Taking the Train From Miami – Where Can You Go?

We have reviewed more hotels in Florida than in any other state and for good reasons. Florida gets more tourists each year than dozens of others combined. If it were a country, this state would be in the top-10 for visitors internationally. Many of those international visitors arrive via the Miami Airport and head to the beach. That can just be the start, however, since taking the train from Miami to other cities is quite easy and inexpensive, including from the Miami airport. 

Florida has a wealth of ways to get from one city to another on public transportation. Besides a variety of inexpensive bus services like Megabus, you can catch a train from Miami to Ft. Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Orlando, Tampa, Daytona Beach (with a shuttle), Jacksonville, and beyond. It was train travel that made Florida tourism happen in the first place, after all, back when Miami was just a swampy fishing village with no port. 

Getting around in Miami without a car is surprisingly easy too thanks to a good light rail system, though you’re going to have to spend some money on a taxi/Uber/Lyft to get to South Beach. Getting from the Miami airport to South Beach is tougher since the train options end downtown. If you look at a map, South Beach is a barrier island so there’s no rail option. Just the bridges or the Poseidon Ferry from downtown to Miami Beach’s marina. 

After you arrive in South Beach, however, you can walk many places you want to go or use the city bike service to get around. If you’re a masochist and you’re coming in the summer though, you’ll sweat a few liters trying to do that, so then you’ll find an air-conditioned car to be well worth the money. Try to avoid bringing your own car into South Beach though unless you’re only spending one night. The parking is limited and expensive.

Here are some popular routes for trains from Miami. For detailed schedules and to see other options, the best bet is to visit Rome2rio. 

Tri-Rail Train From Miami to Ft. Lauderdale, Boca Raton, and Palm Beach

The towns and cities of southeast Florida are all clustered along the coast, which made it easy to connect them all via the Tri-Rail system more than 30 years ago. The Everglades National Park occupies most of the interior, so there’s a limit to how far development can sprawl. That means once you get out of your train, you probably won’t have to go very far to reach your final destination. 

The Tri-Rail system is reliable, frequent, and inexpensive. You could take their train from the Miami airport to West Palm Beach for the maximum fare of $8.75, with discounts for seniors. Miami Airport to Ft. Lauderdale Airport is just $3.75. This is for a comfortable, air-conditioned train with WiFi and you can bring a bike aboard. 

It stops at several places that are popular vacation spots in South Florida, including Ft. Lauderdale where you can catch a shuttle bus to the airport or the beach. At some of these stations you can also connect with Amtrak, so you could spend a night or two in Boca Raton, for instance, then catch the Amtrak train north from nearby Deerfield Beach. 

The Train from Miami to Orlando

Have you heard of a service called Brightline? You may have because they’ve been talking about it for at least a decade now, showing off big plans. At least some of those plans will be a reality soon, but getting to the finish line has been a slow process. Here’s an explanation of the work involved from their website: 

Brightline’s new South Terminal at the Orlando International Airport (MCO) is a part of the company’s Phase 2 expansion into Central Florida including a Tampa extension… This monumental endeavor, which will use 225 million pounds of American steel, will include the laying of 490,000 ties and transporting 2.35 million tons of granite and limestone by 20,000 railcars. Additionally, approximately 2 million spikes and bolts will be hammered and put in place over the next 36 months.

Right now, you can’t travel by train directly from Miami to Orlando. The way the Amtrak route works, you would need to go way out of the way to Tampa first and then over to Orlando. The private Brightline train aims to change that, following the route that Tri-rail does now to West Palm Beach but then keeping the train going all the way to Orlando airport and the city. 

They’re projecting a 2022 opening, though that has been pushed back several times. The next phases will go beyond the airport to Disney Springs near the amusement parks, then eventually all the way to Tampa. Brightline aims to be a premium service that is priced higher than what’s available now. You can try it out between Miami and West Palm Beach if you want to compare it to the Tri-Rail experience. Fares start at $27 for a regular seat, $37 for business class. 

How to Get From Miami to Tampa

The Amtrak Miami to Tampa route seems to be a mystery to most travelers, but I used it on a regular basis when I lived in Tampa Bay. The price was usually a bargain (usually under $40) and it’s a comfortable way to get from one city to the other. If you change to a local train after getting to Miami’s Union Station, you can then get all the way to the airport by rail.

This Amtrak route through Florida cuts across the middle of the state south of Orlando and skirts Lake Okeechobee. So it’s a scenic ride part of the way and doesn’t get delayed very often since it doesn’t hit urban areas except along the coast. 

Tap into Amtrak to Go Beyond Florida

As mentioned earlier, many of the Tri-Rail stations are also Amtrak stations. There are currently 19 Amtrak stations in Florida, including some in cool small towns worth visiting like Deland and Winter Park. The city of Sanford has another reason to visit: it’s the terminus for the Amtrak Auto Train that goes through several states and stops outside of Washington, D.C. 

Did you know that you can get on a train in Miami and ride all the way to New York City for as little as $130? Many people take that route each year, but you can actually go much further than that. With a train change along the way somewhere, you can take Amtrak from Miami to Chicago, New Orleans, Los Angeles, or Seattle. In normal times with open borders, to Canada as well. 

For the really long routes that take several days, there are roomettes with a bed or you can book a full sleeper with a bathroom and shower in the compartment. I was recently on a stretch of the Empire Builder that travels between Chicago and Seattle and here’s what the lounge car looks like upstairs:

One-Way Rental Cars in Florida

One last option to consider as an alternative to the train: a one-way rental car in Florida. You can’t get to anywhere on the Gulf of Mexico coast by train except Tampa, so you’ll need wheels to get to Naples, Captiva Island, Sarasota, or the Florida Panhandle beaches.

You often have to pay double or triple the normal rental car price in many locations if you’re only renting a vehicle for a one-way trip. The drop-off charge can be more than the actual car hire price. That’s not the case in Florida, however, where I’ve done a one-way rental at least a dozen times. I would frequently rent a car in Tampa, drive it to Orlando or Miami to take advantage of a better international flight price, then turn it in there.

South Beach, Miami

Florida gets a huge number of vacationers each year and many of them are exploring more than one destination. So the whole fleet of cars is moving around the state on a regular basis. Companies know that if someone books a one-way rental from Orlando to Miami, someone else will be doing the reverse later and it all works out.

When you really get a steal is if you book a one-way rental from Florida to somewhere up north in the late spring. That’s because all the snowbirds are going back home then and there’s not as much of a demand for rental cars from vacationers either in the hot summer. So the rental car companies drop the price down to around $20 per day (sometimes less if there are not enough takers). They do this to get people to drive their cars from Miami to Chicago or New York, for instance, to redistribute the fleet.

These deals are most prevalent in May, though Hertz has been known to extend it through June in the past. With rates like that, it could be worth it to hop a cheap Spirit or Allegiant flight one-way and drive back in a rental car for a leisurely road trip.

For Miami Amtrak routes and other alternatives for getting to destinations around the state, the best A-to-B resource is Rome2rio. Just put in the start and finish locations and it will spit out the options with times and price ranges. 

Then when you’re ready to plan your stay, check out our Miami hotel reviews here, including some budget options. 

Pin it!