Mileage only tells you half of it. This is the road geography behind each row.
About 7 miles from MIA, about 31 miles from FLL
Coral Gables is the closest of the seven to Miami International. Most routes drop straight south on Le Jeune Road or take one short stretch of the Dolphin Expressway, so there is very little highway to sit in. Inside the city the pace is set by the place rather than by volume: banyan-shaded streets, roundabouts, and the valet-only restaurant frontages along Miracle Mile. From Fort Lauderdale it is the longest run on this page, because the I-95 corridor has to be crossed end to end before the local streets even begin.
About 8 miles from MIA, about 27 miles from FLL
Downtown sits on the I-95 corridor, one exit north of Brickell. From Miami International the line is the Dolphin Expressway east onto I-95, then off at a Biscayne Boulevard ramp. The variable here is the calendar more than the clock: arena events, convention days, and cruise-ship turnaround mornings at the port all funnel through the same few streets, so an ordinary Tuesday and a sailing day are different drives.
About 8 miles from MIA, about 26 miles from FLL
Wynwood sits just off I-95 between the Airport Expressway and downtown, so the highway portion from Miami International is short. The neighborhood grid is the slow part: narrow warehouse-block streets, a rail corridor along the western edge, and heavy pedestrian traffic around the gallery blocks on weekend evenings. The last few blocks often take as long as the highway did.
About 9 miles from MIA, about 28 miles from FLL
Brickell is a straight I-95 corridor trip from either airport, and the highway is rarely the part that decides the time. The last mile does: a dense grid of one-way streets, tower entrances, and garage ramps, where a few blocks can take as long as several miles of expressway did. From Fort Lauderdale it is roughly 28 miles of I-95 before that last mile even starts.
About 12 miles from MIA, about 28 miles from FLL
Every route onto South Beach ends the same way: the MacArthur Causeway across Biscayne Bay, reached from the Dolphin Expressway and I-395. The causeway is a fixed crossing with no alternate once you are on it, which is why the time range widens more than the mileage suggests. From Fort Lauderdale the same crossing sits at the end of a long I-95 run, so a Fort Lauderdale arrival carries both the highway and the causeway.
About 15 miles from MIA, about 33 miles from FLL
Key Biscayne is an island, and the Rickenbacker Causeway is the only way on or off it. From Miami International that means the expressway and I-95 corridor first, then the tolled bridge out across the bay. Because there is no second route, beach weekends and event days move this range further than they move any other row on the page. It is worth planning around the bridge rather than around the mileage.
About 21 miles from MIA, about 11 miles from FLL
Aventura is the one area on this list where Fort Lauderdale is the closer airport. From Miami International it is a long northbound I-95 run, with Biscayne Boulevard as the local alternative when the highway is heavy. From Fort Lauderdale it is roughly eleven miles straight south, which is why a group landing at FLL often reaches Aventura sooner than a group landing at MIA.
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