Must-See Places to Visit: Vizcaya Museum & Gardens in Miami, FL

 Vizcaya is a stunning 18th century American mansion that is home to exquisite art collections from around the world. Flanked by breathtaking, Italian-inspired gardens, this Spanish-named estate stands erect on the lips of the Biscayne Bay, seemingly unfazed by time because the love of many restored its chips and cracks. There is something truly mythical about this place that is frozen in time. It is aged, splendid and giving. Visiting the Vizcaya Museum and Gardens is no doubt one of the best things you can do in Miami.

This post includes:

• What to Expect the First Time You Visit Vizcaya Museum and Gardens 
• When Can You Visit Vizcaya And Where is the Museum and Gardens Located
• My 30 Top Photos of Vizcaya's Interior I Can't Stop Looking At
• 7 Vizcayan Tips You Need to Know Before You Visit the Museum and Gardens
• 5 Awesome Facts about the Vizcaya Museum and Gardens
• 12 Photos of Vizcaya Gardens that You Will Love  
• The World's Shortest History of Vizcaya's Most Influential Figures
• Where to go if You Want More Information about this Top-Rated Tourist Attraction

What to Expect the First Time You Visit Vizcaya Museum and Gardens 

Impatience
First, coasting up the driveway you think to yourself, “What would it be like to own my own small forest, the curtain that contains the secret charm of an old mansion?” It would be awesome, not necessarily to show off the luxury one has to leave portions of land undeveloped but to coexist with nature, to preserve indigenous flora and fauna in the area and let her do her own thing. 

Anticipation
Besides, it lends to the suspense as you circle the pillared roundabout where the faces of stone men leap from the tops of the pillars, some toothless, slashed or glaring, guardians of a mansion that had yet to reveal itself. You park.
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Trudging up the gentle slope you let your eyes fall to the ground after witnessing the clasping angles and entanglement of smooth naked tree limps.  In the distance, you can see the top of the mansion, its shingled roof as you pay the entrance fee and strolled down the board road flanked with shallow waterfalls decorated with red, velvety Christmas plants and shells. The mansion hides its face behind a grander roundabout.  

​Awe
Then her arms out stretched tempting you to her immense gardens on the right or a short route to the pool, stone water gazebo and ocean front. The detail right there is enough to keep you awed. And just in case you are wowed to a standstill. There are benches to support you. 

When Can You Visit the Vizcaya and Where is the Museum Located

​Located in Miami, Florida, at 3251 South Miami Avenue, Vizcaya Museum and Gardens is opened to the general public every day of the week except on Tuesdays.  General admission for adults is $18, $6 for children between the ages of 6 and 12 and free for the little people five years and under.  Students, who present their ID cards, get $8 off the entrance fee.  While there are some stipulations for flash photography, professional photographers and tripods and such, you can take all the pictures you want from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 a.m. The historic mansion is closed to the general public on Thanksgiving and Christmas. 

My 30 Top Photos of Vizcaya's Interior I Can't Stop Looking At

7 Vizcayan Tips You Need to Know Before You Visit the Museum & Gardens 

1. Wear comfortable walking shoes as there are many steps and the grounds are reasonability-sized.
2. Help preserve Vizcaya’s historical collection one photo at a time by not using flash.
3. Take your sketch book if you have artistic tendencies and need inspiration.
4. Eat before you go or purchase food at the café on the grounds.  
5. Carry your baby on your back or in your arms. No baby strollers are allowed on the mansion’s second floor and baby’s driving larger vehicles (double strollers) would need to park in the gardens outside.
6. Take a sweater or shawl with you certain rooms are really cold. 
7. Be careful not to lose your companions in your awe. The grounds are really big and there are over thirty rooms. 

Five Awesome Facts about the Vizcaya Museum & Gardens 

​Did you know that…
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1. the 186 year-old organ was designed especially for the home.  
2. Vizcaya was devastated by its first two major hurricanes in 1926 and 1935.
3. part of the estate grounds was transferred to Mercy Miami Hospital.
4. hundreds of thousands of people visit each year.
5. the mansion is now managed and cared for by the Vizcaya Museum and Garden Trust.

​(Source: Vizcaya.org)

12 Photos of Vizcaya Gardens that You will Love 

World’s Shortest History of Vizcaya’s Most Influential Figures

a two-minute read 

​From 1910 to 1922, anemia, a love for sailing and landscaping inspired Parisian-born millionaire, James Deering, to plan and build Vizcaya, his winter home in Biscayne Bay. Paul Chalfin, a New York artist, brought Deering’s plan of an opulent Vizcaya to life, using his beloved Italian influences in its interior designs. Vizcaya was his greatest work. Architect Francis Burrall Hoffman, Jr. worked on  Vizcaya for years. Hoffman’s experience can be summed up this way: on his right shoulder the miniature Deering argued with the miniature Chalfin on his left. World War I and an introduction to the best Italian gardens in Florence by the Columbian-born landscape architect, Diego Suarez, moved Chalfin to hire Suarez, who was almost left unacknowledged for his genius and innovative garden design.  After the death of their step-uncle, James Deering and their father, Charles Deering, Barbara Deering Danielson and Marion Deering McCormick, the new owners of Vizcaya worked for years with the some help from Chalfin to give the public access to their vacation home as a museum. 

​​(Source: Vizcaya.org)

Want More Information about this Top-Rated Tourist Attraction? Visit vizcaya.org 

Which part of Vizcaya do you definitely want to see in person?