Southwest Florida's low-key luxury — the best sunsets on the Gulf, Everglades at your back door
Naples is the refined end of the Florida Gulf Coast — wide beach boulevards, a historic fishing pier, and a downtown Fifth Avenue restaurant scene that draws serious chefs. The beaches face due west, which means the sunsets are spectacular every clear evening. The city sits on the edge of the Everglades: Big Cypress National Preserve and Everglades National Park are both within an hour, and airboat tours, Florida panther habitat, and saw grass prairies are part of the Naples experience in a way they aren't anywhere else in Florida.
Naples was founded in 1887 by Kentucky Senator John Stuart Williams and General John Bragg, who saw potential in the protected Gulf anchorage and subtropical climate. The name was chosen to attract wealthy northerners — the Gulf of Mexico was claimed to rival the Bay of Naples. Development accelerated sharply after Interstate 75 connected Naples to Miami in the 1980s, transforming it from a fishing village to one of the wealthiest per-capita cities in the United States.