Directions in Miami - Walking, Driving, Bike, Buses & Trains

Coral Gables Trolley in Miracle Mile

Finding your way around anywhere in Miami-Dade County, including the City of Miami and Miami Beach, is easy using Google Transit. This Internet tool can search for directions in four ways:

• By public transport, whether bus or train, or a combination of the two
• Driving
• Walking
• Bike 

Examples for Locations in Miami-Dade County
Here are some examples, using Lincoln Road, Miami Beach, as the starting point and Venetian Pool, Coral Gables, as the destination for public transport, cycling and driving, and a shorter route for walking.

If you already know how to use Google Transit, my apologies. Future posts will have information specifically about Miami and South Florida, so please look at this blog every week. The aim of this post is to avoid having to give detailed directions in every other one.

Search for Google Transit or Use Link in This Blog
First do a Google search for “Google Transit” (without quotation marks, and capitals are not necessary) and click on the Google Transit link in the search results. Alternatively, there's a link to Google Transit in this blog, in the right-hand sidebar.

Bus and Train – South Beach to Venetian Pool

• In Start Address type “Lincoln Road Miami Beach” and in Destination Address “Venetian Pool Coral Gables.” Select Leave or Arrive and enter the date and time when you want to leave or arrive. Click on Get directions.
• On the page which appears, confirm your starting or destination address if necessary and make sure the train symbol is selected.
• Often various routes are suggested, as in this example. Click on each route in turn to see a map and detailed directions.
• Some minor services may not appear, for example the Coral Gables trolley shown in the photo. 

Driving – South Beach to Venetian Pool

• In Start Address type “Lincoln Road Miami Beach” and in Destination Address “Venetian Pool Coral Gables.” Ignore the date and time. Click on Get directions.
• The page which appears will show public transport routes, but simply select the car symbol to get driving instructions, including a map.

Cycling – South Beach to Venetian Pool

• Search as for driving, but select the bike symbol instead of the car symbol.
• There's a warning in Google Transit that some routes suggested may not be suitable for cycling. In this example the South Dixie Highway is definitely one of those places.

Walking – Miracle Mile, Coral Gables, to Venetian Pool

• In Start Address type “Miracle Mile Coral Gables” and in Destination Address “Venetian Pool Coral Gables.” Ignore the date and time. Click on Get directions.
• The page which appears will show public transport routes, but just select the pedestrian symbol to get walking instructions, including a map.

In this particular example the route wasn't the one that I'd have chosen, but it would get you there. Let's face it, computers don't walk, and it's a miracle the the system functions at all. Not all that many years ago it would have been science fiction.

Be wary of routes along major highways, such as US1 (some stretches are known as South Dixie Highway), which may not be pedestrian-friendly.

Printing the Routes
Click on Print in the Google Transit page, not using your computer keyboard or drop-down menu. In a previous version of Google Transit, either of the last two options printed both the route and a map, but all I got using the current version was a map.

When you click on Print in the Google Transit page, a new window will open with two options:

• Text only
• Maps

Also, there's a box to select if you want to include a large map. If you do this, make sure that the map fits in the window, and if not reduce its size using the plus and minus scale.

I've used Google Transit in various parts of the USA and in Europe, but I had no success searching for directions in Saudi Arabia, for example, although a map appeared with the starting and destination addresses marked.