Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, Miami

Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden has some areas so lush you feel like you're in Hawaii! Here, water flows past shiny-leaved plants and palms stretch way up to the sky. One large tree takes your breath away with its incredible branches that stretch out around you in all directions. There is a Forest of Madagascar area with wonderful cacti of all shapes and sizes. Enjoy the butterfly conservatory called Wings of the Tropics, with huge blue butterflies from South America that flutter wildly around you- kind of creepy! The arboretum has hundreds of flowering trees.

Included in your admission is a tram tour. This is a good idea since the gardens have some non-shady areas that extend for long distances. Also, the map they give you is useless.
After your walk around the gardens, have a refreshing swim at the Venetian Pool, a manmade coral quarry pool built at a natural spring that is refilled daily! The historical buildings at the pool are just gorgeous! The drive between the gardens and the Venetian Pool is a delight, under archways of trees. Stop at Merrie Christmas Park (corner of Le Jeune Rd and Barbarossa Ave) for a playground set in a bowl of grass with old trees all around (rare to see something other than flat ground in Florida!).
Other butterfly conservatories to check out are Butterfly World in Coconut Creek and the butterfly rainforest at Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville (my favorite).

Directions

Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden is located at 10901 Old Cutler Rd, Miami FL 33156, call (305) 667-1651.
Hours are 9:30-4:30 daily. Closed on Dec 25. Cost is $25 for adults, $18 for seniors 65 and up, and $12 for children 6-17 and students with ID.

Click on map for interactive view