What Manhattan is to the state of New York, Miami is to Florida. It’s a state that’s not unlike a big box of cereal – if you can just get to the bottom of it, you’ll discover a nice surprise. And surprise is an excellent way to describe the Magic City, a place where the almost year-round sultry heat and humidity is matched by the heat generated by the people who live, work and play here. Its famed café society is enhanced by its beautiful beaches, the crystalline Atlantic, Biscayne Bay and assorted azure waterways, a fabulous, frenetic nightlife, and a potent cocktail of visiting celebrities, transplanted New Yorkers, Cubans, South Americans, Europeans and assorted national and international types who collectively and rhythmically shake and stir the city to the point where it’s no wonder everyone’s bubbling over with praise and adulation for what the hip hoppers fondly call MIA.

Once a swampland composed of nothing but a few plantations and trading posts, Miami didn’t officially become a city until 1896, after industrialist Henry Flagler’s ambitious railroad made its first stop here, proving that this swampy area was, in fact, a viable community. Eventually swamp gave way to a tropical paradise, with multiple personalities from Spanish influenced and pre-Castro Cubans to the iconic art deco architecture and, today, to just about every nationality you can think of. Who would have thought that a murky marsh could become a trend-setting metropolis?

It’s hard to decide where to begin, given that Miami spreads out over miles of causeways and highways – it’s not exactly pedestrian friendly. Consider beginning your journey on the hip, hyper-touted South Beach where walking is, indeed, acceptable and plausible. While on South Beach (Miami Beach, from 1st to 23rd Streets), get acquainted with the well preserved Art Deco District, which in 1979 was listed on the prestigious National Register of Historic Places, via an informative and entertaining walking tour with the Miami Design Preservation League (1001 Ocean Drive, FL 33139-5080, +13056722014, www.mdpl.org). After learning about the candy-colored buildings, stroll past them and park yourself at one of the many outdoor cafés and watch the city’s wacky world stroll by. While on South Beach during daylight, explore the shops, restaurants and sights of Ocean Drive, Collins Avenue, Washington Avenue, Espanola Way (especially on Sundays for the local market) and Lincoln Road, then end your exploration at South Point, specifically Smith & Wollensky (1 Washington Avenue, FL 33139, +13056732800), where you can sip a cocktail and watch the cruise ships.

No trip to Miami is complete without visiting Little Havana, or Calle (Ky-yay) Ocho (Southwest 8th Street), where pre-Castro Cubans mix with modernity in a fascinating fashion that combines the old-school – old men hand-rolling cigars and little old ladies sewing guayaberas (the Cuban version of a Polo shirt) – with the new… McDonald’s. Enough said. After a requisite Café Cubano and media noche sandwich (that’s a toasted sarnie with pork, ham, cheese, pickle and mustard inside) at one of Little Havana’s bodegas, make your way to the Spanish Mediterranean enclave known as Coral Gables, or, appropriately, the ‘City Beautiful’. Here, you’ll see Mediterranean-style mansions, upscale shops and restaurants, and the legendary, not-to-be-missed, allegedly haunted Biltmore Hotel (1200 Anastasia Avenue, FL 33134, +13054451926), where everyone from Al Capone to Bill Clinton have rested their weary heads. Not so far away is the former hippie enclave of Coconut Grove,which, despite the fact that it has succumbed to the pressures of a Gap nation, still maintains an old Florida charm and a scenic waterfront.

Although we are loathe to endorse typical, touristy activity in this city where anyone can blend in as a local, there are a few musts, including the magnificent Vizcaya Museum and Gardens (3251 S. Miami Avenue, FL 33129, +13052509133), the Italian Renaissance masterpiece and former summer home of industrialist James Deering, also known as the Hearst Castle of the East.

Over on the picturesque Key Biscayne is the Miami Seaquarium (4400 Rickenbacker Causeway, FL 33149, +13053615705, www.miamiseaquarium.com), the home of Flipper – or at least those related to the famous ’fin, and many other aquatic seafaring animals. From splash to kitsch – watch parrots and their feathered friends beat humans in a game of poker at Parrot Jungle Island (1111 Parrot Jungle Trail, off the MacArthur Causeway, FL 33132, +13052586453, www.parrotjungle.com). For more intellectual pursuits, check out the Wolfsonian Florida International University (1001 Washington Avenue, South Beach, FL 33139, +13055311001), a museum dedicated to the art of propaganda, and the Miami Art Museum (101 W. Flagler Street, downtown, FL 33130, +13053753000, www.miamiartmuseum.org).

Because Miami is often referred to as the seventh borough of New York, it’s hard not to draw comparisons between New York’s Meatpacking District and Miami’s Design District, the most ‘up-and-coming’ neighborhood on the outskirts of downtown. The area can be explored from NE 2nd Avenue, NE 5th Avenue (east and west) and NW 36th Street to the south. In addition to galleries and pricey furniture shops, the Design District offers several dining and nightlife diversions as well, all of which help to maintain the area’s gritty chic and arty vibe.

The area off Biscayne Boulevard from 50th Street to 79th Street is another up and comer, known as the Upper East Side, where funky boutiques and restaurants share space with low society and ‘no tell’ motels.