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Shopping in Miami

Shopping in Miami abounds with opportunities, with a broad assortment of sophisticated malls to small specialist boutiques. Since the city is quite sprawling, it pays to know beforehand which district to head for.

Key areas

The Miami Design District is a hub for designer fashion from Marni to Louis Vuitton. Miracle Mile in Coral Gables has quality galleries, boutiques and department stores, while the 6.5-hectare (16-acre) waterfront Bayside Marketplace, in downtown Miami, offers an unusual mix of retail shops and local artisan stalls. Other key areas include the funky boutiques of South Beach (most notably the Lincoln Road shopping district), The Gallery at CocoWalk and the numerous malls scattered about Greater Miami. A stretch of Collins Avenue, between Sixth and Eighth Streets, in South Beach, has a handful of local boutiques and medium-price chain stores like Banana Republic and Urban Outfitters. Ocean Drive is lined with designer shops.

Markets

Miami has a plethora of farmers' markets, including one in Coconut Grove every Saturday between 1000-1900 and one on Lincoln Road close to Miami Beach every Sunday between 0900-1830. Both are open year-round.

Shopping centres

Aventura Mall (https://aventuramall.com), located at 19501 Biscayne Boulevard, is one of the most popular malls, featuring Macy's, Bloomingdale's, JCPenney and over 200 smaller shops. Bal Harbour (www.balharbourshops.com), located at 9700 Collins Avenue, is renowned for its high-end designer boutiques, such as Tiffany & Co and Gucci. Sawgrass Mills (www.simon.com/mall/sawgrass-mills), located at 12801 West Sunrise Boulevard in Sunrise, is the largest single-story outlet mall in the US with more than 350 discounted brand-name stores.

For chic interiors and objects for the home, nothing surpasses the Miami Design District where high-end décor and furniture shops are open to the public.

Opening hours

Opening times vary for each venue.

Souvenirs

Look out for arts, crafts, jewellery, fashion, clothes and trendy homeware.

Tax information

Sales taxes are 7% on all goods, and there is no system for claiming this back. Credit cards are widely accepted.

A digital image at https://illuminoto.com

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