Passenger Trains > Amtraks Miami"s Station

Hy folks, Can anyone tell me about the area the Miami, Florida depot is in? Hotels near by? Activities? Restaurants? I'm planning a short round trip in January, out one afternoon and back the next from Tampa to Miami... Any decent photo op areas around the depot in Miami?

Thanks!
Andy

I have not been there myself, but hear horror stories about the area. A friend said it is not safe and nobody around even at 12 in the afternoon. I'm sure others will add more useful information to this. Amtrak is scheduled to get a new Miami station sometime in the next year or two, if I'm not mistaken. Try a station north of Miami, may have better luck. Google the station and use the photo icon to "walk" through the area. Will give you a decent idea of the layout.

Hialeah area is not Miami's best, nor its worst. If you look on Google Maps, you will see one can walk from the station to a nearby Tri-Rail station and from there go anywhere in the system. But, unless you really, really want the last few miles into Miami, you could get off at other stations up the line (like Hollywood, or Fort Lauderdale, etc.), find some cheaper motels (some might even be willing to come and get you) and then if you want to do the Miami mileage, take Tri-Rail to its MIA airport end.

Or, transfer from Tri-Rail to Metro-Rail and then have fun with the free downtown people mover (more of an amusement park ride feel in parts of it).

One needs to remember that all the stations on Tri-Rail and Amtrak are on CSX, so they are west of the main towns by several miles (whereas the Florida East Coast runs right through those towns).

So, all in all, I would not walk off from Amtrak Miami after dark, not really knowing where you were going. However, you could get (and pay a hefty price) for a taxi ride from there.

Go to Kayak.com, choose hotels, enter Hollywood Amtrak Station as the location, and search: there will be several within a reasonable distance of the station (less than 2 miles). Do the same for other stations to see what you can find.

Enjoy

I've been there twice within the past six months. Daylight is not a big problem, and even early morning (4AM) is kinda quiet. All that said, it's a grimy, out of the way area unless you are fluent in Spanish. There are no motels or even coffee shops within 2-3 miles. That said, the Amtrak station itself is inside a chain link fence and the immediate area (inside the fence) is OK during the hours the station is open. Getting to/from is problematic, however. I agree with the other comment to get off in Fort Lauderdale and stay in that area.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/11/09 08:23 by hazegray.

I'd suggest that you transfer from Amtrak to Tri-Rail at the first opportunity (which would be West Palm Beach). There is a hotel within walking distance of the Deerfield Beach station, IIRC, and that's both an Amtrak and a Tri-Rail stop. Or go all the way to Miami Airport on Tri-Rail, and there's a very nice hotel (I believe it's a Hilton) directly across the street. Amtrak's dump (er, station) in Hialeah really isn't near anything you'd want to go to.

Another possibility is to take Tri-Rail to the Metrorail transfer station (which is close to Amtrak Hialeah, but I wouldn't walk from one to the other) and transfer to Metrorail. There are a number of hotels in downtown Miami convenient to one or another Metro peoplemover station, including a Clarion just south of the Miami River and a Marriott Courtyard downtown (I've stayed at both).

Take Tri-Rail to the Ft. Lauderdale Airport station. There is a Courtyard 100 yds from the station, with a Bass fish outlet and Islamorada Fish restaurant another 100 yds away for entertainment.

There is also a big full-service Hilton and Sheraton across I-95 from the Ft. Lauderdale Airport station, about 600 yds walk. Two new smaller hotels, Hilton Homewood and Marriott long-stay, which are both just open about one month, are just across Dania Ave., on the same side of I-95, 100 yds north of the Ft. Lauderdale Airport Station.

All these hotels cater to the cruise crowd at Port Everglades as well as the airport business. I get off Amtrak at the Ft. Lauderdale Amtrak station, walk over to the Tri-Rail ticket machines and buy tickets, and wait for the next Tri-Rail train to the next station south, the Ft. Lauderdale Airport Station, and vice versa when leaving.

David : back in cold windy Ohio!

Thanks for the info David!
And I'm in ice cold Ohio as well!!!

How often does Tri-Rail run???

Andy

Look at the Tri-rail Web page. Its all spelled out.

The Fort Lauderdale stations are both well-kept and in very safe areas. I boarded a Silver Service train at Fort Lauderdale 3 years ago and was very impressed with the cleanliness and safety.

About every two hours weekends and non-rush: seems like every 45 minutes or more often morning and evenings.

If I do need a rental car, I ride the free connecting bus to and from Ft. Lauderdale Airport: more selection, open 24 hrs.

Cold weather will toughen us up!

David