My girlfriend and I are planning a week in November to florida from England and are considering Marco Island. The beaches and accomodation look fine but what about the shopping/ cinemas/ restaurants etc. I accept there will be shops etc but are there the malls and the large cinemas we love to visit at night. If not on the island are they at least easily accessible by car? I dont exactly sound like a cultured traveller do I but there you have it! Information would be greatly appreciated.

There is a small outlett mall and plenty or Restaurants but most of the best shopping, night life ect.. you will find in Naples the next town .

We go to Marco Island every spring with our young kids to visit my in-laws. My husband and I like to go out at night, since we have free baby-sitters...enjoy movies, decent food and quiet beach strolls. We have found Marco Island to be a perfect senior citizen/family paradise but not too lively for anyone really under 45. We tend go out in Naples (just 20 minutes north, up the coast), which has a livlier/younger nightlife with better restaurants, decent shops and prettier surroundings.

As for malls and cinemas, Marco has one movie theatre, lots of boutique-y shops, some outdoor stip malls and an outlet shopping area on the edge of town-there's really no "mall" perse. Naples, (bigger town, more options) has more of that available.

You might reconsider Naples....or staying in Marco but checking out Naples (5th Avenue in particular-center of town-where many of the better restaurants and stores are located) at night.

O.kay, so if you were loking for a place that wasn't about partying and nightlife, and was more about enjoying the solitude of nature- maybe a little shelling, fishing, seeing some birds, would you recommend Marco? I'm looking for a Sanibel/Captiva alternate. How are the shells on Marco?

Didn't Sanibel and Captiva get ripped apart by the recent Hurricanes? You might want to wait till that gets cleaned up before staying there if you were thinking of staying there instead of Marco Island.

Steve

melissa, Marco has one of the best shell beaches anywhere. I'm not an early riser, but if you are you can probably find lots of neat things. You will see a ton of shells there every day.

Agreed with Susan P, shell collecting on Marco was unending! I collected so many during one week that I had to discard some before leaving. A great walkable/joggable beach, we thoroughly enjoyed Marco during Christmas week a couple years ago. Found enough to do in dining/shopping, and 41 is real close if you want to look for malls, etc., and Naples is close enough for a day trip. We had a great ground floor condo that walked directly onto the beach--we loved it!

Kehsutton is right about the senior citizens and families on Marco Island. You fly into Ft. Myers (RSW) and Marco is about an hour south. You could stay a bit further north in Naples -- about 1/2 hour to airport. Great restaurants, fun shops, great beaches. The north Naples area -- specifically Vanderbilt Beach -- area is our favorite, whether on our own, or with kids. It's about a 20 min. into downtown Naples (5th Avenue area) for dinner etc, but has a lot of condos and a great public beach. It is hard to get a condo right on the beach for a week-long stay, but there are a lot of units in The Regatta that rent for a week and you can walk the 2 blocks to the beach. The complex has 5 buildings. Most of the information will say "waterview" but be careful because it's the bay not the ocean for most of them -- it's still a nice view, but not the ocean and the sunset. If you get something in Building One you can get a unit that has an ocean and sunset view. I have rented through Mari Vesci Realtors www.vesci.com (no I don't work there)so I know they have units in that building. If you don't care so much about the ocean view, Building Three is my second favorite (and it's is adjacent to the better of the two pools. You have easy access to a good mall, movies, etc. But -- if you really want to be on the beach, there are two great hotels the Ritz Carleton (very pricey) or the La Playa -- more reasonable. La Playa is great --great pool, day spa, and on the beach. Based on my experience, Naples accomodations are pricier than Marco, but based on what you've said I think you'll have much more fun in Naples.

polo island?

check out Anna Maria Island. one of the best i'v found. and we've been lots of places in Florida. Found a special at this island resort not too long ago it was the SeaSide Inn & Resort. Directly on the water. pretty cool if you ask me and it wasn't crowded. very quiet and relaxing. my wife loved it and the rooms were very clean and key west style.