Places to Explore

• Cabbage Key

  Cabbage Key is the ultimate in island-hopping escape in these parts. Some say Jimmy Buffett was inspired to write Cheeseburger in Paradise after a visit to its popular restaurant.... (more)

• Cape Coral and North Fort Myers

• Estero Island (Fort Myers Beach)

  Crammed with motels, hotels, and restaurants, this island is one of Fort Myers's more frenetic gulf playgrounds. Dolphins are frequently spotted in Estero Bay, part of the Intracoastal Waterway, and marinas... (more)

• Estero/Bonita Springs

  Towns below Fort Myers have started to flow seamlessly into one another since the opening of Florida Gulf Coast University in San Carlos Park and as a result of the growth of Estero and Bonita Springs... (more)

• Fort Myers

  The city core lies inland along the banks of the Caloosahatchee River, a half hour from the nearest beach. The town is best known as the winter home of inventors Thomas A. Edison and Henry Ford.... (more)

• Gasparilla Island (Boca Grande)

  Before roads to the Lower Gulf Coast were even talked about, wealthy Northerners came by train to spend the winter at the Gasparilla Inn, completed in 1913 in Boca Grande on Gasparilla Island, named, legend... (more)

• Marco Island

  High-rises line part of the shore of Marco Island, which is connected to the mainland by two bridges. Yet it retains an isolated feeling much appreciated by those who love this corner of the world. Some... (more)

• Naples

  Poised between the Gulf of Mexico and the Everglades, Naples belies its wild setting and Indian post past with the trappings of wealth—neo-Mediterranean-style mansions, neatly manicured golfing developments... (more)

• Punta Gorda

• Sanibel and Captiva Islands