Coral Gables is a tree-lined paradise that residents often call “The City Beautiful,” recalling a 20th-century city planning movement that prioritized grandeur in design. This city was one of Florida’s first planned communities, but it's no cookie-cutter suburb. Instead, Coral Gables is a preservationist’s dream of Mediterranean Revival and Spanish Renaissance architecture. There's simply a dignified attractiveness to things with full canopies of palms and banyans, lush city parks, and a healthy taste for public art. The University of Miami finds its home here, allowing Coral Gables to keep a host of educational and artistic benefits close at hand. It’s not a beach town—and has no beach crowds—but is convenient for boating, golfing, and other outdoor pursuits. Miami’s metropolitan advantages are conveniently close, yet Coral Gables remains marvelously self-contained for when a little more peace and quiet is in order.