vending cards with either cold smoothies or cotton candy for the kids. (or the big kids like us).

Upstairs is the food court, and you can eat quite well relatively cheaply. I immediately decided to go for the fried fish (see picture) whereas Chuck ran for Chinese. He regretted that decision. After this light supper, we went outside onto one of the viewing decks and Chuck indulged in his picture taking frenzy. The sun was setting but there was absolutely no breeze. The band was still playing downstairs and you could hear people clapping along, enjoying themselves.

Should you come here by car, there seems to be ample parking (hourly rates). From here, you can also partake in different cruise offerings: one that I had taken years ago navigated through the homes of the rich and famous. Rates vary. Hotels and guide books will come in handy to help with choices. It's a great spot for walking, enjoying Cuban food and music, and being in fresh air when it's not stifling hot.