don512

I am planning a trip to the Fort Myers/Naples area for this February. I have never been to this area of Florida and I am looking for some advice on which area of the towns would be the best to stay in. I am maybe looking to stay maybe two days in one and three days in the other. For Naples, is it best to stay downtown or maybe along the gulf? For the Fort Myers area, I have also looked at Fort Myers Beach, which doesn't seem to have much in the way of restaurant choice, and Sanibel Island, which seems to be more expensive than Fort Myers. Any suggestions?

gbritfl

Neither town is particularly exciting, and there is little to do besides the beach. I lived in Naples for a year and Naples is a lot prettier and more refined with nicer restaurants. I would suggest staying in Naples along the coast either by clam pass or delnor wiggins state beach, they are both lovely beaches and you are still not too far from downtown. Although as I said there is not much in downtown anyway except a few restaurants. Keep in mind Naples is quite expensice in comparison to the rest of florida for lodging....

Keith

What type of activities are you interested in? For some people, this area offers a lot, as gbritfl points out for others (for example looking for night life) there is less.

Keith

don512

We are planning to take a day and do the Everglades excursion. I think that we would also like to see the Ford & Edison winter estates, and although we are not planning a "beach" vacation, we still want to go to the beach, especially Sanibel Island. Besides that, maybe some nice dining and shopping. Are there any other thing in the area that are must sees for a first time visitor? Any opinions on where to stay in Fort Myers, city or beach?

Christina

There's some kind of zoo-park thing in Naples that is enjoyable, and their county historical museum is actually very interesting, and has a lot of photos and information on early FLorida history. I was visiting my cousins who have lived in Naples for some years, and they hadn't even been to that historical museum.

Keith

The Naples zoo gets mixed reviews, it is small but expensive. They make up for the size by offering many tours and personal interations.

I would stay at Fort Myers Beach, to be on the water, even though it will mean driving more.

If you happen to be in Florida on the weekend of the 6, 7 & 8. Everglades City has a Seafood Festival.

Keith

shelbyjosh

When visiting FMB, we stayed at Pointe Estero Resort. It was a beautiful resort, the rooms were great, and the view was spectacular. We had a suite with rooftop access and the sunrises and sunsets we amazing! We booked them right thru their website and got a room upgrade upon check-in. They are at the opposite end of "town". The hang-out is Times Square...little eateries and shops. We ate 2 meals at Wahoo Willie's and both were great. We did a day trip to Sanibel and had a blast. I am a diehard Disney freak, but at this point in my life I would take FMB over Disney any day.

NeoPatrick

I shamefully admit that after living in Naples full time for 32 years I finally went to the Naples Zoo early this summer. It is small and I guess expensive (it's free to local residents on the first Saturday of each month). The monkeys are on a group of islands and you see them by a narrated boat -- that's kind of nice, and the zoo and gardens are well maintained with most of the animals being beautiful specimens, and quite a few educational and interesting "keeper talks" with the animals.

But almost next door to it is the Naples Conservancy, which is interesting as well. They care for injured native animals, and they have a number of attractions including boat trips (or kayaking) in the estuary with quite a lot of natural wildlife.

And north of Naples is Corkscrew Sanctuary well run by the Audubon Society. There is a very long boardwalk which winds through the swamps and you generally see quite a lot of native animals and plants. Worth a stop.

LindainOhio

We often visit the area in February--non stop flights from Cleveland. Many of our friends spend the winter months in Naples. We usually spend half the time on Sanibel Island. We love riding bikes, walking the beach Lots of shells), my husband will golf, we'll drive over to Captiva.

Then we head over to Naples, more golf, nice sandy beach(as opposed to the more shelly, hard on the feet beach on Sanibel).

We basically do the beach, golf and restaurants. I have always wanted to do Ding Darling on Sanibel and also take to boat out to the nearby island.