Things I shouldn't miss in Fort Myers and Naples

[traceylou1972]

Hi

We have cancelled our cruise and Keys trip but have kept our flights to Miami so we have five nights in Fort Myers and we have a villa booked in Naples for the second week.

We have never done this area before so any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Tracey

[capecoralfl]

Depends what are you and your families interests.
For shopping - Sanibel Outlets, Miromar and Coconut Point are all great.
For beach days - Lovers Key, Bonita Beach & Sanibel / Captiva islands are gorgeous and you can also do a few hours on a cruise and dolphin watching.
For activities- you can hire bikes on Sanibel, jet skis on Ft Myers beach, visit Edison & Fords museum and nature trails at Ding darling wildlife refuge.
We also enjoy spending a few hours in downtown Ft Myers which has lovely architectural features, a few really good restaurants including one with a great rooftop restaurant and bar and amazing views over the Caloosahatchee river.
Both Ft Myers and Naples have a pier, so a sunset walk along either of these are a great end to a day.
Ft Myers beach is quite touristy, but Nervous Nellies & The Yucatan bars & restaurants are great value and good food
There are loads of golf courses, fishing trips and many water sport activities available as well as all the usual central Florida stores, chain restaurants, department stores and supermarkets.
We owned a villa there for 16 years so know that area well. If you have any question, please ask. Have a great time.

[mick]

As capecoralfl suggests if you're remotely interested in American scientific or industrial history this is worth a half day visit.

edisonfordwinterestates/

Mick

[traceylou1972]

Thank you both for your replies. We’ve always done the Keys so this is totally new for us. It will just be me and DH; tbh we are just hopeful to get away.

[snowbelle]

Nothing much more to add, we came back from Fort Myers in December , we normally go every year but obviously had to wait out the dreaded pandemic !
The weather was amazing... but we won't mention the £60 parking ticket we got in Naples

[DonkeyCentreArf]

We stayed just north of Naples in Bonita Springs and spent time on the beaches there. Lovely sandy beaches, gentle slope into the sea and there were dolphins swimming around nearby.