Art Basel Miami Beach 2026 car service: VIP days, gallery runs and evenings

Art Basel Miami Beach 2026 opens to the public from Friday, December 4 to Sunday, December 6, 2026, at the Miami Beach Convention Center, with VIP Days on Wednesday, December 2 (from 4 p.m.) and Thursday, December 3, according to Art Basel. Around the fair, the whole of Miami Art Week fills the calendar: satellite fairs, museum openings, gallery dinners in Wynwood and the Design District, and parties on the beach.

For collectors, advisers, gallery teams and corporate hosts, the problem is not distance but the causeways. The fair is on Miami Beach and much of the rest of the week is on the mainland, and every crossing is busy. Elly8.net books the whole week at fixed, all-in prices: tracked airport pickups, a car by the hour for VIP days, Sprinters for gallery teams, and evening cars for the dinners and parties. The desk runs 24/7.

What is the best way to get around Art Basel Miami Beach?

Miami Art Week pushes huge demand onto a small number of bridges between Miami Beach and the mainland. Ride-app prices rise at the busiest moments, especially at the fair's closing time, and a ride that looks like 15 minutes on the map can take far longer. A car that is already yours, parked nearby, removes that uncertainty.

See Miami prices and reserve

The geography of Art Week

The Miami Beach Convention Center is at 1901 Convention Center Drive, in the middle of Miami Beach, close to the hotels of South Beach and Mid-Beach. Distances by road on a clear day:

During Art Week, treat these times as the best case. The desk sets pickups with a buffer for the causeways and for the fair's opening and closing waves.

Arrival: MIA, Fort Lauderdale and private jets

Miami International (MIA). The chauffeur tracks your flight and meets you inside arrivals with a name board, with complimentary waiting after a tracked landing. Fixed transfers from MIA to Miami Beach run from US$180 in a business sedan to US$470 in an Executive Sprinter, all-in. See airport transfers and meet and greet.

Fort Lauderdale (FLL). Often cheaper to fly into and useful when Miami flights fill. Fixed transfers from FLL to Miami Beach run from US$255 to US$665.

Private aviation. Many collectors fly privately into Miami-Opa Locka Executive (OPF). Give the desk the tail number and FBO; OPF to Miami Beach is fixed from US$195 to US$510. See private jet and FBO car service.

VIP days: a car by the hour

VIP Days on December 2 and 3 are when serious buying happens, and when collectors and advisers move most. Art Basel's visitor information limits group sizes on VIP Days to six people per group, which fits neatly in a First Class SUV or a pair of cars.

An hourly chauffeur is the standard plan: the car drops you at the convention center, waits nearby, and takes you on to a gallery dinner, a private collection visit or a museum opening, all without a new booking. In Miami, hourly service runs from US$100 an hour in a business sedan to US$200 an hour in an Executive Sprinter, 3-hour minimum. A full-day chauffeur (8 hours) runs from US$740 to US$1,475, and the 10-hour roadshow day from US$900 to US$1,800 for advisers with back-to-back appointments.

If you are carrying anything you buy, tell the desk in advance. Artworks are normally shipped by the gallery or a fine-art shipper, not by car; the chauffeur can carry hand luggage, catalogues and small parcels, but is not an art handler.

Where you stay changes the plan

Art Week visitors split between Miami Beach and the mainland, and each choice has a cost in car time.

Staying on Miami Beach puts you minutes from the convention center, so fair days are easy and a business sedan on short one-way bookings may be all you need. The trade-off is the evening: most gallery dinners, and openings in Wynwood and the Design District are on the mainland, so every night means two causeway crossings. That is where an evening package or an hourly car earns its price.

Staying in Brickell, Edgewater or downtown Miami reverses the pattern. Evenings are close, and the crossing happens in the morning on the way to the fair and again at closing time, when traffic off the island is at its heaviest. If you are on the mainland, start fair days earlier and agree the pickup time before you go in.

Staying further out, in Coconut Grove, Coral Gables or Fort Lauderdale, makes an hourly car or a full day almost essential, because every movement is a longer drive.

Timing around the fair's busiest moments

Two moments create most of the delays: the hour when doors open on each day, and closing time, when visitors leave the convention center together and the curbs and causeways fill at once. The desk avoids both where it can: an earlier arrival, or a pickup a little after closing, often saves more time than any route. If you must leave at closing time, agree a pickup point a short walk from the main entrance, where the chauffeur can wait without joining the queue of cars at the door.

Gallery teams, hosts and brands

Galleries arrive days before the fair to install, and their teams move between hotels, the convention center and dinners all week. An Executive Sprinter carries a team in one vehicle. Brands and private banks that host collectors often need a car for each guest of honour, plus Sprinters for dinners; a corporate account puts every car on one monthly invoice with one contact at the desk. Travel agents and concierge teams booking for clients can use a travel agent account, and hotels can open a hotel account.

For the evenings, see event transportation: timed arrivals, staggered departures for a table of guests, and cars that wait at the end of the night.

Evenings during Miami Art Week

Art Week evenings stack up: openings, dinners, then a party. The 5-hour evening out and event night package covers a typical night, from US$500 in a business sedan to US$1,000 in an Executive Sprinter, all-in. The chauffeur waits during each stop and moves you on when you message. Chauffeurs follow local rules on alcohol in vehicles.

For a group of friends or colleagues, one Sprinter is simpler and often cheaper per person than several app rides, and it means everyone leaves together.

A sample VIP day

1. Late morning: the chauffeur collects you from your Miami Beach hotel for the short run to the convention center.
2. Afternoon: after the fair, on to Wynwood or the Design District for gallery visits; the car waits at each stop.
3. Early evening: back across the causeway to change, or straight to a museum or collection opening.
4. Night: dinner, then a party, then home. On an hourly booking, the same chauffeur is with you throughout.

Elly8.net vs rideshare, taxi and transit

For one trip at a quiet hour, a taxi or an app ride is fine. MIA publishes its metered taxi rates, with a US$15 minimum fare for trips from the airport and a US$2.00 airport origination fee, and app rides pick up on the arrivals and departures levels. On Miami Beach itself, short hops between hotels near the fair are often quicker on foot. For local services on the island, see the City of Miami Beach.

A pre-booked chauffeur wins on VIP days and evenings: when you need to be on time for a viewing, when you are moving between the beach and the mainland several times, when you are hosting guests, or when the fair empties and every app shows high prices. The fare is fixed when you book and does not surge. See chauffeur vs Uber and Lyft and Uber Black vs a pre-booked chauffeur.

Prices in Miami

All prices are fixed, all-in per vehicle, including chauffeur, taxes, standard gratuity and airport meet and greet; tolls and parking are billed at cost, and prices do not change for Art Week.

• MIA to Miami Beach: from US$180 to US$470. FLL to Miami Beach: US$255 to US$665. OPF to Miami Beach: US$195 to US$510.
• By the hour: from US$100 to US$200 an hour, 3-hour minimum.
• Private city highlights tour: from US$400 to US$800.
• Evening out and event night (5 hours): from US$500 to US$1,000.
• Full-day chauffeur (8 hours): from US$740 to US$1,475.
• Corporate roadshow day (10 hours): from US$900 to US$1,800.

How to book

1. Enter the pickup and drop-off, with your flight or tail number. Miami Beach airport fares are fixed on the Miami page; for Wynwood, the Design District, Brickell or any other address use the web booker.
2. Choose the vehicle: business or First Class sedan, SUV, or an Executive Sprinter for teams.
3. Select Reserve now and pay by card, or book on account. Confirmation comes by email, and chauffeur details follow before pickup.

Cars for the VIP days book out first, so reserve as soon as your VIP card or invitation arrives.

Book any address

Rides in Miami are operated by licensed, commercially insured local chauffeur partners vetted through the Limousine Worldwide network; Elly8.net takes the booking, fixes the price and runs the 24/7 desk. Elly8.net is a member of LimousineWorldwide.Directory, LimousineAssociation.International, HotelsWorldwide.Directory and VacationsWorldwide.Directory.

Before and after the fair

Many visitors add days on the coast. Elly8.net covers Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale and Naples, Florida, and the Miami signature day trip runs to Islamorada in the Florida Keys, a 10-hour package from US$920 in a business sedan. The following week, Miami hosts the G20 Leaders' Summit on December 14 and 15, so plan December travel early.