Here’s how to get there:
Take I-95 to the Bal Harbour 125th Street exit (Exit 10A). Travel 5.5 miles east on 125th Street (which will become 96th Street after you cross U.S. 1 Continue through the Broad Causeway toll ($1.00) and travel an additional mile.

WHAT TO DO
Bal Harbour offers a myriad of entertainment options, many of which can be found in the Bal Harbour Cultural Calendar. Some of the most popular choices are film screenings under the stars, interactive art exhibits in the famed Bal Harbour Shops, performances from up-and-coming local bands, and concerts on the beach from opera, Latin Jazz musicians and top musical guests. The line-up has included the Miami City Ballet, Modern Shakespeare with YoungArts Alumni and Latin band ¡Suénalo! The New World Symphony and Miami’s Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) are just some of the Florida cultural institutions staging performances and exhibitions in venues around Bal Harbour.  

ACTIVITIES AND OUTDOOR PURSUITS

You can start your day with a sunrise stroll along Bal Harbour Village’s immaculately landscaped beach. Snorkeling, windsurfing, parasailing, swimming and deep sea fishing are available nearby if you love the water. There are dozens of championship golf courses, including the Miami Beach Golf Club, just minutes away.  And for a more strenuous exercise enjoy the $3 million jogging track along the beach, the only beachfront path of its type in South Florida.

Haulover Beach
9700 Collins Avenue
Bal Harbour,  FL    305.866.0311Nestled between the Intercostal Waterway and Atlantic Ocean, this clothing optional beach is worth the visit.  
10800 Collins Avenue
Bal Harbour, FL 33154-1006
(305) 947-3525

Adrienne Arsht Center
The Performing Arts center features musical performances, theater, contemporary dance, experimental multimedia shows and popular entertainment.
1300 Biscayne Boulevard
Miami, FL  33132
305.949.6722
www.arshtcenter.com 

Blue Moon Outdoor Center North Miami
Self-guided trips or guided eco-adventures offer close-up views of mangrove trails, manatees, dolphins and other natural wonders.
Oleta River State Park
3400 NE 163rd St.
North Miami Beach,  FL  33160
305.957.3040
www.bluemoonmiami.com  

Bal Harbour Shops
Throughout the year, the Shops offer special events ranging from designer trunk shows and product launches to philanthropic festivities.
www.balharbourshops.com

Where To Shop

BAL HARBOUR SHOPS
A visit to the top selling retail center in America feels more like a Zen experience as you walk through the two floors of boutiques and cafes lined with palm trees, fountains and Koi fish. Forget about neon signs and prepare to pay for parking as you enjoy visionary founder Stanley Whitman’s concept of ‘shopping in a garden.’  

And if shopping is a religion, then Bal Harbour Shops is its temple. The designer shopping oasis generates the largest income per square foot in America and broke a global industry record in 2008 by exceeding $2,000 per square-foot. It is so select that it maintains a two-year waiting list for space and since the beginning has attracted the top international brands.

Today these names may be more widely available but Cartier, Gucci, Bulgari and Harry Winston chose Bal Harbour Shops for their first retail center stores. Louis Vuitton chose Bal Harbour for its first store outside New York and luxury retailers Prada, Sergio Rossi, Roberto Cavalli, Dolce & Gabbana, Van Cleef & Arpels and Yves St. Laurent made it their first US entries outside New York. Even today, Lanvin and Hublot selected Bal Harbour Shops to open their first free standing boutiques in the U.S.

It’s easy to understand the appeal.  The open air mall opened its doors in 1965 and today sets the standard in the luxury retail industry. The ‘mall’ boast the highest concentration of designer boutiques in the country featuring over 100 of the world’s top brands; Chanel, Hermès, Brooks Brothers, Fendi, Giorgio Armani, Loro Piana, Marc Jacobs, Ralph Lauren, Salvatore Ferragamo, Thomas Pink, Versace, Oscar de la Renta, Dior and Ermenegildo Zegna are all here.

You will also find the highest concentration of world-class jewelry and watches in the US including Audemars Piguet, Cartier, Tiffany, De Beers, Piaget, Tiffany & Co., Tourneau and Van Cleef & Arpels. Neiman Marcus (first outside Texas) and Saks Fifth Avenue (largest outside New York) are the anchor stores.

The Bal Harbour Shops are the vision of Stanley Whitman and the family still owns and controls the shopping mecca. At 92, Whitman reports to his office daily, knowing his dream has been realized. He visualized a warm, inviting, open-air space that housed the finest retailers, with parking that was exclusive because customers were required to pay. His revolutionary concept went against the shopping center norm. “I always had a very clear vision of exactly what I wanted,” says Whitman. “I knew someday it would be two stories, but more importantly, it couldn’t look like every other mall out there.”
Future plans include adding 200,000 square feet of retail targeting younger, fashion-forward brands and a possible hotel.  This was the first mall to be planned for vertical expansion and a third level is now being contemplated, to be used for social functions and special events.

The Bal Harbour Shops
9700 Collins Avenue
Bal Harbour,  FL  33154-2208
305.866.0311
www.balharbourshops.com 

Where to Stay

The Sea View Hotel was one of the first structures built along Bal Harbour’s coastline in 1948 and today the 220-room property offers an intimate private beach and 50 expansive Key West style cabanas surrounding a heated Olympic-size pool. The property also offers a poolside old-fashioned coffee shop serving the hotel’s signature chocolate milkshakes and tuna melt sandwiches and a newly renovated bar and signature restaurant offering international cuisine.
9909 Collins Avenue
Bal Harbour, FL 33154
(305) 866-4441
www.seaview-hotel.com

The new ultra-chic, five-star ONE Bal Harbour Resort & Spa features spacious suites with panoramic views of the Atlantic and the Intracoastal Waterway – with a full-service, 10,000 square-foot spa, a signature fine dining restaurant, round-the-clock butler service and a privately commissioned art collection.
www.oneluxuryhotels.com
  
Coming in 2012 is the St. Regis Bal Harbour, a five-star resort hotel and condominium aimed at delivering discreet, graceful living. The property’s three all-glass towers will rise 27 stories above nine acres of lushly landscaped gardens and expansive stretch of pristine white sand on the edge of the Atlantic. Each tower will have its own private lobby entrances, security, valet, and covered parking, as well as access to all anticipatory services provided by the St. Regis Hotel.  
9701 Collins Avenue
Bal Harbour, FL 33154
www.stregisbalharbour.com 

Where to Eat

Carpaccio, is a cozy, yet sophisticated Italian eatery specializing in homemade pastas, salads, pizzas cooked in a wood-burning oven and a selection of carpaccios; indoor or al fresco dining.
9700 Collins Avenue #139
Bal Harbour, FL 33154 
305 867 7777
http://www.carpacciobalharbour.com

La Goulue offers traditional and signature French bistro fare. Many dishes highlight fresh seafood perfect for an alfresco dining experience.
9700 Collins Avenue
Bal Harbour, FL 33154-2208
(305) 865-2181
http://www.lagouluebalharbour.com  

Taking advantage of cool ocean breezes permeating off the Atlantic, Bal Harbour Shops features a diverse selection of eateries.

Lea’s Tea Room & Café is an authentic European tea salon; and Segafredo Bal Harbour, a fashionable Italian-style café with a coffee and full liquor bar, featuring an assortment of antipastos, salads, paninis, pizzas and pastas.

Other restaurants include Zodiac Café at Neiman Marcus, Santa Fe News & Espresso and The Newsstand by Books & Books set in the shop’s beautiful gardens.  

ONE Bal Harbour’s signature restaurant ONE Kitchen features stunning Atlantic panoramas. And, in early 2011, celebrity restaurateur Stephen Starr, renowned for his inventive restaurants such as the spectacular and internationally acclaimed Buddakan and the haute, awe-inspiring Morimoto, will open his latest concept in the Bal Harbour Shops. The-yet-to-be-named 200-seat restaurant will showcase the elegant and masterful flavors of Japanese cuisine.

For more information, please visit http://www.balharbourflorida.com/