A Reminder To Prepare For the Craziness That Is Superbowl Weekend

It’s the beginning of the end of the current NFL season, and the conference championships are upon us. Despite the Dolphins not making a big enough splash this weekend (sad), the playoffs are going to make a huge impact on Miami in the coming weeks.

In case you didn’t know, this year’s Superbowl is being held in Miami. Once the final two teams are revealed, you can expect a flood of fans to be booking tickets, hotels, and more for their trip to see their team play in the Superbowl (or just to be around all the action). If you plan on traveling to Miami to watch the Superbowl, are planning a party, or attending some sort of event related to the Superbowl, make sure you start planning now.

Tips For Those Traveling to Miami

If you haven’t already booked a hotel or Airbnb for your travels, make sure you do so now. No, not next week -- now. The teams attending the Superbowl will be revealed this Sunday, and you can expect prices to surge once people start booking their own trip. If you can’t find a cheap hotel, try looking into Airbnbs. While Airbnbs in Miami aren’t great on ratings, there are plenty of options to choose from, so you should be able to find something.

If you are a fan of one of the remaining teams and you’re waiting to see if they make the Superbowl to book your trip, try pre-planning your trip so you don’t have to research places if they do make it. You’ll just be wasting time. To offer some help, you may want to look around Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens and the general North-Miami area if you’re looking for good proximity to the stadium. If you want the full Miami experience and don’t mind making a small journey to the stadium, you can look in the Brickell or Miami Beach area.

Don’t forget to book your flight as well. Luckily, many people who are visiting the area have the option of flying into either Miami or Fort Lauderdale. The airport in Fort Lauderdale often has cheaper flights and give good alternatives if you can’t find a good time to fly into the Miami airport. Pro tip: you can also set up alerts on Google Flights to track the prices of flights coming into Miami and Fort Lauderdale so you can snag the best ticket before they get too expensive.

Tips For Those Already in Miami

Whether or not you plan on watching the Superbowl, you need to be aware of the potential changes in the city for Superbowl weekend. There will likely be drastically different traffic patterns, especially in the area surrounding the stadium. You need to plan your weekend around the football game, even if you don’t care about football whatsoever. Also, just to make matters worse, the Miami Marathon and Half Marathon is the following weekend, so expect a full two weeks of craziness.

Make sure you’re aware of who is driving near you around town, as many visitors will likely be unfamiliar with the area. Combining people who actually don’t know where they are and insane Miami drivers is just a recipe for disaster, so please be a safe driver.

Despite all the cautions, it will be a great weekend for the city of Miami. While I won’t be going to the Superbowl (that recent college graduate budget doesn’t make room for stuff like that), I will be participating in the fun of the Miami Half Marathon, so I’ll definitely be following these tips myself. Prepare for a lot of new people, good times, and great parties, but also make sure you prepare for the craziness!