Naples is so much more than a turquoise water-lined sliver of beach paradise. The Southwest Florida town is a hub of world-renowned cuisine, luxury shopping, and breathtaking nature preserves that have earned it the title of “America’s Happiest City” for multiple years in a row. Here’s everything to keep in mind as you plan your visit.
Where to Stay:
The Inn on Fifth
Located on Naples’ historic shop-lined Fifth Avenue South and a short walk to its famous pier, the Inn on Fifth is the city’s crown jewel of hospitality, offering two on-site restaurants, a rooftop pool with fire pits, and a full-service spa.
Hotel Escalante
Reminiscent of a palm tree-canopied Mediterranean villa, The Escalante dubs itself as Naples’ only true boutique hotel with a handful of bungalows surrounding a private pool. Guests can hop on a golf cart ride to the beach, book in-room massage treatments, and dine at Veranda E, which incorporates ingredients farmed from the property’s on-site garden.
Where to Eat:
Campiello
Dining al fresco is a Naples must and no restaurant does it better than Campiello. Featuring rustic, yet contemporary Italian classics like wood-fired pizzas and handmade pastas, the Third Street gem, anchored by oversized trees and a plush garden, is a favorite among locals.
USS Nemo
Don’t let its strip mall location deter you — USS Nemo cooks up some of the best seafood in the Sunshine State with a signature miso-broiled sea bass served with citrus-ginger butter sauce, steamed rice or potato purée, asparagus, and carrot tempura.
Where to Drink:
Sidebar
Craft cocktail connoisseurs will find respite at Sidebar, Naples’ recent answer to a years-long demand for a big city-style bar and lounge. Libations are elevated, inspired and innovative utilizing locally-sourced ingredients with hard-to-find liquors that are then presented in kitschy, Instagram-worthy drinking vessels.
Where to Visit:
Waterside Shops
Consider open-air Waterside Shops to be Naples’ version of Rodeo Drive, chock-full of luxury retailers where the city’s affluent community, dressed to the nines, walks through fountains and and over moats to see and be seen.
Audubon Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary
It’s a bit off the beaten path, but worth the trek to walk a 2.25-mile boardwalk through pine flatwoods, wet prairie, a marsh, and the largest old-growth bald cypress forest in North America. You’ll see no shortage of wildlife, including wading birds, owls, turtles, and — you guessed it — alligators.
Naples Botanical Garden
For those who prefer a more manicured foray into the great outdoors, the Naples Botanical Garden welcomes visitors with a 170-acre, world-class garden paradise with plants sourced and/or grown from all over the globe.
Delnor-Wiggins Pass State Park
There is no shortage of postcard-worthy beaches in Naples, though many continue to struggle from the devastating effects of Hurricane Ian. Delnor-Wiggins pass, for the most part, is the exception and remained practically unscathed due to its mangrove-canopied back bays and channels. Spend a day tanning, swimming, or wading through sand bars to search for fighting conch shells.
Fifth Avenue South
Home to the region’s premiere bars, restaurants, boutique clothing stores, and art galleries, Naples’ Fifth Avenue South attracts tourists from all over the world. After a day of sipping brews from 5th Avenue Coffee Company, seascape portrait-ogling at Emily James Gallery, and venturing through the docks and locally-owned stores of quirky Tin City, cap your trip with a drive through Port Royal to marvel at the rows of multi-million dollar mansions owned by the country’s wealthiest celebrities, politicians, and business owners.
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