Help with Florida itinerary

Good afternoon,

We fly into MCO on March 6th from DCA and don't leave for the UK until March 13th from MIA. We only need a couple of days in the Orlando area so happy to leave from the evening of the 8th. Can anyone recommend any places to visit or somewhere to base ourselves until we make our return journey?

Any help or suggestions are appreciated.

Mike

[Neil]

How far do you want to travel from Orlando?
Florida is huge so your desire to travel, or not, would have a big impact on where you could go.

Personally we like the Clearwater, St Petes area. Only 1hr 30mins from Orlando and such a fantastic area.

beaches......

you have a choice, head west down I4 towards Tampa. you then have a huge expanse of water all the way down to Naples...you will then be able to go across Alligator alley to MIA.

OR you could head east and choose anywhere from Daytona down through Ft Lauderdale to Miami itself

personally living on the Gulf (west ) coast that's where I would advise going

I quite enjoyed the Gulf coast area and have had a couple of holidays there.
I particularly liked the slightly slower pace of life on Marco Island.
You can take the Tamiami trail through the everglades to Miami.
Maybe take an airboat tour of the Glades.
If you want a faster pace of life and more buzz just head for Miami.
Dick D

We loved Vero Beach on the Atlantic Coast - handily located for the Kennedy Space Center, which was the best and most interesting place I have visited! Well worth a trip.

We also stayed in Naples which I think makes a good base for a few days - lots to do around there and love the laid back atmosphere.

Another vote for Naples.

just got back from 2 weeks on Sanibel island near ft myers
rented a condo/bikes and yolo boards and had a great time

We had ten days at Ft Myers Beach last September and loved it, hotel was right at the north end, so little passing traffic, quiet and laid back but very high standard. Sand like pink icing sugar, deepest blue sea, jet skis, water skiing, day boat cruising. Or doing absolutely nothing, as we did.

We stayed on the Atlantic coast a couple of years ago and much preferred September's Gulf coast stay.

The Gulf Coast is, on the whole, gorgeous. And after you're done, I suggest taking the old road US41 down and across to Miami. It's more interesting than the Interstate, and, if you care to, you can pull over at one of the various visitor stations en route, and check out the wildlife .... from a distance!

Another vote for the Gulf Coast. Fort Myers beach is a great spot with Naples just down the road.

Then take the Tamiami trail down to Miami.

We've been to stay with friends a few times and I'd wholeheartedly recommend the gulf coast. Venice and its surroundings are really nice.

We stayed in ft Myers for a night on the last trip. If you're thinking of going there I'd suggest scouting it out well first - it's a huge sprawling place and some areas are definitely better than others. The place we stayed was pretty unpleasant, we had a good laugh there but I wouldn't be rushing back to that particular part of town (northern tip of ft Myers beach)

Thank you all. We're going with the majority and heading to Naples.

We're pretty set on the Naples Bay Resort so we can hire a boat with ease. Has anyone stayed here? All okay etc?

Many thanks,

Mike